Should i run longer or faster

Adding speed work to your runs is a great way to improve your fitness, strength, and aerobic capacity. If you are new to running, it is essential to start by building a solid endurance base before you start working on your speed. Eventually, you can incorporate both speed and distance training, which can be a great way to make your runs more fun and rewarding.

Whether you're looking to run faster, further, or just start to run in general, we have the best tips for you. Sign up and become a better runner today! Injuries in runners; a systematic review on risk factors and sex differences. PLoS One. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFit. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.

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Interval training is a type of running workout where you alternate between short, intense bursts of running and a brief recovery. The goal of interval training is to maintain the same speed on your first interval as your last one. A medical review published in The Journal of Physiology found that running sprint intervals builds muscle as well as aerobic endurance.

Another study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research assessed 16 trail runners that added interval training to their routine. Each runner completed six interval training sessions over the course of two weeks with two days of recovery between each session. After the training program, the runners were able to run an average of 3.

When you first start interval training, Springer suggests sticking to once a week. The bursts in interval training can be measured by time or distance. Here are two types of interval training workouts that Corkum recommends for running on a track:. Fartlek is a Swedish word meaning "speed play. They can last 20 minutes or longer depending on the runner. Coupling periods of moderate to high intensity running with a slower pace will put stress on both your aerobic and anaerobic treshhold.

This will help you build both speed and endurance. While fartleks are similar to interval training, they are done at an easier effort and slower pace over a longer period of time. If you are a competitive runner, you can tap into this speed play during a race to help you pass another runner.

Unstructured fartlek runs can be beneficial for runners that are just getting started with speed training, because it eases the pressure of reaching a certain goal. Springer recommends incorporating fartlek runs into your running schedule just once a week to improve speed. Both coaches agree that running hills is a great way to introduce speed training into your running routine. Uphill training will help you become a faster runner and also increase your VO2 max, making you a more efficient runner.

VO2 max is a measure of how much oxygen a person can utilize during intense exercise. A study published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance found that introducing various hill workouts into a running schedule improved overall performance in all 20 participants.

Each runner participated in an uphill training program that included two sessions per week for a total of six weeks. Although hill running usually doesn't feel like speed work, it engages and strengthens muscles in the glutes, hamstrings, core, quadriceps, calves, and upper body that easily translate to faster running on flat roads.

Those new to hill runs should start with just one a week. Once you find you aren't completely exhausted after the workout, try adding it twice a week on non-consecutive days. Oftentimes, runners will skip recovery days out of fear they're losing progress if not constantly running. If you moderately work out everyday and don't find yourself improving, Corkum says it's probably because you aren't resting: "A golden rule in running is to make the hard days hard and the easy days easy.

And if you're going hard, you're using everything. But the consequence is that you have to recover from it, or you're going to get hurt.

If you're running about three days a week, those off days can act as your recovery. But know that upping your running frequency and simply going long and slow for every run isn't a great option either. It's not great for body composition and for fat storage. Running only long and easy won't cut it for a bunch of reasons. One being the fact that it doesn't burn carbohydrates. You use carbs when you go at harder intensities, because getting energy from a carbohydrate is a quicker process.

If you're going more intense, the energy demands are going to spike up a little bit, and you body's going to start using fat and carbs. Going at an easy pace also uses fewer muscle fibers, which engages less of your nervous system; Mackey says it's about 60 percent versus 80 percent during higher-intensity training.

Plus, pushing yourself to go faster requires acceleration, which puts a lot of stress on your muscles. This is the good kind of stress, though, the kind that encourages your body to adapt and make improvements. And, last but not least, you burn more calories per mile when you're going faster-even if it means you're running for a shorter amount of time. All this might have you lacing up your sprinting spikes, ready to hammer out some seriously speedy workouts. But hold up a second.

There's a reason you can't go all-out all the time. Even when he's trained pro athletes, Mackey says they would do two, maybe three, really intense workouts per week. So if you could do that and not get hurt, that's the way to go. There are even more reasons running is good for your body, mind, and mood. So for anyone keeping score, sprinters get a point for all the go-fast health benefits, but distance runners get a point for it being gentle enough to do every day. But the best case scenario?