As any runner will tell you, pounding the pavement becomes a way of life.
It’s your precious you time. When you get your best ideas and let go of the day’s stresses.
From the mood-boosting rewards to the cardiovascular benefits, once you’re hooked, it’s hard to stop.
But to up your running game and avoid a plateau, you need to do much more than just run. You need to cross train.
Core work, strength and mobility workouts are essential to improving speed, form and economy — as well as injury-proofing your body. And if you want to be a life-long runner, these things should be at the top of your list.
That’s where Fiit comes in. With hundreds of bodyweight, equipment, HIIT and yoga classes in one simple app.
Cardio and strength training
HIIT workouts will improve your speed, endurance and pace by training your body to move explosively and fight fatigue. 25 minute cardio classes aren’t hard to fit around a busy schedule but they make all the different come race day.
Similarly, weight (or bodyweight) training will make you a more efficient runner by building stronger muscles that help you power through longer runs. Simple exercises such as planks, crunches, squats and bridges lead to stronger abs and glutes — ensuring you have the muscle needed to protect your joints from high-impact runs.
Become a better runner
Top tip: Don’t neglect your upper body. As a runner, your arms will pump you forward. The stronger the arms, the faster you’ll go and the longer you’ll last. So work those push ups. If you want to go that extra mile, add in a resistance band.
Yoga, Pilates and Mobility training
Balance, agility and flexibility — three skills that improve your range of motion, release tension and prevent injury. And all it takes is some light downward dog action!
The classes in our Rebalance studio are designed to stretch and lengthen tight muscles but also to develop stability and strength in the core and hips. This is particularly important toward the late stages of a run when many runners start to lean their bodies forward. By using a strong core to control posture, you’ll avoid placing extra stress on the lower body when you’re at your most tired.
Top tip: Don’t overstretch before a big run. Instead, try a yoga class post-run and elongate tight muscles as you wind down the body and mind.
Cross train with Fiit to run faster for longer
Breathwork
At Fiit, we think of Breathwork as our secret weapon. The reason we succeed where others fail.
Learning to breathe might sound like an alien concept — after all, you’ve been doing it all your life! But many runners do it wrong. Taking in oxygen in faster than you can expel CO2, can actually starve the lungs of oxygen instead of fueling them.
World-renowned breath guru and Fiit trainer, Richie Bostock (@thebreathguy), will show you how to use your breath to run further, faster, for longer.
“Using your breath properly while running means you’ll use energy more efficiently to draw in max amounts of air, maintain the correct balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood —so you don’t gas out, and optimise the buffering of lactic acid in your muscles.”
Top tip: Try Richie’s six-week Breathwork plan (exclusive to Fiit). Learn to retrain your nervous system and boost your athletic performance. Read more about the benefits of Breathwork here.
Download the Fiit app to access 50+ classes designed for runners. And watch the video below for more top tips (from our very own running guru @adrienne_ldn).
Training for a running event? Track your progress and let us know how you get on.
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