Fit To Run E-Book

Phillip Pearson

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Fit to Run: The Complete Guide to Injury-Free Running has been written to help runners avoid the kinds of injuries that disrupt training schedules and plague careers. Aimed at everyone from the complete beginner to the experienced club runner, this book covers it all: warm-up and cool-down; stretching exercises; technique; core stability and posture; diet and nutrition; treating injuries, and an introduction to current exercise science. Running remains one of the cheapest and most accessible forms of aerobic fitness; all you need is a pair of running shoes and the courage to step out of the front door, so don't let the fear of injury put you off. Superbly illustrated with 102 colour photographs.

Leseprobe

FIT TO RUN

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TOINJURY-FREE RUNNING

PHILLIP PEARSON

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2014 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2014

© Phillip Pearson 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 702 1

Frontispiece: Graham Hillditch

Dedication

To my wife, Christine, Adult Beginners Coach at East Cheshire Harriers &l Tameside Athletic Club, who has helped so many new runners to progress safely through the coaching system and eventually complete their first race. Thanks for her support and assistance with this book.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following individuals who have helped towards the completion of this book: Christine Pearson, ECH &l TAC Adult Beginners Coach, for her assistance, advice and contributions; Bob Smith, former lecturer in Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation Management at Loughborough University, for allowing the use of his original concept of the cardio-respiratory system compared to a railway transport system; Sabine Kussmaul for her ‘train’ illustrations in Chapter 6; Tracy Potts for demonstrating a number of stretching exercises. Thanks are also due to Consulting Editor, Dr Wendy Dodds, for her advice and contributions. Wendy has been a Sports Physician for over thirty years, a Team GB doctor at four Olympic Games, and most recently, a volunteer doctor at London 2012. In retirement she has found the time to compete as a full-time athlete, allowing her to reproduce times from twenty years ago when training was limited by professional commitments.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1

The Basic Principles of Exercise and Training

2

Warm-up and Cool-down

3

Stretching, Suppleness and Flexibility

4

The Energy Systems

5

Determining Training Intensities

6

Physiological Adaptations to Training

7

Running Technique

8

Core Stabiity and Maintenance of Posture

9

Common Running Injuries

10

Diet and Injury Prevention

11

Running in Later Life

12

References

Recommended Further Reading

Glossary

Index

INTRODUCTION

This book is for runners of all standards, whether complete beginners aiming to increase health-related fitness and weight control, or experienced club runners competing in distance races of fve, ten, twenty kilometres, or a full marathon.

Any exercise programme should be based on scientific principles and participants should have some knowledge of the body, how it works, how it responds to training and what can go wrong.

Running is a very accessible and inexpensive form of aerobic conditioning. All that is needed is a suitable pair of running shoes, appropriate clothing and the courage to step out of the front door.

The human body is designed to run. Our earliest ancestors ran great distances in order to survive, hunting to eat, often out-running their quarry until it became exhausted. They would even have had to run to avoid becoming prey. Had they not been designed to run, and able to run, they would not have survived. Mankind would have died out and we would not be here today.

Over many millennia, and because of ever-increasing labour-saving technology, man has eliminated the need to run and body structures have weakened, especially the feet (see more about the structure and function of the human foot in Chapter 7).

Running injuries occur because of the body’s reliance on artificial devices, which try to compensate for weaknesses in tissues subjected to too much stress too soon.

Our bodies are basically the same as early man and we are still designed to run, despite what the sceptics might say. Those who preach the ‘dangers’ of running usually do so out of personal belief, not backed up by scientific evidence, research or study. The benefits of running far outweigh the hazards.