When you haven’t started running, you may think that running is very simple, isn’t it just running. Until you actually run for a while, you will find that running is still quite difficult.
Shortness of breath, muscle aches, two head injuries in three days, knee pain today, iliotibial band pain tomorrow, and plantar pain the day after tomorrow. What is going on? Why do others run so easily and so enjoy, why do I run so hard?
Avoid these 10 common running mistakes as early as possible in order to run healthily and for a long time
The more you run, the more you discover that running is a systematic learning. In training and competition, every runner will make some different mistakes, especially for beginners.
The following are 10 mistakes that runners often make. I hope you can avoid these mistakes, correct bad habits in time, and avoid detours, so that you can run in a healthy, long-term, and harmless manner.
1.Choosing the wrong running shoes
This kind of mistake often appears in beginners, but some experienced runners also make such mistakes.
New runners have the mentality of trying to run, and usually don’t care too much about what running shoes they wear when going out. Choosing running shoes that are not suitable for their body shape and foot characteristics can easily lead to injuries. And some experienced runners will appear blindly optimistic about their own level when changing running shoes, and they are likely to choose running shoes that exceed their own driving ability.
How to avoid it?
You can choose to go to a professional store, where there are dedicated staff to help you evaluate your running posture and foot shape. Excessive internal rotation, insufficient internal rotation, or normal running postures require different types of running shoes.
After you have suitable running shoes, you should basically make sure to replace them within 800 kilometers. Excessive kilometers will cause serious friction on the soles and loss of proper performance. When this pair of shoes runs about 400 kilometers, you can buy a new pair of running shoes and use them alternately.
2.Excessive enthusiasm, running too much, too fast
This is a mistake many beginners make, and it is also a very serious mistake. When they think of running, they are always over-enthusiasm. They run as soon as they say running, and they insist on running every day, thinking that only running every day is called self-discipline.
Therefore, they often suffer from injuries such as running knees and iliotibial band syndrome. Some people even lost interest in running because of this.
Avoid these 10 common running mistakes as early as possible to run healthy and long-term.
How to avoid it?
To understand the necessity of recovery and rest, you must bravely stop when you encounter pain. In the early stages of running, be more conservative about running distance, frequency and speed. Never neglect rest, this is the most important way to recover and prevent injuries. Your muscles will be repaired on rest days. If you run every day, the risk of injury will increase. Gradually increase the amount of running, follow the 10% principle to gradually increase. If you stop running for a long time and start running again, you can choose to start with brisk walking, then gradually change to jogging, and gradually increase the speed.
We run for health and long-term running. Temporary speed does not mean anything.
3. The stride is too large and the landing place is far away from the center of gravity of the body
This is also a very common running error. The stride length is too large to cause injury, or the landing place is far away from the body’s center of gravity.
Some runners believe that only increasing their stride length can increase their speed or running efficiency, but this is not the case. Excessive strides reduce the economics of running. At the same time, every step you take will put tremendous pressure on the joints when you land, which may cause damage to the knees and other parts.
How to avoid it?
Use small strides in the early stages of running, and then slowly increase the stride after the physical function and strength increase.
We all know that every time you land on a run, the load on your ankle is several times your body weight. The load of heavy runners is greater when the ankle touches the ground. Our injury occurred during the landing phase, not the flight phase.
Increasing the cadence can reduce the time that each foot is in contact with the ground (ground contact time). Secondly, increasing stride frequency can also improve metabolic circulation and improve the effect of fat reduction.
Only if the stride length is controlled, the risk of injury for heavy and first runners can be greatly reduced. Cadence should be increased to at least 180 for men and 190 for women. Progress step by step and slowly improve.
The correct running posture should be to slow down, the position of the lower abdomen under the belly button and the shoulders are slightly retracted, like a car slowing down and the accelerator; at the same time, the calf is slightly retracted before landing, and the landing place is close to the center of gravity, just like the car is in low gear.
4. Wrong upper limb shape
Some runners swing their arms from side to side when running, which can cause them to bend over and hunch easily and inefficient breathing.
Some beginners put their hands on their chests when they are tired from running. This action will make you feel more tired and the muscles of the shoulders and neck will begin to tighten.
How to avoid it?
When swinging your arms, do not show your elbows before and your hands afterwards. The arms are bent at 90 degrees. When swinging forward, the elbows cannot exceed the side of the torso, and when swinging backward, the hands cannot exceed the side of the torso.
If the elbow is facing outwards when swinging, it means that the arm is swinging along the chest, which will not only increase the consumption, but also slow down the speed.
Keep your hands relaxed and in a half-grip state. The tighter the grip, the faster the energy will slip out of the hand. Imagine the feeling of holding an egg in your hand. When jogging, the hand is slightly clenched, but when sprinting, the hand is almost open.
5. Insufficient hydration
Many runners ignore the water they lose during running, and do not replenish sufficient water during and after running. In summer, it is even more dangerous if you do not add water in time, and it may even endanger your life.
How to avoid it?
You should get a certain amount of water before, during and after running.
One or two hours before running, you can slowly consume about 500 ml of water. Do not drink any more water before the start of the run, and avoid looking for the toilet while running to affect the running rhythm.
During running, especially in summer, as sweat is lost, try to ensure that you consume about 100 ml of water every 20 minutes. If it is a long distance, or the time is longer than 90 minutes, you can take some sports drinks while running to replenish electrolytes.
Don’t forget to replenish water after running, but it should be noted that it is also a small amount of multiple replenishment. Do not drink a large amount of water at one time because of thirst. This will increase the burden on the heart and pose a certain risk.
Whether drinking water is sufficient can also be judged by observing the color of urine. If your urine turns dark yellow after running, it means that your body is still short of water and needs to be hydrated.
6. Choose the wrong clothes, wear too much or too little
If you wear too much or too little, the experience will not be good after running, and it may also increase the risk of illness.
How to avoid it?
Choose suitable fabrics for clothing materials. Moisture absorption and quick-drying are necessary. Avoid wearing pure cotton clothing, which can keep your body dry to the greatest extent. Pay attention to the weather before running.
Three-layer dressing can be used for winter running: the innermost layer quickly conducts sweat, the middle layer keeps warm, and the outermost layer is wind and rainproof. Hats and gloves are also necessary. Dressing temperature = outdoor temperature + 10℃. For example, if the outdoor temperature is 10°C, you need to add 10°C. You can choose according to the thickness of the sportswear you wear when you are not running at 20°C.
In summer, you should choose loose, light-colored clothes.
7. Overtraining
In order to achieve good results in the next race, some runners have formulated a strict training plan. They run too much, run too hard, and do not allow themselves proper recovery time.
They believe that only by running every day can they become healthier and faster. But usually overtraining is the main cause of injuries.
How to avoid it?
In order to prevent injuries, it is necessary to include proper rest and recovery in the training program.
- Gradually increase the amount of training
- Arrange a regular “rest week” for yourself and reduce your running volume by 50% during this week.
- Take a day off after a high-load run. Rest days are vital to the recovery of the body and muscles, and it also helps to improve performance.
- Add some cross training to the plan. Cross training can alleviate the boredom caused by just running, and it can also exercise different muscle groups in the body, so that the body is more balanced, and the muscles and joints used during running can be rested.
8. Start too fast
For some inexperienced runners, one of the most common mistakes made in competitions is running too fast at the start. Most runners will experience stories like this: they feel very good at the start, they can definitely be a PB, and then they run away in the second half.
Starting too fast will cause the body to suffer from “oxygen deficiency”. If the body has no time to adapt, the heart rate will quickly rise to a very high point, and it will not take long for you to hold on.
How to avoid it?
The best way to avoid starting too fast is to deliberately slow down at the start, preferably slower than your planned pace for the last mile. This may be difficult to do because you always feel that you are physically fit at the start.
But it must be remembered that if you run too fast in the first half, the second half will probably take twice as long as the first half.
Keep a correct attitude at the start, and don’t follow others blindly. Gradually enter the state at a comfortable speed, check the bracelet/watch, and slow down in time if the speed is fast.
9. Can’t breathe
Some runners don’t know how to breathe while running. Their breath is too shallow, which will cause problems such as suffocation.
How to avoid it?
As a first-timer, choose a speed at which you can breathe more easily. It is best not to affect your speech while running.
You can choose to breathe in at the same time as your mouth and nose while running. The muscles need oxygen to keep moving, so make sure to breathe in enough oxygen.
Of course, slowly learn to use the diaphragm or abdominal breathing instead of shallow chest breathing. Abdominal breathing allows you to breathe in more air, and it also helps prevent qi. If there is a bad breath, it is usually because you are not warming up enough or breathing abnormally.
Try to focus on your breathing so that you can breathe more deeply and expel more carbon dioxide. You can slow down and adjust slowly when breathing is difficult.
10. Don’t know how to supplement enough nutrition
Many new runners and weight-loss runners underestimate the importance of nutrition. Sufficient nutrition is good for running performance and good health. What you eat before, during, and after running, and when you eat, have a great influence on your running performance and recovery.
How to avoid it?
You can eat a little bit of high-carb, low-fat, and high-protein food an hour and a half or two hours before running. Such as bananas, energy bars and cereals. In order to avoid gastrointestinal discomfort, choose easy-to-digest foods and avoid high-fat and high-fiber.
If you run for more than 90 minutes, you can add some liquid foods during the process, such as energy gel and sports drinks.
It also needs to be supplemented in time after exercise. Studies have shown that within 30 minutes after exercise, muscles are easiest to use glycogen for repair. So you can consume about 100 kcal of food about an hour after exercise.
Don’t ignore protein while ingesting carbohydrates. It is best to supplement with protein and carbohydrate ratio of 1:3. Do not adopt a low-carb diet during training, because carbohydrate is the most important source of energy for runners.
Hope you can avoid these 10 mistakes in time. Running is also a process of constantly improving yourself. Only by keeping learning can you run happily in a healthy, long-term, and harmless manner.
