The VO2 Max Forum

Introduction to Running Mechanics

Running mechanics is a fairly misunderstood topic among many coaches and athletes. There is a lot of misinformation out there on what is considered ‘proper running form’. Some of the most common recommendations I will often here from others is to ‘run with a cadence of >180 steps per minute’, or to ‘kick your heel to your butt when running’, or to ‘run on the ball of your foot’. These recommendations, and more, are incorrect and not based on the most up-to-date scientific literature.

There is an incredibly wide variance in running mechanics among amateurs and professionals, with differences in things like running cadence, arm carry, heel kick, etc. often being quite unique to each runner (6). Research in recent decades has shown that ‘proper running mechanics’ can be best summed up with the following three evidence-based recommendations (6):

1. Run with a slight forward lean at…

Introduction

Muscle cramping is something that nearly every single endurance athlete has dealt with at some point in their sporting journey. Cramping can be mild and bearable for some, but debilitating for others. Cramping can also unfairly afflict some athletes more than others. Cramping during a race can literally cause an athlete to withdraw from an event they have trained for and invested in for months or even years of their life. Cramping also does not discriminate as it affects everyone from complete beginners to the highest performing professionals.

Muscle cramping, however, is an often very misunderstood topic and one that is fraught with misinformation and touted “miracle cures” and “formulas” that are supposed to help athletes avoid muscle cramping during training and racing. Yet, if there is anything that the research literature has taught us over the years, it is that muscle cramping is without a doubt NOT caused…

Introduction

Compression socks or calf sleeves (referred throughout as ‘garments’) are popular amongst endurance athletes, particularly runners and triathletes. They are typically worn by athlete either during training/racing to improve performance or after exercise to augment recovery. Regardless of what the actual scientific evidence might be in support or opposition of these potential benefits, many endurance athletes wear them because it mentally makes the athlete feel better or just ‘feels good’ in general to be wearing compression garments. But what does the scientific evidence say? Is there evidence to support the use of compression garments to improve performance and enhance recovery? Let’s find out.

What are the Theoretical Mechanisms Behind Compression Garments?

The potential mechanisms proposed as to why compression garments help athletes can be divided into two categories:

1. During exercise

Introduction

Climate change is something that we all have to face and navigate as a human species. We can only hope that we are able to make progress towards reducing our burden on the planet’s global temperature, and therefore climate patterns, by reducing our output of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. However, making the changes necessary to delay or slow the warming of the planet will take decades to realize, and in the meantime, we will all be dealing with some of the ramifications of hotter average global temperatures and the impact that this has on global climate patterns. Endurance athletes are a unique group of people that can be impacted by climate change in various ways, and it goes beyond the obvious of having to train and race in warmer weather more frequently. Herein, I discuss some areas of concern for endurance athletes moving forward, and how to address…