Want To Run Faster, Run Longer, Or Both?

[ThePromise]

General Information
Trying to develop speed for a sport? Well there are a few things that you will need to know first. The first is muscle fibers. There are three muscle fibers that are involved in running that are present in your legs; one is fast twitch muscle, one is slow twitch muscle, and the third is a neutral muscle that can be trained either way. The second factor for speed is neural reaction time from the brain to the muscle.
Sprinters have a great deal of fast twitch muscle. The muscle is called fast twitch because it is very quick reacting to neural impulses sent by the brain and are rapid moving; they cannot be fueled by the aerobic energy system so the must draw energy from the anaerobic system (which depletes quickly).
The slow twitch muscles are usually found in cross country runners. Slow twitch muscle types can run on and on and on because the muscles are energized by the aerobic system, so as long as you are breathing oxygen then the muscles will continue to move; however, slow twitch muscle has is name for a reason, so many long distance runners cannot run very fast over a short distance.
The neutral muscles are very adaptable muscles that react very quickly to training. When trained properly, the neutral muscles can actually carry both sprinting and long distance qualities. A person with a great amount of these muscles, when properly trained, won?t be able to run a NFL speed 40yd or an Olympic class marathon, but they might be able to break 4 minutes in the mile or keep a high paced 400m ? 800m run. I?m not saying any person can achieve these marks; I?m just giving a hypothetical example.

Training
Fast twitch muscle fiber is developed in the exact same way it is used, just like every other muscle type. Weight lifting is a key way to develop fast twitch muscles. Another way to develop fast twitch muscle is to run sprints, 20m ? 100m if you are building the speed aspect, and 200m-800m if you are building the anaerobic support system. Also, using resistance such as a parachute or a sled with weight can help build the fast twitch muscle fibers. The energy system for the fast twitch fibers is generally very limited, only lasting about 30 to 40 seconds. To increase this energy system, the system must be stressed, this is done by depleting the system and continuing to run at an anaerobic pace for a greater distance. A good example of this is to run 600m; when running the drill, try to hit the first lap at about 10 seconds over your competition 400m time (if you don?t know your competition 400m time then run a 400m as fast as you possibly can, which may hurt? a lot) and after the 400m try to continue at that pace all the way through the finish of the 600m. Most people can?t continue at that pace past the 400m, but by continuing to stress the anaerobic system to such an extreme, it forces the system to adapt and generates a greater anaerobic capacity. To improve neural reaction speed and neural connections to the muscles in order to improve muscle reaction time (increases turnover when sprinting), then you could so a series of speed drills. Any speed drill you do must focus on the speed that the drill is being performed at, and must NOT be done using anything but YOUR OWN BODY WEIGHT, no weights. You should do drills such as box jumps, focusing solely on how fast you can get from the ground to the top of the box (time on the box doesn?t matter). Another drill is running flys, also known as in-and-outs, down-hills, and build-ups. What this drill is, is building up to a peak speed using a slow acceleration over about 40m, then holding that speed for 20m, then slowly decelerate over another 40m or so. This exercise is BEST done on a very slight down grade. The quick ?top speed? phase of the workout causes your brain to fire at a very rapid rate that it is not used to, causing the body to adapt by making more neural connections on the muscle for the brain to send too. Do not do any neural workout unless your body is fully recovered? Doing sets of each workout over and over to exhaustion is not the point of the workout, because that will build stamina, not speed. Speed is built by challenging the neural connections, if you are too tired to perform at a speed to challenge what your brain is already used to, than it will have little to no affect on building connections and improving neural firing speed. Remember, fast twitch muscle and neural connections are two different sets of workouts, fast twitch is developed when extreme stress is applied to the system, whereas speed is developed by maximum output for minimal amounts of time.
Slow twitch muscle fiber: I personally know very little in the development of slow twitch muscle because I am a sprinter and only studied in depth on how to develop speed. However, I do know the basics. The general idea of long distance is simple, run, a lot! The more you run constantly then them more your muscles will learn to process oxygen and convert it to energy. But, to increase speed, there is one method that I can say I know works. Take a distance you usually run and run it a few times, then record the time it takes you to run the distance. The next time you run the distance, try to cut the time. If you are finding it hard to cut the time, then record the time for each mile; then try to cut the time for each mile individually, if you come in to one of the mile check point at an even time, pick up the pace and try to make the next time in under your usual. This will force you too train your muscle to use the oxygen more efficiently and therefore allowing your muscles to have a greater energy/performance output. The best way to train for a shorter distance race is to do the exact same method, only up the pace and drop the distance. Running a race is usually the best training for any event, so try to run the event at full race pace once a week. This will train your body to get used to what competition should feel like and allow you to adapt where necessary if you are not used to running that distance at that pace. On another note, one thing that you should do no matter how far you run is to do an occasional LONG run, much longer than you are used to (about 2 to 4 times the distance you usually run in competition). This will increase your aerobic capacity that will allow you to excel no matter what distance you run, because aerobic fitness is one of the most important elements to distance running. A good aerobic building exercise, even though it isn?t a running workout, is swimming. An occasional long term swim workout will build the aerobic capacity of a runner better than any running workout, because the breathing of a swimmer must be paced and cannot be constant because the head of a swimmer is underwater half the time. Doing a swim workout will increase lung capacity and aerobic fitness, and is always a good exercise to throw in once in a while. Also, swim running (putting a life vest on and running in place in water) will do the same for aerobic fitness, and it is the best exercise you can do when you have an injury and are nursing it back to health, because there is no impact on any of the joints and you are still getting the aerobic workout.
Neutral muscle fibers are the easiest to train because you are training them all the time. The neutral muscle fibers adapt to whatever you are doing. If you do nothing but sprint then they will show characteristics of fast twitch, and same goes with long distance and slow twitch fibers. These fibers are some of the most important when it comes to middle distance runners, also known as long distance sprinters. By training both distance and sprinting, these muscle fibers can adapt and become what some researchers call ?hybrid? fibers, which are capable of both sprinting and long distances (not to the extent of the pure slow twitch or pure fast twitch muscle fibers however).

Converting Muscle Types
Researchers have proven that it is possible to convert slow twitch muscle fiber to fast twitch muscle fiber and vise-versa. However, slow twitch fiber is easier to convert to fast twitch than fast twitch fiber is to convert to slow twitch. This can be done simply by exercising the muscle fiber that you want to build. So if you want to build more fast twitch, do some lifting and power resistance exercises. If you want to develop more slow twitch fibers, the going on long runs or any exercise that engages the aerobic energy system rather than the anaerobic.

[The Kurgan]

Good article.

[Slicker]

nice one

[Scar]

one of the most sensible and authoritive articles i've read on this subject

[RRiley99]

Great article

[AlexFields12]

Great info

[wamplex]

great article, I have a problem with running longer than 10mins~ would like to increase it to 20 mins at least.

[Jason155]

Thanks for the write up, OP.

Whenever I am out for a run or on the treadmill at the gym I get considerably tired after ~15 minutes.

Will take into account everything you wrote and hope to double it

[NuttyRage]

Great article bro

[NuttyRage]

Can anyone tell me if theres a way to check why my rep level is so low? lol. I made this account a year ago and never posted anything and I log on today and my rep level is low, I JUST STARTED POSTING STUFF TODAY -_- lol

[Runner99]

I enjoyed your sprinting section, but there are some glaring errors in this part that would likely lead any aspiring distance runner to several injuries.

First, the whole 'trying to pick up the pace each run' thing is very incorrect. Fact is, the majority (60-70%) of distance training should be at a very comfortable, easy pace. Most runners find this pace to be one they can hold a conversation at without finding themselves gasping for words.

Next, the statement about racing being the best training is completely false. Racing should not be a regular activity for an aspiring distance runner. Distance races break down the body far more than sprints. It takes considerably longer to recover. If one races too often, they will be constantly recovering, losing time which could be spend training. It is during these training sessions (intervals, hills, tempo runs, longs runs, etc.) where true development occurs, not races. Thus, over-racing will likely lead to little developement, poor results, and loss of motivation.

You mentioned the long run, which was great. However, it should be given more importance. Long runs are a key workout for any distance runner. They should be a weekly session. Not an occasional one.

I hate to pick these things out, as one can tell you invested a great deal of time into your article. The sprinting section was very well written. However, I did find myself needing to address those points. I come from a distance running background (NCAA D2 All-American Cross country) and was blessed with great coaches that really taught me a lot about the sport. If you ever want to put our brains together to come up with a dynamite running article, get at me man!

[yogadancefit123]

Nice!! Thanks

[yogadancefit123]

How can I avoid muscle loss as a long distance runner?

[Runner99]

How can I avoid muscle loss as a long distance runner?

Biggest piece of advice I can give is really listen to your body. When you start combining serious distance running with lifting, your body starts to get run down quick. When you need a day off, take it. Recovery is gonna be key to preserving muscle.
Train hard. Rest Hard.

[BigBD0303]

Also a tip for people trying to run say a simple 5 miles most people cant even run that. So what you do is run then walk once you cant run anymore. Then pick up again running if you can later and if you have to stop again then stop and so on. Run that same distance until you own it without stopping to walk than pick a longer distance next time. This technique is awesome for distance runners. Runner 99 is correct long runs should only be performed at most once a week for distance runners. If enough rest is not utilized not only will the muscles fail to improve but your CNS will be worthless and overworked which is just as bad if not worse. Another technique, distance runners also use interval training such as walking and sprinting periods because after a while it turns into a aerobic and anaerobic excersize.

[amtt81]

this was a great post.

[XNibiru]

this was a great post.

I wish I read this long ago.