From Men's Health · Marty Munson · · 1m 10s
Trail Running Tips from Pros
Experts share how to conquer trails without losing pace or energy.
In brief
Experts share how to conquer trails without losing pace or energy. Trail runners should adjust pace, focus on terrain, and build muscle endurance to handle challenging trails effectively. Originally reported by Men's Health.
Trail Running Growth
More than a million more people ran trails last year than the year before, up 9.8 million since 2019.
Rethink Pace
Trail running requires slower paces than roads; adjust heart rate monitoring to avoid overtraining.
Focus on Cadence
Increase steps per minute on technical trails to maintain balance and avoid tripping.
Uphill Training
Strengthen quads and glutes with steep inclines to handle trail terrain without injury.
Downhill Caution
Downhills risk injury; slow descent to protect joints and muscles from excessive impact.
V02 Max Focus
Avoid overemphasizing V02 max; prioritize lactate threshold for better endurance performance.
Build Fatigue Resistance
Train with weighted backpacks to improve muscle endurance for trail running.
Expert Recommendations
Trail runners should adjust pace, focus on terrain, and build muscle endurance to handle challenging trails effectively.
What Happens Next
Runners who train with fatigue resistance improve their ability to maintain pace over long trail distances.
The key point
Trail runners should adjust pace, focus on terrain, and build muscle endurance to handle challenging trails effectively.
