Actually, for competitive runners, the 'strongest' muscle group in their body should be their Abdomen. The Abs are used to co-ordinate the activity of the lower body and the upper body and it needs to work very hard to do that if you are using both upper and lower parts properly. The legs give you motion and the arm swing helps propel you along.

If done properly, the Abs are critical.

Yep, jlhaslip is, indeed, correct. Competitive runners do alot of training for their abs. We also do training for our arms, because if your arms help you move faster too.

Hmm thats wierd you wouldn't think that would you. Im glad i started this thread as its come back with lots of into and help that i didnt even know about.

As for the long distance you might be right. i don't run long distances i run about 2 mile 1 mile there and 1 mile back. Its keeping me fit but maybe i can expand it a little and try longer runs. I'll see what happens.

As for when i finnish i see alot of top sports people jump in a ice bath (i bet that well hurts) do you recomend i get a very cold bath. I mean jump in quick wash for 2 or 3 min then jump out ? Or a nice warm bath and soak up the water to my muscles. ?

I agree that it's dangerous to push yourself too much. In my country, several fit and young men just collapsed while running and passed away. It's extremely baffling because they had no health problems and they were always so fit and did exercise regularly. I guess other key things you have to take note of is not to push yourself to exercise when you are under stress, or sick. Exercise is a good way to keep fit and unhealthy, but I guess it can sometimes backfire if you don't watch yourself and exercise the right way. I also think it's better to keep a steady pace instead of sprinting during certain laps and then suddenly slowing down. That's pretty bad for the heart.

If you increase your distance, you will notice a big difference. Just make sure you increase the distance gradually so as to avoid injury. It's normal if you can't do five miles right away. Since you are at 2 miles now, try going up to 2.5 miles now and go up by a bit every week. Make sure that while you increase the distance you do not decrease your speed.

As for teh ice bath, chances are you do not need to do an ice bath *yet*. if you continue the distance running, you will eventually. You need an ice bath after a run that is run as if you are racing and is long distance (say, an hour or 7-8 miles or so) because it will make your legs feel better later. After a regular run, a warm bath is a better idea. That will help with cramps, shin splints etc. if you do too many icebaths, it can be bad or your legs. Also, you do not want to put your entire body in an icebath, that can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Rather, you just want to soak your legs to about the knee. You also do not want the watr temperature to be too low. You probably want around 45-50 degrees farenheit. That seems like it's only cool, but when the humidity is 0% (as it is in water) that feels really really cold.

Ok thanks for the information. Ive hurt my back at the moment so i can't do any running for a while im currently off work for a bit. Don't know what ive done to it but it hurts like hell. I was lifting something heavy at work and something pulled. It feels like its getting better now.

I'll post back when i start up again. Thanks for the support.

I don't run that fast nor that slow.I do many type of other things so my legs can me great shape.

Doing Swimming will defenitly help you out there.Try doing in that in summer.
Take a break as well.

This post has been edited by Faraz0990: Apr 10 2008, 06:45 PM

thanks for the tips. Im going to start swimming as from next week. My back feels better now and this also might help it and take the strain off my legs....

Yeah, throwing some swimming into your training is a good idea. It will help you get stronger without putting too much strain on your joints.