What are strides (and why every runner should do them)?

What are strides? Short accelerations of about 80 to 100 meters, or roughly 20 seconds, where you build up to around the pace you could hold for a mile, hold it briefly, then ease off. You do four to six of them, usually at the end of an easy run, with a full walk back between each one.

They're the cheapest speed work in running. No track, no watch, no recovery day needed. Most coaches put them in almost every plan, and most runners skip them because they look too easy to matter. This post covers what strides are, how to do them, how fast and how many, and where they fit in your week, including around lifting, which is easier when you use an app that schedules hard runs away from leg day.

What are strides in running?

Strides are a running drill that sits between easy running and sprinting. They're fast, but they're not all-out. They're short, but they're not a workout. The feeling you're after is "quick and relaxed": fast legs, loose shoulders, smooth breathing.

What strides are for, in coaching practice:

• ›Keeping speed in an easy week. If most of your running is slow, strides remind your legs how to move quickly.
• ›Practicing good form at pace. It's easier to run tall and relaxed for 20 seconds than for a whole interval.
• ›Preparing for faster sessions. They're the last step of a warm-up before intervals, tempo runs and races.
• ›An easy intro to speed work. For newer runners, strides are the safest first taste of running fast.

If you're starting out with a beginner plan with running and lifting, strides are usually the first fast running you'll do, a few weeks in, at the end of an easy run.

Strides are part of a family of form running drills that coaches use to sharpen technique and speed without adding fatigue. They're the most running-like of the bunch.

How to do strides

1. ›Finish an easy run or a warm-up jog. Never do strides cold.
2. ›Find a flat, smooth stretch of 80–100 meters. Grass, a track straight or a quiet road all work.
3. ›Accelerate gradually over the first third. No explosive start.
4. ›Hold a fast, relaxed pace for the middle section: around mile race pace, about 8 out of 10 effort.
5. ›Ease off smoothly over the last few meters. Don't slam on the brakes.
6. ›Walk or slowly jog back to the start. Take 60–90 seconds, or until you feel fully ready.
7. ›Repeat four to six times.

Form cues:

• ›Run tall, with a slight forward lean from the ankles.
• ›Relax your face, hands and shoulders. Tension makes you slower.
• ›Quick, light feet, landing under your body.
• ›Arms drive forward and back, not across your body.

If the drills before strides help you find that rhythm, a skip b skip pair takes two minutes and makes a good primer.

How fast should strides be?

Fast but controlled. About the pace you could race a mile at, or roughly 8 out of 10 effort. Not a sprint.

A simple test: if you're grimacing, clenching your fists or your form falls apart in the last few meters, you're going too fast. Strides should feel smooth enough that you could do another one straight away, even though you won't.

Don't time them, and don't worry about heart rate. A 20-second effort is over before heart rate catches up, so it tells you very little.

How many strides, and how often?

Twice a week after easy runs is the common default. More isn't much better. They're a small habit, not a hidden extra workout.

Strides vs sprints vs hill sprints

They look similar, but they're different tools.

Once strides feel natural, hill sprints are a logical next step if you want more power. And for speed work that sits inside a run rather than after it, fartlek training mixes surges and easy running in one continuous session.

Where strides fit in your week

After easy runs

The classic place. Finish your easy run, walk for a minute, do four to six strides, then jog or walk home. It adds about five minutes and no real fatigue.

Before workouts and races

Strides are the last step of a proper warm-up: easy jog, a few drills, three or four strides, then the session. More on running warmup routines, including how to scale them by session, is in our warm-up guide.

The evidence for warming up is decent. A systematic review and meta-analysis found warming up improved performance in 79% of the criteria examined, with little evidence it does harm (Fradkin, Zazryn and Smoliga, 2010). That covered warm-ups in general, not strides specifically, but strides are a practical way to get from jogging to pace before you need to be there.

Not after hard days

Skip strides the day after intervals, a long run or a heavy leg session. They need reasonably fresh legs to be useful.

Around lifting

Strides pair well with an easy run on an upper-body day. On a lower-body day, do them before you lift, not after. Heavy squats followed by fast running is how form falls apart.

Strides for different runners

Beginners. Wait until you can run 20–30 minutes comfortably, then add four short strides once a week. That's enough.

Morning runners. Give yourself a longer jog before strides. Morning runs start stiffer, and nobody's fast five minutes out of bed.

Stiff runners. If your hips feel locked up from sitting all day, a couple of minutes of hip mobility exercises for runners before the run can make strides feel smoother.

Trail and hill runners. Strides on a gentle uphill slow you down slightly and encourage a strong knee drive. Hill running technique uses the same mechanics, and hill running as a whole builds on them.

Why strides are worth the five minutes

Here's the honest part: there isn't much research on strides as a stand-alone practice. What there is points to the bigger picture they fit into. Across descriptive studies of competitive endurance athletes, about 80% of sessions were done at low intensity (Seiler, 2010). If most of your running is easy, as it should be, strides are a low-cost way to keep some fast running in the week without adding another hard day. That's the coaching logic, and it's why they show up in almost every plan.

Common strides mistakes

• ›Sprinting them. Strides are fast and relaxed, not all-out.
• ›Skipping the recovery. Short rests turn strides into intervals. Walk back.
• ›Doing them cold. Always after an easy run or warm-up jog.
• ›Doing them on tired legs. The day after a hard session, skip them.
• ›Never doing them at all. Five minutes, twice a week. That's the whole commitment.

How exrsz handles strides

exrsz builds a periodized plan from your goal, schedule, level and equipment, and adds strides to easy runs and warm-ups where they fit. It balances running and lifting in one plan so fast running doesn't land after heavy legs, adapts each week to how you actually trained, and reshuffles missed sessions.

FAQ

What are strides in running?

Strides are short accelerations of about 80–100 meters or 20 seconds, building to roughly mile race pace and then easing off. They're usually done four to six times after an easy run, with a walk back between each.

How fast should strides be?

About the pace you could race a mile at, or 8 out of 10 effort. They should feel fast but relaxed, never all-out.

How many strides should I do?

Four to six is the common range, once or twice a week after easy runs. Three or four is enough as part of a warm-up before a workout or race.

Are strides the same as sprints?

No. Sprints are near-maximal efforts with long recoveries. Strides are controlled accelerations at about 8 out of 10 effort, short enough that they don't count as a hard session.

When should I do strides?

At the end of easy runs and as the last part of a warm-up before workouts and races. Skip them the day after a hard session or heavy leg day.