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Run Smarter: Evidence-based Guidance and Expert Opinions to Help You Survive & Thrive as a Runner
A complete and comprehensive book to help you reduce your risk of injury, overcome a current injury or increase your running performance safely.
Runners are constantly looking for information to reduce their risk of injury because nobody likes the ‘injured runner’ life. Despite what you may have been told, the primary cause behind running-related injuries is not from heel striking, poor flexibility, over-pronation or any other biomechanical variations. Instead, training errors are the primary cause. If you can invest your time to learn about healthy training habits and develop key injury insights, you’ll give yourself a massive training advantage.
Learn how to run smarter with science and with expert opinions, because failing to learn these training and rehabilitation principles can lead to stubborn running injuries or hinder your full running potential. So, survive and thrive by building upon your running wisdom.
Written by Brodie, a physiotherapist, owner of the Run Smarter Physiotherapy Clinic and host of the popular Run Smarter podcast which in its first two years of recording, climbed to the top 1% of podcasts globally. Brodie is on a mission to spread the right information to the running community and help separate evidence-based facts from the widespread running misconceptions.
Runners are constantly looking for information to reduce their risk of injury because nobody likes the ‘injured runner’ life. Despite what you may have been told, the primary cause behind running-related injuries is not from heel striking, poor flexibility, over-pronation or any other biomechanical variations. Instead, training errors are the primary cause. If you can invest your time to learn about healthy training habits and develop key injury insights, you’ll give yourself a massive training advantage.
Learn how to run smarter with science and with expert opinions, because failing to learn these training and rehabilitation principles can lead to stubborn running injuries or hinder your full running potential. So, survive and thrive by building upon your running wisdom.
Written by Brodie, a physiotherapist, owner of the Run Smarter Physiotherapy Clinic and host of the popular Run Smarter podcast which in its first two years of recording, climbed to the top 1% of podcasts globally. Brodie is on a mission to spread the right information to the running community and help separate evidence-based facts from the widespread running misconceptions.
- GenresAudiobookNonfiction
478 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2022
31 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 21, 2025
The main takeaway is to know your adaptation zone. Exercise today in such a way so that you are able to exercise tomorrow.
Today’s workout should not sabotage tomorrow’s plans.
It is perfectly fine to exercise with a pain threshold of <4/10 as long as the pain settles back to baseline (ie., 0/10) and is not present the morning after. If pain is present the morning after then cease current exercise load and reassess because intervention is required.
The body gets stronger when recovering from a workout, not during the workout, so prioritise recovery.
A sensible approach to progressing adaptation zones is to consider duration, intensity, and perceived effort as a whole and getting a total for the week. This total can be increased by around 10% each week for progression, with a step back week, where duration and/or intensity is reduced, every 4 weeks or so.
Stretching doesn’t make an area of weakness stronger. Its effects are temporary at best. The way to make a weak area stronger is to build strength in the weak areas through steady progression of strength exercises.
When recovering from an injury don’t be embarrassed to run at an embarrassingly slow pace for an embarrassingly short distance. Movement is key as is not placing too much load on the body that the body is not able to handle.
Continue with alternative exercises when injured to maintain fitness. Avoid getting into the trap of the pain-rest-weakness cycle where complete, prolonged rest doesn’t necessarily fix the injury, rather, the weak area becomes weaker because it is not challenged, due to prolonged rest.
Today’s workout should not sabotage tomorrow’s plans.
It is perfectly fine to exercise with a pain threshold of <4/10 as long as the pain settles back to baseline (ie., 0/10) and is not present the morning after. If pain is present the morning after then cease current exercise load and reassess because intervention is required.
The body gets stronger when recovering from a workout, not during the workout, so prioritise recovery.
A sensible approach to progressing adaptation zones is to consider duration, intensity, and perceived effort as a whole and getting a total for the week. This total can be increased by around 10% each week for progression, with a step back week, where duration and/or intensity is reduced, every 4 weeks or so.
Stretching doesn’t make an area of weakness stronger. Its effects are temporary at best. The way to make a weak area stronger is to build strength in the weak areas through steady progression of strength exercises.
When recovering from an injury don’t be embarrassed to run at an embarrassingly slow pace for an embarrassingly short distance. Movement is key as is not placing too much load on the body that the body is not able to handle.
Continue with alternative exercises when injured to maintain fitness. Avoid getting into the trap of the pain-rest-weakness cycle where complete, prolonged rest doesn’t necessarily fix the injury, rather, the weak area becomes weaker because it is not challenged, due to prolonged rest.
January 2, 2025
I discovered the author via his YouTube channel (apparently he also has a Podcast, but I don't listen to those), and while the cross-over from Social Media Fitness Influencer to Writer doesn't always work, this one is quite good.
As a physiotherapist, the focus of the first half of the book revolves around injury prevention.
Through this lens, the basics of starting a running programme are considered, including types of workouts, shoes, biomechanics, recovery, etc. in addition to general recommendations, relevant scientific studies are cited in each section to support the advice, which help to identify which techniques are most valuable, and which can be dismissed as fads.
He then moves on to improving performance, balancing workload with recovery, dealing with injuries, and other topics that every runner contends with and worries about getting right.
There's nothing too earth-shaking here for people that have been keeping up with the current thinking about how to best approach training, but the writing is clear, the audiobook narration by the author is quite well done, and there's lots of good information on how to ignore the hype and focus on the fundamentals of running injury free.
March 7, 2025
This book was so informative and easy to digest. I learned a ton about my own run training and things to incorporate/look out for and also how to help my patients who run! I feel good making running plans, helping someone adjust cadence, helping a new runner figure out their schedule and intensity, working with RPE, and understanding all of the factors that go into how your body feels while running. A few chapters/topics that stood out: body adaptation zone, all of the info about cadence and overstriding, and research about the difference between types of heel strikes.
Would be a 5 star for informative value but as far as entertainment…. I did get a bit bored .
Would be a 5 star for informative value but as far as entertainment…. I did get a bit bored .
June 19, 2025
Boring but highly recommended for the quality of content. This is a very dry read but the evidence base of the information & recommendations are clear & easy to follow. There is so much running advice and pseudoscience out there. It’s great to have a source of high quality, easy to understand information in a single source.
September 29, 2022
An absolute must-read for all runners from beginners to experienced athletes. It not only offers sound advice but also dispels commonly held myths about training, recovery and treatment... all based on up-to-date scientific data!! Bravo Brodie, your book is a Godsend!!!
March 3, 2024
Great book for principals of preventing & recovering from injuries.
January 8, 2023
No matter your level, there is material to reflect on running in this book. Sharpe's podcast is huge and this book makes a good job of synthesizing years of work and research.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews