I DID THESE 3 THINGS FOR 90 DAYS AND BECAME A FASTER, STRONGER RUNNER

I DID THESE 3 THINGS FOR 90 DAYS AND BECAME A FASTER, STRONGER RUNNER

By mindbodygreen.com - Lisa Kelly

It wasn't long after I started running that I began to look for ways to become faster and stronger. I followed tailored training plans, started running in a group, bought new shoes and added more miles. As I increased the miles in my training, I noticed that even though my endurance was improving, my knees still ached and my legs felt tired. I didn't have the power in my lower half to climb hills and finish races with a strong sprint, despite devoting countless training days to uphill runs and speed training.

I made the decision to focus on three additions to my running regimen for 90 days to see if I could observe any noticeable or measurable differences in my runs. After three months of consistently doing these three things, I completely eliminated my knee pain, increased my sprint speed and dropped my average mile pace by 1:30 per mile.

1. Squat

After years years listening to the non-squatting community adamantly proclaim that squats were bad for your knees (and after two knee surgeries), I'd sworn off squats.

But during this 90 day experiment, I learned that squats have been wrongly accused. Squats work by targeting the muscles of the hips, thighs and core stabilizers as well as the supporting tendons and ligaments. This results in improved stability in the hips and knees, as well as increased muscle strength to the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteus maximus. They also engage the muscles of the core and lower back, resulting in improved running posture.

Squats will make your legs stronger. Stronger legs are more powerful. More powerful legs are faster.

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