Exmouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom
Running tips & advice by Kevin Palmer running coach at ERC
Habit stacking
Habit stacking is a way to introduce exercises which can help your running into your everyday life. For example squats, balancing, calf raises etc are good exercises for runners and a way to regularly perform these exercises is to incorporate them into your daily routine. An example of this is that you brush your teeth every morning, try performing one of these exercises whilst actually brushing your teeth, do this daily and if you keep at it then this will turn into a habit and you won't even have to think about it, you will naturally exercise whilst brushing your teeth.
Heads up
We need to keep practicing our form whilst running, correct technique can really help us. One of the main things to learn is to keep your head up, think of it as having a balloon attached to your head on a string, its keeping your head up. We also need to keep on thinking of what we are looking at, try focusing on looking straight ahead, don't look down.
High hips
Don't slouch when you run, keep your hips high, easier said than done but think of good core strength, stand tall, think of puffing your chest out a bit, be proud of that vest you are wearing.
Warm ups
Always warm up thoroughly. You can start with a light jog but then go into recommended dynamic stretches ending with increasing your intensity to get that heart rate up and prepared for whats to come.
Strength and conditioning
An important part of running is strength and conditioning, we don't just use our legs when running, so many other areas need added strengthening such as glutes, arms and your core. Don't neglect these areas, improving them will help with your running.
Set Realistic Goals
Setting realistic goals can help keep you motivated and on track. Having something to aim for keeps us focused, whether it's a particular time or a distance or completing an event, it will help with our training and get us out there even when we don't feel like it. Always have a reason as to why you run and keep changing up those goals, whatever they might be.