A February 2018 study undertaken by a team of Danish physiologists, investigated “whether improved running economy, with a period of speed endurance training and reduced volume, could be related to adaptations in specific muscle fibres”.

Whilst the researchers were looking more at the adaptations of different muscle fibres, the outcomes of the physiology tests makes interesting reading.

The study took 20 trained runners, 14 male and six female, and set them a 40-day training period with 10 sessions of speed endurance training alongside a 36% reduction in their running volume. The 10-speed sessions comprised of five to 10 x 30-sec maximal running efforts.

The speed endurance training formed part of an eight-day cycle of training, with the sessions on days two and six.

The participants started with six 30 second efforts, separated by three 1/2 minutes of walking recovery before progressing to 10 intervals of 30 seconds for the second half of the study.

Before the training began the participants undertook tests such as an incremental test to exhaustion, a muscle biopsy, running at 60% VO2Max and a 10km time trial. The last two were undertaken in both normal and depleted glycogen states to compare the difference.

At the end of the 10 weeks, the tests were performed again.

What were the results?

After the 10 weeks of reduced running volume and the specific 30-second effort sessions, both tests with normal glycogen levels and depleted, saw improvements in 10km time trial performances.

In the first test (glycogen levels in a normal state) there was a 3.2%, improvement, with the average 10k time dropping from 45.2 minutes to 43.7 minutes.

With glycogen depleted, participants in the 10-week study saw an average improvement in their 10k time trial of 3.9%. From 47.7 minutes beforehand compared to 45.8 minutes afterwards.

VO2 Max stayed the same after the study, but vVO2 Max, the velocity at VO2 Max, saw an increase. Basically the speed endurance sessions increased the efficiency of the runners at top end speed and there was more bang for your buck.

Running economy was improved in the 60% VO2 Max test and the 10km time trial. Showing you don’t have to be a sprinter to get the benefits of running at maximal effort. An improvement of the top end economy also sees efficiency at lower speeds improved.

Considerations?

It is important to note there was no control group of normal progression to compare the findings. The benefits seen could have taken place with the normal training of the subjects as well.

There is no mention of whether the participants in the study had previously undertaken any speed endurance training. The potential benefits to a runner who regularly undertakes similar training already was not discussed but it could be hypothesised benefits would be lessened.

Many athletes and coaches use high-speed efforts to improve running economy and this study reinforces the reasoning behind. Running at full speed for short bursts can improve running economy at all speeds.

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A series of strides are usually performed as short sprints over 100m to 150m at 85% to 90% max effort, roughly your 5k pace or slightly quicker, followed by a recovery between each stride and repeating.

Typically, you will perform four to six either after an easy/recovery run, before a high-intensity training session or before a race.

The benefits of strides
There are numerous benefits from adding strides into your training routine, but it can also depend on their intended use; pre-race, training session or following an easy/recovery run.

Firstly strides help you work on your running form and biomechanics in short manageable ways. It’s a lot easier to focus on good form and how you land with each step over 100m and feeling reasonably fresh, than it is tired during a long run.

This repetition will help create mental reminders to how you should be running when fatigue sets in and form suffers during a race. Also by simulating good running form, it becomes more natural for the body to sustain during a race.

Before a race or training session, a series of strides are a great way to warm up and prepare your body, both physically and mentally for the faster pace to come. You will elevate your heart rate and increase the blood circulation to your muscles, loosening the joints and tendons used in running fast. Preparing the body in this way will also help prevent injuries.

Further reading about how to warm up before a race or training can be found here.

Strides are also beneficial for recovery and stretching out your stiff legs, particularly the day after a high-intensity session or high mileage run. After your easy/recovery runs a few (four is fine) strides in this manner will increase blood circulation to your muscles, break up some lactic acid build-up in your legs, and help aid recovery.

For distance runners, where a lot of training is aerobic, strides are a good way to add some extra speed work into your training by recruiting your fast twitch muscles without needing the extra recovery time that you otherwise need following a full high-intensity session.

How to perform strides
To perform strides accelerate gradually over 25 – 30 metres (85% to 90% of your max effort, roughly your 5k pace or slightly quicker) and hold that pace for 50 to 70 metres, before easing off and coming to a gradual stop over the last 25 – 30 metres.

You will want to find flat terrain and it’s advisable to ease into the pace over those first metres to help avoid injury. Stay relaxed throughout, and pay attention to your form; shoulders, head, arms and focus on landing on the front of your midfoot with each step.

Take time to recovery after each stride, either walk back to were you started or wait for about one to two minutes before beginning the next one.

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Warming up will prepare your muscles before you suddenly shoot off at a fast pace at the start of a race or in training. It is an essential part of injury prevention and the benefits are not only physiological, there’s also the psychological benefits that leave you mentally prepared for what’s to come.

Reducing risk of injury
So how does warming up reduce your risk of injuries? Warming up correctly increases your heart rate and blood circulation; this will loosen up bones, joints and tendons and increase the blood flow to the primary muscles used in running.

By bringing your heart rate up warming up increase the body temperature and this keeps your muscles warm and will help prevent acute injuries such as hamstring strains and decrease the likelihood of flaring up tendons such as your Achilles.

While there is limited research to fully endorse warming up as an injury prevention method, studies do agree that the weight of evidence points is in favour of it decreasing the risk of injury.

Physical performance
How often do you feel lethargic at the start of a race or the first couple of reps in training? But after a few, you start to get into a rhythm.

As mentioned, your body temperature rises when you warm up and this also increases the rate at which oxygen circulates throughout the body.

This stimulates the neural pathways (highways in the brain that transmit messages) between your brain and muscles, and this helps improve muscle contraction, preparing your body for the training session or race and helping avoid that sluggish feeling.

Mental performance
If nothing else going through the steps of a familiar warm-up routine keeps your mind engaged helping to stave off nerves before the race.

During the steps include some positive reflection to remind yourself of past successful races or training sessions. This will help encourage confidence in your own ability, leaving you motivated to get the job done.

Tips for warming up before a race
1. Start your warm-up routine 35 to 45 minutes before the start of the race.

2. The shorter the distance, the more time you should spend warming up. While warming up before a marathon is important, it is even more so before a 5K race, and duration and intensity levels should match this.

3. Begin your warm-up with 15 to 25 minutes (depending on the race distance) easy running. Ensure that it exerts as little energy as possible.

4. Follow that up with some stretching. Particularly dynamic stretches, for five to 10 minutes.

5. Next, you want to get your body primed for the fast pace you aim to run from the start. To do this perform a series of 100m strides, four to six is ideal. To perform a stride correctly gradually accelerate to a pace slighter faster than your race goal pace, hold it and then gradually decelerate over the 100m.

This will elevate your heart rate and increase the blood flow to your muscles. Take 30 seconds of easy running after each stride before repeating.

6. While you are going through your warm-up drills think back to past successes in races and training, in particular, times when you doubted yourself and proved otherwise.

7. An important point to add is to be cautious you do not perform your warm-up too intensely. Gauge this on your current fitness levels, because while we want to want to be fired up before a race, it could add fatigue which will be detrimental to your race performance.

8. Aim to have your warm-up completed five minutes before the race start.

Once that is all done, you are both physically and mentally ready to take on the race and deliver your best performance.

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