Sunday, June 1, 2014

TWO WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR 5K SPEED

Self-promotion isn't something I'm good at.

But results speak for themselves.

This past weekend my wife ran her fastest 5k ever, a 24:02, which is a 7:45/mile pace.


She's only 7 months out from our new baby, and she only spent four weeks applying her new training system, which comes from my MYFASTEST5K program, available on www.shop.fitmeupfitness.com

So you ask, "Coach Theo, what are TWO THINGS that I could do to increase my 5k time?"

Hands-down, here's what I would say:

1. HILL WORK:
Hill sprints do something incredible to your conditioning. They increase your leg strength tremendously and build a strong work capacity that makes standard straight land running seem easy peasy. You don't have to go crazy either. Find a hill that takes about :15 seconds to sprint up, or set the treadmill to a 13% incline. Run up as fast as you can, taking at minimum :45 seconds rest before your next sprint. You want your sprint to be as fast as possible. So don't undermine the rest. Then start with 10 reps and work your way up to 22 reps. You don't need to go more than that. You're not trying to kill yourself here!

2. STAIR WORK:
Let me say that this is by far the biggest game-changer. Strength improves speed. And stairs build leg strength and power like you wouldn't believe. You don't need to stress too much about rhyme or reason here. Here's a few ways you can do this: A. find a local football stadium and run up and down each aisle for a total of 20-30 minutes. You can hit single steps or double steps (skipping one for a bigger stride). B. Find a long stair case at a local park or monument and sprint straight up and down as fast as you can for a total of 20-30 minutes. C. Or find a stairwell inside a sky-rise or tall apartment building and challenge yourself to get from bottom to top a few times.

The key is in training, in my opinion, is always to TRAIN SMARTER THEN HARDER. I know everyone wants to feel depleted and exhausted after a workout, because if not, then you fee like it wasn't effective. But you need to retrain your mindset around this. THAT'S A LIE.

There's a time and place to leave the gym feeling completely toasted with nothing left in the tank. But there's also a huge NEED to leave some left, and walk away feeling like you still have energy. You can't be at 100% performance every day.  While hill sprints and stair work will take you to a max threshold, you'll see in MYFASTEST5K Program the benefits from slow and steady long runs. Recovery runs are paramount and even though it takes a lot of patience to slow down beyond what you're used to, your results and your body will love you for it!

But don't take my word for it. Put yourself to the test and see what happens. It may just be an absolute game-changer.

It's not about me,
Coach Theo







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