How Running Drills Will Help You Run Faster

As an elite runner, it is important to put a lot of time and effort into making sure you do everything you can to be successful.

However, if you have read my blog for any amount of time, you will know that I pride myself on being easy to relate to, and real.

I am not showing you these for you to admire, but these are real things that you can incorporate into your training to become a better runner.

I don’t beat around the bush with things, I am honest and open (as you can read in my Be Brave, Be Strong, Be YOU post), and I honestly believe these secrets of success will make you feel more confident as a person, as well as doing what is best for your running.

Hopefully you can use at least a few of them to be the best you can be.

How do running drills help runners?

Drills will help you concentrate on getting your form right, which will translate over to running more efficiently, running more efficiently will lead to running faster, and we all know what running faster leads to; big PRS!

Drills should be completed 2-3 times per week; before workouts, and after recovery runs to assist strides in prepping those fast twitch muscles for workouts/races.

There are a number of drills that different athletes use. I actually only do three of these (as you will see), but I have included another set of videos to show you some other popular running drills, check them out on my YouTube channel, which you can get to HERE.

High knee drills for runners

Drive your knees up high, and pump your arms back and forward to bring more motion to your legs.

Focus on bringing your quad muscle parallel with the floor, and your foot should also be parallel to the floor before it goes back down. You should not be moving very fast as the movement should be mostly up and down rather than forwards.

Butt kick drills for runners

Similar to High Knees with the arms, but the legs should be tucked under you more as you do what the title says; kick your butt!

Runner shuffle drill

I call this shuffle, but it is also a version of B Skips.

The focus should be on snapping your foot back to underneath you as fast as possible.

This one takes some practice as it begins similar to high knees, but you should snap your leg back faster towards the center of your body.

If you need to do it as a walking drill first, it is important to get the motion down before you try running.

Bounding drill for runners

This one is best shown by this video

Carioca drill for runners

This video is a little long, but it is a complicated exercise for first timers, so it breaks it down step by step!

Backward running drills for runners

Hamstring extension drills

Here’s Bobby again!

High skipping drill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HMEYyflHn0

And there you have it.

Chose a few of these to do each time you do drills. I would definitely recommend the three that I do, but if you prefer some of the others, that is okay too!

These are best to do before strides as they encourage you to focus on correct running form. You can then apply that correct running form to your strides.

Oh, and do not worry about strange looks from people as you do this. They are most likely in awe of you!

What is your pre workout/race routine? Do you ever get strange looks when you are doing your exercises?

speed

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