If you are a runner or triathlete and want to stay healthy and injury free, besides strength, focusing on running form is an essential component to maintaining the health of your muscles, tendons and ligaments  Most of us, whether new or experienced, either don’t know or neglect to work on proper running technique

Why focus on run mechanics?
• It is a critical part of running speed and strength
• It will improve your economy and efficiency.
• It will help with injury prevention

Poor running mechanics will slow you down, decrease your efficiency and can even be the an underling cause of many running injuries: shin splits, runners knee, ITB, piriformis, and many other common running injuries.

I started running my soft more year in high school. As a competitive swimming since the age of 4, I was going though a softmore swimming slump and my coach suggested I take a break and join track.  I was injured within the first month with skin splits due to having the heart and lungs and no leg strength or technique.  I continue running my junior and senior year track season, always resulting in injuries.

When I decided to commit to training in 1992, I was grateful I had the high school track experience, yet still did not know how to train for triathlons, injuries continued. Finally I started to educate myself with running form in 1996 after I DNFed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon due to a pulled groin/adductor about 3 weeks from race date. At the time I  focused on run cadence and stride. I was running about 80 one foot strikes a minute while lengthing my stride to run faster which explains why I had shin splits and hip injuries.

Still running and completing for the past 25 years, maintaing the health of my body is priority.   I am still continually making small adjustments to my form. Like swim technique, running technique is a learned skill.

Despite the variations in running styles, their are 4 main areas of focus while running. The most common form flaw I observe in runners I’ve coached is over striding and running with a low cadence, less then 170 foot strikes a minute and running upright with robot arms.  Posture, foot strike, arm swing,  and rate (cadence + stride) are 4 main areas I look at when evaluating someone’s run technique.

Posture
New runners tend to run upright. Many are not aware until they see themselves on video. Despite knowing the importance of a forward lean, I had no idea I was still running upright until I saw a video. I attribute my posture to years of running with my dogs, who often pulled me forward, which causes me to lean back to keep them closer to me.

The most efficient posture is one that is upright and relaxed, with a slight forward lean. Your shoulders pulled back and down your spine. A backward lean can cause you to over stride and land heavily on your heel, stressing your knees, hips and back.

Keep your hips pressed forward and your butt tucked in. Visualize standing face first against a wall. Press your hips forward so that the bones of your hip touches the wall. Running with your hips forward will help you lift your knee higher with less effort. Concentrate on keeping your shoulders, jaw, torso and legs nice and loose. Keep your head and chin up, don’t tuck your chin and look down. Keep your focus forward, toward the horizon.

Foot strike

One of the most important phases of running mechanics is the position of your foot when it lands on the ground. When you foot strikes the ground, you can land in a variety of ways – toes first, ball of the foot first, flat footed or heel first. Foot strike often creates one of the injuries listed above.have someone video you from the side while you are running and you’ll see if you are landing far in front of your body (overstriding) or nearly under your body (correct landing).

• Heel strike Heel strikers often overstride when reaching out in front of their body. Landing heel first is like putting on the brakes with each step, as if you are trying to drive your car while pressing on both the gas and brake pedals at the same time. This wastes energy and makes your running harder than it should be. Heel strikers often develop shin or knee painIn addition to being inefficient, heel striking can cause of a long list of injuries. When you land on your heel, your leg is straight and extended in front of your body. The combination of a straight leg and a hard heel landing transfers a lot of impact through your heel and up through your knee to your hip. The excessive stress that a heel strike places on your joints can cause pain and injury to your hips, knee, ankle and foot. Shin splints (pain of the front of your lower legs) is one example of a common running injury that can be caused by heel striking and over striding.Ball of foot (toe strikers)Where toe strikers tend to leap or bound forward and push off vigorously, landing toey can lead to calf and achilles strains and tendonitis
• Toe strikers
  Toe first landings result in a lot of up and down motion in your stride and puts a lot of stress on the calf muscles. Toe running is more appropriate for sprinting than for distance running.
• Flat foot (mid foot)a midfoot strike with a high cadence and a forward lean propels you in a subtle, forward falling way. You land on your foot in the way it and your body were built to move, and efficiently use and conserve your energy and momentum.Mid-foot strikers
  The most-efficient footstrike is one in which your foot lands directly under your hips or your center of gravity. This is when you land on the ball of your foot or flat footed. Doing some barefoot walking and running will help strengthen the ankle and foot muscles that stabilize your lower leg. Doing exercises and drills on an unstable surface such as a wobble board or stabilization pads can also help with this problem. The Newton Running website is a great resource of information on running form. The offer video tips every Friday and run clinics Saturday mornings at their store in Boulder. I also can meet with you with a video camera and discuss more in person.

Stride and Cadence

In a proper stride, your foot should land directly under your body with every step. You should run at a rate of about 180 footstrikes a minute before you focus on your lengthening your stride. Do not sacrifice quick rate for a longer stride. The quicker rate will allow you to land flat foot or midfoot, underneath your center of mass.

You can count your steps in one minute to get your cadence or most GPS monitors now do this for you as well. If you do find you need to increase your cadence, just make sure you aren’t sacrificing stride length by shortening your stride too much. Understriding to achieve an optimal cadence will slow you down. We want an optimal stride rate (cadence) and an optimal stride length. They both go together to create our speed.Where toe strikers tend to leap or bound forward and push off vigorously, and heel strikers reach out and almost pull themselves forward, 

Arm Position and swing

The main purpose of an arm swing is to provide balance and coordination with the legs. Arms should be loose and relaxed, close to the body. Relax your shoulders and down through your back – no shrugging! Your wrists and hands should be loose, not clenched. Keep your arm swing compact and your elbows at about a 90 degree angle. Drive your elbow backwards with each stride. Avoid “robot arms” where you drive your arms forward causing over striding. During the arm swing, your hands should not travel above your chest or behind the midline of your body. Avoid crossing your hand in front of your body, as any lateral movement across your body robs you of forward momentum.

When running, your arms should be bent at roughly 90 degrees (slightly more or less is also okay). Your hands should be lightly clasped and when your arm swings, your hands should brush between your lowest rib and your waistband. The swinging action itself is front to back and relaxed. Any abnormal swinging (crossing the body, elbows wide, shoulders high) will have consequences in your mechanics. Race photos often illuminate any arm swing issues and you can have someone video you while running from the front and back to evaluate your arm action. Again, as Lemon demonstrates, imagine there is a box or picture frame from your shoulders to your hips. Your arm swing should be within this box and your hands should not cross the midline of the body. Don’t be rigid but just make sure your arms stay within the box

Putting It All Together

Head up, your body is loose and relaxed from head to toe, with a slight forward lean. Shoulders are back, chest is out/forward. Arms are close in to your body, elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. Tuck your glutes underneath you and press your hips slightly forward. Drive your knees forward and up, and follow through with your foot/leg as you finish each stride. Land midfoot, and you heel will make contact with the ground. Keep your cadence high – about three strides a second.

Like any complex movement, it can be difficult to pay attention to everything at once. Through a proper warm up, some specific exercises to focus on specific parts of the movement, and staying focused as you run, you can put the pieces of a fast, efficient, comfortable running technique together.

Here are some great videos from the Newton Running Form Friday series

Send me a video of you running and I will send you a FREE analysis. As always, reach out to me if you have questions, comments or concerns about your Health, Fitness or Sport.

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