3 things I want to see you start doing when running.
Improve your posture – Stand tall, relax your hips, lean forward.
We often default to a slouched position when we run and especially when we’re fatigued. I think this manifests from the idea of running as a leg movement so we can allow our upper body to “rest”. We really need to think of running as a full body movement that requires action from the legs and hips, but stability from the upper body. Everything is involved in the movement.
Stand Tall – Don’t allow your shoulder to compress you inward.
Don’t flex at the hips – Keep your hips open and flex forward at the ankles.
Lean slightly forward – Again, allow your bodyweight to go forward at the ankles rather than the hips. The slight lean is a great primer for each step to project you forward into the next step. More efficiency. Think of your step as a roll rather than a splat with the foot.
Dial in your cadence
Cadence is the number of steps a runner takes per minute. A slower cadence can lead to overstriding and injury at the hips, back, knees, and ankles. A slower cadence also increases the amount of power per step that the runner will try to create and burn the runner out sooner. Try to focus on shorter strides and reducing ground contact time with each step and you’ll be more efficient. A good cadence is commonly 160-180 steps per minute. You can find songs on spotify or youtube that play to specific cadences to dial in your steps per minute.
Strike at the mid-foot
If we aren’t striking at the mid-foot, we are striking on the heel which will compromise your hips, back, knees, and ankles over the miles. People commonly take long reaching strides to cover more distance each step which leads to the heel striking. Our stride will naturally shorten to an appropriate length as we practice mid-foot striking. The arch of the foot is meant to absorb and rebound from the force of running while the heel is not.
Try to keep your feet under your center of gravity.
