Fitness Tips: Build Muscle Faster

5 Laws for a Lean Body

Apply these scientific principles to your workout and get better, faster results
By Jayme Moye womenshealth
 

Improve Your Stride

The physics of running works like this: When your foot hits the road (or treadmill), you apply a force to the ground, which responds with an equal and opposite force (Newton's third law of dynamics), helping to propel you forward. As you speed up, either the length of your stride or your step rate—how frequently your foot hits the ground—naturally increases. That's thanks to your own personal biomechanics. Working to improve your running stride can help make every run feel less taxing, which can help you increase both speed and distance while helping avoid injury. Drive yourself forward from your hips by pushing off your back leg rather than overextending your front leg.

Apply it: Research has shown that elite runners have an optimum step rate of 180 or more foot strikes per minute. To improve your running, try increasing your step rate by 5 to 10 percent. To find your rate, count how many times your feet hit the ground while running at an easy pace for 30 seconds. Double that number for your step rate. Want to improve it? Fill your playlist with songs that have 180 beats per minute—running to the beat will help you quicken your cadence.

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