This article explores the life and running coaching philosophy of Jeff Galloway, highlighting his innovative run-walk method known as “Jeffing”. It explains how Galloway's approach helps runners of all levels, particularly beginners, by reducing the risk of injury and promoting consistent exercise.
Jeff Galloway has run more than 230 marathons. He was a member of the US team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, has a 10km personal best of about 28 minutes and he has been a running coach for more than 50 years. But perhaps the 79-year-old’s greatest achievement is creating the run-walk method known as “Jeffing” that can be practised by beginners and experienced runners alike.Firstly, I must say how proud I am to be a verb,” says Galloway, before explaining that the idea goes back to 1973.
“I was encouraging beginners to run, but they were suffering all types of aches and pains. I then realised that even world-class athletes need to warm up properly. They start at low intensity with a jog and then speed up to get the blood flowing. “So, I took that pace-shifting template and applied it to a group of 22 people with an average age of 42. We started off walking, flowed into a jog and then walked again. We followed that pattern and at the end of the 10-week programme, every one of the 22 had finished either a 5km or a 10km. That was great in itself, but I then realised none of the group broke down with injury. I’d never before trained a group of runners where at least one hadn’t been injured.” Galloway says he has not had an injury himself since 1978. He believes that his walk-run strategy is more “natural” than non-stop efforts. “According to anthropologists, while humans were designed for long distances – up to 5,000 miles during the earliest migrations – we weren’t designed for non-stop running. It’s not inherently in our DNA to run continuously, which is why many individuals break down.”As Jeffing cuts the chances of injury, people are able to exercise consistently, with all the mental and physical benefits this bring
RUNNING COACHING JEFFING INJURY PREVENTION WELLNESS
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