Sept. 8, 2022 – There’s an old joke about Running:
Q: What’s the best way to make the Olympic team?
A: Choose your parents wisely
It’s funny because it’s laced with scientific truth: No aspiring athlete was ever slowed down by good genetics.
Take a look at Recent study out of Spain that explored the relationship between the size of the trunk – the ribcage and waist – and the ability to run fast.
Researchers used a 3D surface scanner for measuring the trunks and hips of 27 male volunteers who ran on a treadmill at different speeds. The results showed no differences in men with different torso shapes running at moderate speeds.
But when they reached 85% effort (working hard) or perceived 100% effort (all-out race pace), the fastest body type became clear: “a relatively narrow, flat torso.”
Your inherited torso shape could give you an advantage. Or not.
Many of these torsos are flat and narrow at the Olympics. That body shape can contribute to what coaches call running efficiency, a major part of fast running – but not the only one. There’s VO2 max – how your body uses oxygen. There’s the ratio of “fast twitch” muscle fiber (sprinting) and “slow twitch” fiber (distance running). You can also look at abstract things such as mental toughness and motivation.
You don’t need the perfect torso to have these traits or improve them. That’s good news for runners everywhere, because research shows running can improve your health and help you live longer.
Running can improve your health
Running for even a small amount of time can reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack. strokeAccording to a 2014 StudyDuck-Chul Lee (Doctor of Philosophy), Iowa State University.
For 15 years, researchers followed 55,000 people. A mere 5-10 minute run, several times per week, can help you get better health. On average, runners lived three years longer than non-runners.
Running can reduce the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and other diseases. Type 2 diabetes, says Russell Pate, PhD, one of Lee’s fellow researchers.
“And we learned during the pandemic that fit people generally had better outcomes against COVID-19,” he says.
Pate is now 76 years old and a research professor in the University of South Carolina’s Exercise Science Department. He’s a longtime distance runner with three top-10 finishes in the Boston Marathon, so you can guess what his torso looks like.
However, as a researcher his main focus is to promote healthy habits of exercise for all ages. Pate says that running is a smart choice because it is “very accessible, relatively inexpensive, and the U.S. often has ‘community support systems’ such as local running clubs or planned trail systems that recreational runners find inviting.”
Pate co-developed the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. They recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week. That’s about 20 minutes a day, which should be doable if you’re looking to get fitKeep your body healthy and happy, he advises.
For runners, this might be less that 20 miles per week. But someone who trains for a half-marathon, or even a 5K, may easily go beyond that.
But before you start a running program – or return to one after time off – get cleared by medical professionals.
You can improve your running, no matter what body type you have
Running coaches understand the importance of running efficiency. And that starts not in the legs, but in your “core.”
“A strong core helps a runner maintain their center of gravity late in the race, when running form begins to break down due to fatigue,” says George Buckheit, a former All-American runner at Bucknell University and founder of the Capital Area Runners club in the Washington, DC, area.
It is easy to strengthen your core with simple planks you can do at home.
Buckheit claims that other than running more, certain drills can help you run faster.
For form drills like “high knees” and “butt kicks” reinforce proper mechanics and increase range of motion. While high knees look like skipping, butt kicks lift the foot from the bottom, near the buttocks. He suggests Lauren Fleshman’s videoThese drills and others can be viewed here.
Running hillsAlso, it reinforces proper form. Even for moderate uphills, you need to have an active rhythmic arm swing as well as a crisp knee lift.
Interval training can increase your VO2 max, or the maximum amount of oxygen your body uses when you’re working out as hard as you can. You can do a faster workout on a track once every 7-10 days. After jogging for 10-15 minutes, do light stretches and drills. Then, run four 800-meter runs at the same pace as your 5K pace. Take a 2- or 3-minute walk/jog “recovery” between each 800-meter run, and finish with 10 to 15 minutes jogging to cool down.
Do not be afraid to push yourself You can build mental toughness, confidence and endurance by working out harder. You can add a few miles to your longest run and include rolling hills. If you’re eyeing a marathon, be sure to enter some 5K or 10K races to get used to the physical and mental demands of competition.
Accelerated work It can help you overcome weaknesses in both fast-twitch muscle and slow-twitch muscle. Short, fast sprints (five or six bursts over 40 or 50 meters) can eventually make you faster and more explosive, while building up weekly mileage or increasing the length of your long, steady-paced runs will activate the “slow twitch” endurance muscles.
Stay Away From Medication
One man in Buckheit’s running club wouldn’t have crushed the Spanish “trunk test.” He was in his late 20s, well over 200 pounds, and on heart meds.
“I was worried I might need my CPR training for this guy,” Buckheit says.
But a well-planned running program – and an athlete willing to Do the running – took the story in another direction. Buckheit’s newbie ran 4 hours for his first marathon, and through diligent training a few years later, he ran one in under 3 hours. That’s under 7 minutes per mile.
“When he did that,” Buckheit said, “I thought, ‘Well, he can’t get much faster.’”
However, the former rookie with heart issues has recently lowered his marathon personal best to 2 hours 37 minutes. He ran at 6 minutes per kilometer for 26 miles.
“I think he really benefited from the accountability and camaraderie of being in a running club,” says Buckheit. “And one day he came to practice and said: ‘My cardiologist wants to know what the hell I’ve been doing. He took me off the heart meds.’”
Can running make it possible to cut back on your medication, or better yet, even eliminate them entirely? According to a 2020 London-based study, yes.
The study put 138 first-time marathoners – men and women between 21 and 69 – on a 17-week program of less than 30 miles per week before the London Marathon. Before and after, blood pressure and arteries had been checked.
Their conclusion: Healthy participants experience a decrease in blood pressure, and a reduction in aortic stiffening. It was as if they’d reduced the age of their blood vessels by 4 years. The benefits were greater for older male runners who ran slower and had higher baseline blood pressure.
Coach Buckheit’s “surprise star” and the results of the London Marathon study are refreshing reminders that not All On top of the medals, our victories will be celebrated
Any Body Can Be a Runner’s Body
In the 1970s, the first running boom was dominated by thin, gnarly men. Now, 44% of marathon runners are women. Oprah Winfrey was a strong advocate for mid-pack runners (or back-of the pack) in recent years. Runner’s World columnist John Bingham, also known as “The Penguin” because of his waddling gait.
Both of them had torso measurements which would have impressed the Spanish researchers. Oprah managed to complete a marathon in four hours, 29 minutes.
“Oprah made a lot of people believers,” says Amby Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon winner. “She was once a very unlikely candidate to make it, and when she did, a lot of people thought, ‘Hey, why can’t I?’”
And Bingham’s column made him the Pied Piper of the Plodder – luring slower runners along with encouragement and humor – en route to lives of better physical and mental well-being.
“We wouldn’t have Dare enter a race like this, with all these fast runners, if it wasn’t for your column,” an admirer gUse this sitehed to him at a marathon expo.
Bingham grinned and said, “Just remember this: There’s a lot more of usMore than there are They.”
Mark Will-Weber was a senior editor at the newspaper. Runner’s WorldMagazine and the editor/writer The Quotable Runner.
