Brodie Sharpe Is Sharing The Principles Of Running Smarter

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Today’s guest is making his third appearance on the show today!

In addition to being a runner, he’s also a physiotherapist, and podcaster, and recently has added the title of author to his resume.

I’m excited to catch up with Brodie Sharpe today and go a few easy miles with him.

Not Dependent On Racing

The last time Brodie Sharpe was on the show was prior to the pandemic.

In that time he has raced less.

His lack of racing is partially due to a lack of races, but it’s also because he doesn’t need races to stay motivated.

Brodie has also been occupied with writing his first book for the last few years which hasn’t left much time for anything else.

He misses racing but has found fulfillment in the trail community.

Brodie looks forward to his runs for a variety of reasons.

His runs are where some of his best ideas happen.

Run Smarter

Brodie is passionate about running and educating others.

That led him down the path to start his own podcast.

His first podcast was called Everyday Running Legends.

Everyday Running Legends is no longer around because Brodie has since shifted his focus.

The Run Smarter Podcast focuses on helping people overcome current and future running injuries by becoming smarter runners.

Research has deemed that the vast majority of running injuries are due to training errors.

As a runner and physiotherapist, Brodie has found that there is a lot of contradictory and conflicting information available to runners.

His goal is to reach as many people as possible with correct information.

An Online Presence

Over the last few years, Brodie has slowly transitioned to being 100% online with his clients.

A purely online business has been easier and more cost-effective than a brick-and-mortar model.

Brodie has also been able to reach a lot more people this way as well.

Most of the clients that Brodie sees have worked unsuccessfully with other health professionals prior to seeking him out.

Hands-on treatment is not always warranted in Brodie’s experience.

He has had success in predicting what to do next depending on how the patient responds to treatment.

10 Universal Principles

When Brodie first began The Run Smarter Podcast, he included an ebook that coincided with the first ten podcast episodes.

The ebook focused on ten universal principles pertaining to injury prevention and smarter running.

The first ebook was so successful that a year later Brodie decided to do a second version.

Feedback from his listeners was that they wanted to reduce their risk of injury while safely increasing running performance.

His first two ebooks were successful, but Brodie realized that he had a lot more information than could be covered in that format.

Brodie decided that a book would be his best option for sharing all of his knowledge and reaching as many people as possible.

The book would turn out to be the biggest project that he had ever undertaken and accomplished.

A steady grind for 10 months resulted in his first book Run Smarter.

Injuries Are A Part Of The Sport

Running is a sport where you can reduce injuries, but the risk will never be zero.

Injuries are a part of the sport, but that doesn’t mean that steps can’t be taken to reduce and manage them.

Brodie educates others on how to detect and manage early signs of injury.

Being able to separate a small niggle from an impending injury is important.

Brodie suggests taking notes as soon as anything unusual pops up.

Pay attention to symptoms during the event, after, and the next day.

Eventually, a trend should begin to appear which may allow the athlete to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

Flow Chart

Brodie has created a flow chart that helps runners determine if an assessment from a professional is needed.

The first question in the chart is if the injury is disruptive to training.

The next question pertains to how long the injury has persisted.

As a general rule of thumb, the longer an injury has persisted, the harder it will be to resolve.

In order to continue running successfully, the pain should be less than a 4 out of 10 and should improve from week to week.

Pain should resume to baseline after a run.

If an injury is new, slight adjustments may be all that are needed.

Brodie emphasizes finding a balance between acceptable levels of pain while continuing to run.

Once things continue to improve patience is key.

Cross-Training

Cross-training may or may not enhance or be beneficial to a runner.

Brodie’s advice on cross-training is specific to each runner.

If an injury-prone runner has high mileage and runs 5 or more days a week, they may benefit from cross-training.

The variety of cardio will take off some of the running load leading to a reduced chance of injury.

Someone that runs 2 to 3 times a week would likely benefit from more running rather than cross-training.

Brodie stressed that above all, the athlete should enjoy whatever form of cross-training they choose.

Benefits Of Strength

Strength training is beneficial for runners both in terms of injury prevention and performance.

In regards to injury prevention, a stronger body allows one to run more and faster which can lead to adaptations.

Strength training can lead to stronger tendons and ligaments.

There is a lot of science pointing to strength training being good for general health and bone density.

According to Brodie, there are not any studies with a strong correlation between strength and injury reduction.

Many theories exist, but there is no evidence that directly links the two.

Training + Recovery = Adaptation

Improving performance can be attributed to lifting heavy and proper recovery.

Heavy lifting and strength training has been proven to increase running performance.

Brodie is also quick to point to the less obvious way to get faster and that is optimizing recovery.

Runners don’t get stronger during exercise.

Training and recovery together are needed to improve adaptations leading to faster running.

As Brodie mentioned previously, balance is needed in this equation.

Good quality sleep along with managing emotional stress are key components to any recovery.

Train With Confidence

Brodie’s new book- Run Smarter: Evidence-Based Guidance and Expert Opinions to Help you Survive & Thrive as a Runner, recently hit bookshelves.

His goal in writing the book is to give people the knowledge and tools to train with confidence.

In addition to his book, Brodie also has a YouTube channel.

The visual medium is helpful to be able to demonstrate certain exercises that may be difficult to explain.

Brodie is hopeful that he is able to reach a wide variety of audiences both online as well as with his book.

Over the years, he has learned that the process of creating content is time-consuming, but also rewarding and fascinating.

Brodie is sharing all the information that he can to help runners reduce their risk of injury.

When injuries do happen, Run Smarter will help athletes navigate what to do next and how to return to running pain-free.

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Mentioned In This Episode:

• Run Smarter
• Run Smarter: Evidence-Based Guidance and Expert Opinions to Help you Survive & Thrive as a Runner– Book by Brodie Sharpe
• The Run Smarter Podcast
• Everyday Running Legends
• Brodie Sharpe is Shining a Light on Everyday Running Legends (Episode 609)
• Brodie Sharpe Is Sharing His Physio Secrets For Any Injured Runner (Episode 826)

Stay connected with Brodie Sharpe by following him on Instagram and/or YouTube.

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Brodie Sharpe is educating the running community on how to run smarter. Injuries may be unavoidable, but his resources can help optimize recovery and get you back to doing what you love. Click To Tweet

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As Always, I’d Love to Know What Stood Out to You From this Episode! Let Me Know Your Takeaway in the Comments Below!

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