How important are striders in overall training?

Derderian will say yes. And yes, I am wasting time before practice right now. See you soon, Tom!

They are extremely important. Honestly why not just do them because they help develop your speed without taking anything away from your run tommorow.

Not that I think strides fall into this category, but do you think there are training practices that we adhere to based on the "it's just the way everyone does it" mentality? Would we make more training breakthroughs if we sometimes went against conventional wisdom?

sheep wrote:

Not that I think strides fall into this category, but do you think there are training practices that we adhere to based on the "it's just the way everyone does it" mentality?

Sure: stretching as a warmup. Stretching does essentially nothing to raise muscle temps. An athlete of mine had a substantial injury when (against team policy) he stretched a cold muscle.

So whats the difference between light stretching and light running to warm up a muscle? Couldn't a person substantially injure themselves running with cold muscles?

I didn't realize how important they were until I didn't do them. My speed diminished and I had terrible turnover but now my stride (when I do a regular run) is easier and loose.

A Quick and Dirty Primer on Strides

Many distance runners are conscientious about putting in miles or running quality speed workouts, but these same runners often neglect an important aspect of the training package: Strides. The following article gives you the basics on this important, yet oft neglected training technique.

WHAT ARE STRIDES? Strides (or striders or strideouts) are short, fast runs of between 50 and 200 metres. They are run at a "comfortable sprint" pace (i.e. as fast as you can go without tying up and losing good form.) A typical Strides Session might be 10 x 100m following a 30 minute easy run.

WHO SHOULD DO STRIDES? All distance racers, from milers to marathoners, should incorporate Strides into their training program on a year round basis. However, as a general rule, they are more important for shorter distance runners.

WHY DO I NEED TO DO STRIDES? Strides help you in at least three ways:

Improved leg speed - to run fast, you gotta run fast

Improved flexibility and coordination - faster running puts your legs through a more complete range of motion; quicker leg turnover forces you to coordinate your movements to prevent tripping or stumbling

Improved running economy - training your muscles to run fast and relaxed over a short distance should translate into faster, relaxed running at longer distances.

WHEN SHOULD I DO STRIDES? You should do a full Strides Session at least once a week, preferably after a medium intensity or recovery run. In addition, a few strides (e.g. 6 x 50m) can be done as part of a warm up before a race or track workout. Because good form is important when doing Strides, you should avoid doing them after an intense speed workout or very long run; you don't want to be fatigued when you are doing them.

WHERE SHOULD I DO STRIDES? A soft, yet smooth and consistent surface is the best venue for Strides. A well maintained football field or soccer pitch is an excellent choice. Alternatively, a relatively flat beach during low tide is another good option. Running Strides in bare feet can help you develop flexibility and strength in your feet, ankles, and lower legs.

HOW SHOULD I DO STRIDES? The key to running good Strides is to think Fast and Relaxed. You should be concentrating on quick leg turnover, relaxed shoulders, and a tall posture. In addition, don't over stride. Take a full recovery between each repetition; you shouldn't be out of breath before you start a Stride. If you find yourself tying up before the end of each Stride, either slow down, take more rest between reps, or shorten the distance of the repetition.

Nobody's going to get hurt by using a run to warm up. Running is a natural motion, whereas stretching is completely unnatural.

running is natural and stretching is natural - what world do you come from? Do you ever see animals stretch? How about the famous cat stretch? What bout the science/art of yoga? Possibly it is a lack of understanding about what stretching does that leads you to make such an erroneous comment.

As for strides or striders or runthroughs. Ummmm EVERY SESSION as a part of the warmup which includes some jogging, some stretching and some light warmup activities before strides increases to 100% and THEN the session.

This is standard practise. Avoid stretching and you take unnecessary risk, and ignore strides and you take unnecessary risk. So get over your laziness and do them oh distance runner .

slow running to warm up is better because of the thixotropic change that occurs in the myofascial system (the connective tissue around muscles) THe movement creates warming effect, thus making the fascia more fluid (thixotropy).

Kinda like warming your car up on a cold day helps the oil warm and pass more easily through the engine or an increase in viscosity.