3 Habits of Healthy Runners
There is a lot of noise around health and wellness these days. I love taking care of myself and I love it when others do too. However, sometimes I think there is so much out there about health, wellness, and stress relief that it stresses me out to try and keep up!
When my patients come to see me for an injury, I do a full assessment of their health including “the little things.” Don’t get me wrong, I take adaptogens and love a good cold plunge, but these trends won’t help you if you don’t address your basic needs. In an attempt to cut out some of the noise, here are three of the most important healthy habits of successful athletes that are completely accessible to anyone AND will likely have the biggest impact on your health and performance.
1. Getting a good night’s SLEEP
Getting a good night’s sleep is a basic requirement for every human, but it is even more important for those who push their body regularly. Sleep is when our body can heal, repair, and recover. While you are sleeping, you are rebuilding your muscles and bones. Without sleep, we become irritable, at risk for respiratory illness and sickness, foggy, unfocused and make mistakes. Having good sleep hygiene is an important basic need for any athlete.
The bare minimum amount of sleep athletes need a night is 7–9 hours, but often much more is required especially if you are at the peak of your training. You don’t have to sleep all at once, you can add naps into your daily routine if they don’t exceed 30 minutes and are not too close to bedtime.
Set up a good environment for sleep to get the most out of it. Make sure you aren’t woken up by noise or light, the room temperature is cool (ideally 60–65 degrees), and no screens right before bed.
Finally, take a warm shower before bed to increase the melatonin in your body and help get you ready to snooze.
2. Food and water are basic needs. You must fuel appropriately and drink enough water
Hydration and nutrition should be at the top of all athletes' lists, but unfortunately, this is often not the case. If we do not consume enough calories or water our body is no longer able to perform basic cellular functions. The body is smart. Before it allots energy for exercise it takes care of its basic needs. The body will choose function over performance.
Energy In — Energy Out = Energy Availability.
Low energy availably and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (REDs) are very common in running athletes — both men and women. It can occur because of a general lack of knowledge/understanding what our body needs to perform OR because an athlete is restricting their intake. In either case, it is detrimental for our health, causes injury and illness, and steals our ability to perform.
Athletes have different needs than non-athletes for both hydration and fuel. I remember when I discovered I wasn’t eating enough for my marathon training and made some small changes, my performance skyrocketed, I had fewer injuries, I was no longer hungry all the time and I lost weight by eating more — I am not joking. Every runner is different and so are their nutritional needs. If you are struggling with getting enough or if haven’t even thought about what you eat, you might benefit from speaking to a sports dietician.
General hydration rules of thumb:
- Start your day with water and end your day with water
- For every pound you lose after you run, drink 20–24 oz
- Have more than plain water, add drinks with electrolytes
- Drink at least 8–10 glasses of water. Adjust based on how much you sweat and how hot and humid your environment is.
3. Working on your mental game.
Mental training is just as important as physical training. As athletes it is important to train and strengthen your body — your mind is no different. There are several ways to begin training your mind, but often, the help of a sports psychologist or a mindset coach can be a huge help. They can create an individualized plan for you and what you need to be successful.
Here are some tips on how to begin improving your mental games:
- Keep a journal. This can help you get out of your head and into your life or race. You can use the journal to track your progress, express your feelings and work things out.
- Start meditating. Meditation is a secret weapon used by some of the highest-performing athletes. It is not easy, and it takes practice but the benefits outweigh any discomfort you might feel when sitting still for 10-30 minutes.
- Have a plan. The fear of the unknown is where anxiety lives. We can by no means control everything and we certainly don’t know what is going to unfold in front of us. However, carefully thinking through the possibilities and creating a plan can help decrease the feeling of anxiety and fear.
- Have fun and socialize! Runners are people first. Running is something we do and the more we remember that, the easier it can be if we become injured. Make sure you have something outside of your sport that brings you joy. It helps if you have a good support system too.
There is no “secret sauce” when it comes to being a healthy and successful runner. Ultimately it comes down to prioritizing your basic needs, practicing discipline, and creating a routine that values mental and emotional health in addition to putting in the miles.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the latest running trends that offer injury prevention and optimal health. BUT unless you address your basic needs and mental and emotional health, you will never reach your full potential. Our body is made up of cells and those cells only function when they are getting what they need. Focus on your basic needs first then begin to tackle everything else.
Do you want more information on sleep, nutrition and mntal health from the experts? Try the 7-day Free Trial of RUNsource from Fast Bananas.
Want to learn more about REDs or Low energy availability we have it in RUNsource.
Are you a runner that is always injured? Stop doing the same things and expecting difference results. You probably need to address your whole health- mental, emotional and physical. Try RUNsource. We got you!
Follow us on instagram @fastbananasrun
Sign up for our FREE weekly newsletter and receive tips for your mental, emotional and physical health that will help you start running OR keep running in a healthier way.
You can also check out all the ways I am helping people use running to get healthy mentally, emotionally and physically by going to my website.
