Source
r/Fitness•
CunningLanguageUser

Fittit, I just recently learned how to jog.

And I'm entirely serious. After more than twenty years, I realised that I can in fact run really long distances, if I just make sure I keep my gait under control.

To clarify, I used to just run... slower. After about two minutes or so, my legs would be in pain, and my panting would be out of control, just like it would in sprinting. I used to only be able to manage about a mile, which was near my limit, after which I would be totally wasted. It used to bamboozle me that people who, to look at, were considerably less fit than me managed to outrun me over distances despite carrying more weight, not being noticeably stronger, or moving that much slower.

I don't run, but I often get bored walking and moving slowly. As such, when running for the sake of getting from A to B one night, I, quite spontaneously, decided that maybe I should control my legs a little bit, using a small stride where I don't have to extend my legs, and bam, I feel like I can lazily move at a decent pace without having to worry about my legs being engorged in lactic acid if I just keep it disciplined and constrain the movement of my legs and lean forward. A revelation.

And I have some questions:

  • Am I a retard to not have realised this? Has it happened to anyone else? I play sports, but mostly football (soccer), which is mainly a mix and match between walking and sprinting, which meant this could pretty much go unnoticed.

  • Is it a bad thing to have discovered this? I'm not sure I could go back to running the way I used to even if I wanted to. I feel I must have been giving myself a decent work out by being so inefficient, and that this type of running won't help me with any fitness goals I have so much.

Posted Jul 10, 2011, 3:54 PM UTC · edited

2333
[deleted]•

You should never ask the internet if you are a retard...

30
CunningLanguageUserOP•

...Only a retard would?

12
[deleted]•

Don't be an idiot. Whenever I'm about to try something, I think, 'Would an idiot do that?' And if he would, I don't do that thing.

12
Wol377•

Fittit, I just recently learned how to not be an idiot.

1
Shabla_goo32•

I think you will learn all you need to know from this informative video. Thank me later!

10
[deleted]•

Hi I'm Dr. Steve Brule!

6
kirktastic•

That was great! I was looking for tips just like that!

2
mysunnyday•

I thought that was a legit video based on your comment >_<

6
kirktastic•

Oh, it's legit alright. Legit what is another matter. The guy has some great tips for doing dumbbell curlz too.

1
sudowork•

The dumbbell flailing is what did it for me.

2
TZALZA•

Mmm, delicious flapping man breasts.

2
h8rh8r•

Changed. My. Life.

2
Frontrunner453•

Sounds like you just managed to fix your stride. Nothing wrong with that, now you just have an excuse to go longer until you need to start going faster again!

5
[deleted]•

Holy crap you are SUCH a retard for not having realized this. Everyone except for you can pace themselves perfectly with perfect form.

It is also a BAD thing to discover this. That is why America is so unfit. Everyone can pace themselves so perfectly that no matter how much they jog they just don't loose any weight and BAM BAM BAM obesity.

tl,dr: you are now fat and ugly.

4
ChrisF79•

Speaking of retards... "lose" is the proper spelling of that word.

11
SortaEvilRock Climbing, Weightlifting (Recreational)•

Speaking of retards, WHOOSH!

6
ChrisF79•

I understand it is sarcasm but part of that wasn't the unintended misspelling of a word he should know by 2nd or 3rd grade.

1
SortaEvilRock Climbing, Weightlifting (Recreational)•

I'm making the assumption that, considering the rest of the post is properly spelled and dripping with sarcasm, it was intentional, but I could be mistaken. Primarily because loose/lose has become something of a meme around here.

2
mysunnyday•

Congrats! I also just learned how to pace myself while I was out jogging with my little brother. We were joking around and singing this (funny because I'm not a huge HP fan), and the meter of the song fit perfectly with my pace. I've only been doing sprints lately since I couldn't figure out how to jog at a pace where the impact didn't hurt my knees.

3
wite_rabit•

Try not landing on your heels at whatever pace, worked like a dream for me :-p

1
[deleted]•

What do you mean by control of your legs, and gait control? Run faster?

I run slow and I feel tired really soon, even being in week6 of C25k.

And you are not a retard, this could help a lot of people!

3
CunningLanguageUserOP•

I think this may be relevant to you! I used to start getting tired a couple of minutes into running!

It's quite hard for me to describe what's going on though, which is possibly why I never even realised there was a distinction.

If I'm running fast, and I do have pretty long legs, I pretty much always stretch them out as much as is comfortable. After that, once I've landed my foot, to keep the speed, I simultaneously take the momentum on one foot and at the appropriate moment, 'pull', to drag me forward, followed by a push off the ground when that foot's been overtaken. I think it's accurate to say I've halved the size of my stride, eliminated the pulling and minimised the pushing, so that I'm just sort of gliding on momentum. It felt like it 'should' tire me out really quickly when I first tried this, taking twice as many steps and all, but it didn't, and there's minimal pain that I used to associate with running distances.

Thinking of it like that in a sort of mechanical sense is probably quite difficult though. When I realised I'd been jogging inefficiently, what had been on my mind was just sort of messing about with my energy expenditure I suppose. I decided to run with as little movement as possible. It was rather strange at first, and somewhat frustrating. I'm used to just galloping like the free wind, which lead to me doing just the same thing except slower. The most important part was limiting the size of my stride I think).

I'd heard before of runners utilising a method where they aim to continually run on momentum, which basically comes down to leaning forward and just moving their legs just enough to stop them faceplanting. I'd tried this before, and I realise now I'd misunderstood it as I was taking this to extremes and wasting a whole lot of energy by basically flopping about like a moron and saving myself at the last moment. Keeping what I suppose is a good running posture and not allowing my (mostly upper) body to react too much to the run makes a difference. Discipline I suppose?

Basically, to sum up, by having a really short constrained stride, and trying to not move my body much at all, I don't get tired over long distances.

It should be noted however, that the most I've done since discovering this (two weeks ago) is a five mile run (and I felt capable of more) -- which is probably pretty insignificant compared to most people here -- but I generally don't run and this is pentuple what I thought I was capable of!

6
h8rh8r•

I had a similar experience. I've also observed that the majority of super fit runners land on the balls of their feet whereas regular to chubbier folks land on their heels. I used to be a heel-toe runner (thanks marching band!) but since I started forcing myself to emulate those more successful runners my stride has closed up significantly and I am less tired after running.

Though fair warning: the transition was hell on my calves for a couple of weeks.

7
generalbaguette•

If you want to force yourself to transition to a better running technique, run without shoes for a while.

4
therealnybbles•

Barefoot on (relatively debris-free) pavement - I'm not being sarcastic.

1
h8rh8r•

Good point! I've purchased a pair of Vibram FiveFingers and I'm loving them!

1
megasam90•

I'd give you a million upvotes if it was possible. I am/was in the exact same predicament with the jogging too fast, pains et al

Will try this tomorrow morning, thanks a lot.

3
jonnnyc•

Wait, what?

2
WE_DO_THINGS_BETTER•

http://youtu.be/2OD96zocXRU

http://www.elitefeet.com/the-legend-of-cliff-young

His stride isn't really impressive looking, but hell, it works!

1
hhmmmm•

fuck jogging if you know how to pace yourself and find it no problem.

start sprints, or hill sprints or long runs with massive fuck of hills in them, then see how good your pacing is

-6
jetsuo•

Congratulations.................................

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