Shutterstock/Paolo Paradiso
For many runners, going faster is the primary goal of donning gear, but lately the opposite approach has been gaining popularity: the slow running movement, where people get together and run slowly and socially. This may be fun, but what’s the point of no pain?
A growing body of research suggests you don’t have to rush things so much: in fact, exercising at a slower pace can provide a multitude of health benefits, from cardiovascular fitness to mental health, while helping you avoid the drawbacks of pushing your body to its limits. It may even help you live longer and, ironically, ultimately help you achieve new personal bests.
Running slowly means running at a pace that’s slow enough for you to carry on a conversation, rather than at a set speed. Your heart rate should be up, but still high enough to hold a conversation — 60 to 70 per cent of your maximum heart rate, to be precise, says Rebecca Robinson, private consultant in sports and exercise medicine and avid runner.
This level of exertion (also known as Zone 2 training) should be pretty easy, so does it really count as training?
Yes, says Steve Haacke of Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. Energy expenditure increases in proportion to running speed, so the total energy used to run a given distance is generally the same regardless of how fast you run over the ground.
