The optimal training duration for success
Determining the ideal training duration is not so easy. It should result in a continuous increase in performance without harming your health. If the training time is greatly overdrawn, the body can be overstrained and can no longer process the training stimuli appropriately or withstand the strain.
The consequences are on the one hand a weakened organism, which is more susceptible to illness and injury. On the other hand, the athletic goals are also missed, since runners* do not become better and faster, but worse and slower, as a result of too long a period of stress. The goal of running training should therefore be to make the organism adapt to the stimuli by gradually increasing the load.
With the metabolic processes improving in this way, the performance of the runner* will also increase over time. However, several factors must be taken into account in order to find the optimal training duration. Besides age, experience and athletic fitness are particularly important.
Not only older runners* must not overdo themselves in the duration of their training, but also young athletes* who have only recently started running must slowly bring their bodies up to the unusual strain. In addition, training success and health well-being also depend on the correct posture, personal running style and running technique. During training, the movement sequences should therefore be controlled and corrected if necessary.
The correct posture and small steps require less effort, so that the energy can be used to increase the running time. Especially for beginners* a sensible running training could be structured in such a way that one or two days of training are followed by a day of rest. Creating a diary can help to adapt the load and unloading phases to your own requirements. The signals of the body should be taken into account when looking for the right training duration.
Running and stretching – yes or no?
Nowadays, the everyday life of humans is mainly sitting. This way of life leads in the long run to a shortening of certain muscle groups, because they lose length and flexibility in the long run, if they are motionless in one position for a long time. The consequences are restricted movement, poor posture and pain.
Stretching is intended to counteract this and aims to keep muscles, tendons and ligaments of the musculoskeletal system elastic, improve joint mobility and reduce the risk of running injuries. However, it should always be stretched only in a well warmed up state in order to avoid injuries. Stretching exercises are therefore useful, for example, after light running training and after strength and trunk stabilization exercises.
Static stretching is generally preferred. It is characterized by the fact that the stretching position is taken carefully and the stretching tension for each muscle is then held for about 20 seconds. Each exercise should be performed two to three times on each side, although problem areas can also be stretched more frequently.
However, the pain threshold should always be taken into account, as otherwise the muscle’s counter-tension will not relax. Stretching the muscles alone is not enough to reduce the risk of injury when running. It always includes strength training of the antagonists, i.e. the muscular opponents, in order to avoid or correct imbalances.Extensive stretching of the muscles immediately before a race is counterproductive, because the muscle tension required for the race becomes too low due to the preceding stretching.
Before fast running units only light stretching exercises are useful, which can be combined with short uphill runs to put the muscles into the necessary tension. Runners* with over-mobility not only do not benefit from stretching before and after running, but also tend to increase their problems. Stabilization exercises are more suitable for those affected.
In addition, stretching after a strenuous competition or in the case of severe muscle ache, e.g. after a hard running training, should be avoided as a matter of principle. On the one hand, in order not to increase the muscular damage caused by the running load, on the other hand, in order not to disturb the repair processes of the stricken muscles. In these cases, swimming or walking, but also warm baths, are more sensible than stretching.
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