"Running? What is there to learn? If you can walk, you can run" - That's perfectly true. But if you want to do it faster, for longer and without suffering too many injuries, there's quite a lot you ought to learn.
Think of the running action as like hopping from foot to foot, and with each hop swinging the raised foot forward to land in front of the other foot. A hop with one leg and the corresponding movement of the other equals a running step; two steps – that is, each leg has a hop – amounting to a stride. The sort of running we want to do is, of course, slightly more sophisticated than this, with aim being to get through a stride as fluently as possible, delivering the maximum amount of forward momentum for the minimum of effort.
Firstly, it's important to note that there is no such thing as the perfect running technique, just like there is no "best" running shoe. Because of the differences between runners in term of size, weight, age, gender, muscle density, strength and so on, everybody's ideal stride will be unique to them. But there are theories and guidelines that can be universally applied, although they will probably need to be customized to fit your individual action.
The Stride Cycle
To analyze and improve your stride, you need to break it down into its component parts:
(1) the support phase
(2) the drive phase
(3) the recovery phase
The support phase: that is when your foot is actually in contact with the ground. In the best actions, initial contact is made by the middle of the foot, not the heel. The foot should start to strike slightly ahead of your centre of gravity so that when firm contact is made it will directly underneath it. To cushion the impact of the landing, the knee joint should not straighten completely and the pelvis will dip slightly on the opposite side from that leg. As soon as the foot touches down, contact is rolled forwards towards the toes. This action is supported by the iliotibial band in the leg that has landed and the core muscles, which provide some resistance to the body's cushioning of the strike and hold up your trunk as the gravity shifts forward past the standing foot.
In short, middle of sole of foot in contact with ground, knee and ankle flexed for shock absorption.
The drive phase: as the contact with the ground is rolled forwards the toes the drive phase begins. The standing leg straightens, pushing backwards and downwards and extending the hamstrings and glutes. Then, as an additional level, the foot is pushed off as the calf muscles straighten out the ankle. In an ideal stride this will provide force upwards along the straight leg forwards the runner's centre of gravity in the hips. This should supply enough vertical force to keep you upright when your centre of gravity is a long way in front of your foot or there is no contact with the ground, but it should take a little energy as possible away from the horizontal force which is what is driving you forwards. How much the ankle should flex as the foot leaves the ground depends on the style of running and how high the foot is going to be lifted: distance runners should stay close to the ground, meaning the ankle will stay almost rigid, while sprinters will virtually point their toes for much greater lifts of up to 90 degrees.
In short, Rolling forward on the toes, pushing down and backward into ground to straighten the leg. Elastic recoil bends leg to move upwards and forwards.
The recovery phase: As soon as the foot has left the ground, the leg begins the recovery, or swing, phase. As the foot lifts it will be behind the body, and the leg will raise, bend and kick forwards ready to come down and repeat the cycle. The most efficient runners will make this happen through a combination of muscle force, elastic recoil and momentum left over from the drive phase. Think of a rubber band being stretched to its limit and released. The energy created as it contracts is enough to lunch a folded paper pellet all the way across the room. As you run, your legs work in exactly the same way; they are stretched all the way then contract during the first phase of the recovery run, creating an explosion of energy. This is elastic recoil, and it amounts to free energy inasmuch as it requires no muscles exertion to create it.
In short, heel moves towards the buttock, hips swing the leg forward and momentum starts to unfold the knees so the legs is almost straight when foot strikes and we are back at the support phase.
Where foot should strike:
(1) Sprinting: Ball of foot/underside of toes
(2) Short/middle distance: Forefoot/ball of foot
(3) Long distance: Mid foot
(4) Competition pace long distance: Just in front of mid foot
Summary of ideal running posture:
(1) Head and neck: erect, eye lines focused about 40M in front, neck in line with spine
(2) Shoulders: Square to the front, level and loose; they should not move as your swing your arms
(3) Arms: Close inside sides, elbows bent at approximately 90 degree
(4) Hands: Loosely rolled into fists, thumb resting on top of index finger, wrists straight and relaxed.
(5) Trunk: Upright and facing forward, with chest out.
(6) Hips: In line with shoulders; no lateral movement
(7) Legs: Working in a smooth circular movement; knees shouldn't be lifted too high
(8) Feet: Pointed straight out to the front so the energy of the push is used as efficiently as possible.
Over striding
After worn out shoes and failure to warm up properly, over striding is the bigger threat to running performance, a factor which increases considerably among novices. It's very tempting to stride out too far as a way of either conserving energy by decreasing turnover o increasing your speed by covering more ground, but in both cases over striding will have the opposite effect.
If your foot lands too far in front of your hips (your body's center of gravity), it will put unnecessary strain on your knees and hips, as the impact of landing will not be absorbed in a vertical line from the feet up through the ankles and knees to the hips. The knees will bear most of this unabsorbed shock as they are the pivotal point between the planted lower leg and the still moving upper leg, but the iliotibial band will also suffer because the jolting involved will create all sorts of friction around your hips. Because over striding pushes you to land on your heels, they will also take a bashing, especially at your Achilles tendon.
To avoid over striding, practice your stride with gentle running and stride outs, making sure to land on your mid foot, with a smooth forward momentum and very little jolting. Shorten your stride if you have to. The average runner should be taking between 85-95 strides a minute; and much less than that suggests you are over striding, then if you wan to cover more ground, increase your time in the air without overstretching your leading leg.
4 basic rules for running faster
(1) Bend the knee on your swing phase as it will get to where it needs to be more quickly because your foot has to ravel in a shorter arc.
(2) Keep the muscles along the front of your leg loose (quads, hip flexors), so there is no resistance when you straighten your leg as you push off from the ground
(3) As you push off, try consciously push backwards, getting the most out of your hamstrings and glutes. This will keep you moving forward rather than wasting energy going up and down.
(4) Don't over bend the corresponding knee as each foot hits the ground. It will dissipate energy, dampen your elastic recoil and keep your foot in contact with the ground for too long.
Up and down hills run:
Unless you plan to do all your running in the stadium, sooner or latter your are going to have to run up a hill and, very probably, down the other side. If technique is important on the flat, then it is vital on the inclines, and knowing how to run hills separates the good runners from the very good runners.
Correct technique on hills will gain you ground, conserve your energy and reduce the risk of injury.
(A) Running up the hill
The most important aspect of good uphill running technique is that it will conserve energy, which will pay back later in the run.
As you go over Mt Faber hill don't accelerate suddenly, but maintain total control over your running by adopting "baby step" and shorter strides. The most common mistake made by runners on an uphill surface is to stride out to maintain the same speed as on the flat by pushing harder against the ground. With this comes all the problems inherent with over striding and the additional force being applied to the push will quickly drain you at a time when you needed energy the most. Shorten your stride when running up hills, reducing your arm action correspondingly, and maintain the same stride per minute rate you would have on the flat. You should bounce up hills in short sharp steps, making sure you keep your elastic recoil at its most efficient.
When running up a hill, just as your stride turnover should remain unaltered from running on the flat, so your breathing should stay the same. If it gets much heavier, then you are probably running too fast.
Every runner who is at all serious about running should include hill running in their training. Sustained hill running is excellent for developing your quads. Training on hills will make you physically and mentally stronger.
(B) Running down the hill
The key to efficient running down hills is to allow gravity to do most of the work for you, but to achieve that you'll have to overcome a natural fear of hurtling downhill out of control.
The easier mistake to make when running down hills is to increase your stride length. This will happen if you push off horizontally, which, in conjunction with the surface falling away, will mean you end up almost leaping along. Quite apart from this being grossly energy inefficient as you are using a large amount of energy to push yourself forward, it ill mean gravity is working against you. After the propulsive force pushing you forward has dissipated, you are allowing gravity to pull your striking foot down to the surface from a greater height than is recommended, thus massively increasing landing impact. The stresses caused to your ankles, knees and hips will be felt later in a long run, and will have a cumulative effect on your body during your running life.
Ideally, you should be taking smaller steps to remain in control and, while keeping your body straight, angle yourself slightly forward to allow your momentum to carry you along. The angle of your lean should be relative to the gradient of the hill, as you need to strive to maintain the same right angle between self and surface as you would when running on the flat.
Touch down with your striking foot as lightly as you can to minimize wasted energy, then keep your feet as low to the ground as possible to maximize your momentum's forward thrust. This way you will be expending minimum effort to maintain your forward movement, as the only energy used should be for keeping your arms and legs moving and staying on balance.
View Related Articles:
- Marathon Training Tip #1: Getting Started
- Marathon Training Tip #2: Running Gear
- Marathon Training Tip #3: Before and After your run
- Marathon Training Program - Week 6
- Marathon Training Program - Week 7
- Marathon Training Session #5
- Marathon Training Session #6
Think of the running action as like hopping from foot to foot, and with each hop swinging the raised foot forward to land in front of the other foot. A hop with one leg and the corresponding movement of the other equals a running step; two steps – that is, each leg has a hop – amounting to a stride. The sort of running we want to do is, of course, slightly more sophisticated than this, with aim being to get through a stride as fluently as possible, delivering the maximum amount of forward momentum for the minimum of effort.
Firstly, it's important to note that there is no such thing as the perfect running technique, just like there is no "best" running shoe. Because of the differences between runners in term of size, weight, age, gender, muscle density, strength and so on, everybody's ideal stride will be unique to them. But there are theories and guidelines that can be universally applied, although they will probably need to be customized to fit your individual action.
The Stride Cycle
To analyze and improve your stride, you need to break it down into its component parts:
(1) the support phase
(2) the drive phase
(3) the recovery phase
The support phase: that is when your foot is actually in contact with the ground. In the best actions, initial contact is made by the middle of the foot, not the heel. The foot should start to strike slightly ahead of your centre of gravity so that when firm contact is made it will directly underneath it. To cushion the impact of the landing, the knee joint should not straighten completely and the pelvis will dip slightly on the opposite side from that leg. As soon as the foot touches down, contact is rolled forwards towards the toes. This action is supported by the iliotibial band in the leg that has landed and the core muscles, which provide some resistance to the body's cushioning of the strike and hold up your trunk as the gravity shifts forward past the standing foot.
In short, middle of sole of foot in contact with ground, knee and ankle flexed for shock absorption.
The drive phase: as the contact with the ground is rolled forwards the toes the drive phase begins. The standing leg straightens, pushing backwards and downwards and extending the hamstrings and glutes. Then, as an additional level, the foot is pushed off as the calf muscles straighten out the ankle. In an ideal stride this will provide force upwards along the straight leg forwards the runner's centre of gravity in the hips. This should supply enough vertical force to keep you upright when your centre of gravity is a long way in front of your foot or there is no contact with the ground, but it should take a little energy as possible away from the horizontal force which is what is driving you forwards. How much the ankle should flex as the foot leaves the ground depends on the style of running and how high the foot is going to be lifted: distance runners should stay close to the ground, meaning the ankle will stay almost rigid, while sprinters will virtually point their toes for much greater lifts of up to 90 degrees.
In short, Rolling forward on the toes, pushing down and backward into ground to straighten the leg. Elastic recoil bends leg to move upwards and forwards.
The recovery phase: As soon as the foot has left the ground, the leg begins the recovery, or swing, phase. As the foot lifts it will be behind the body, and the leg will raise, bend and kick forwards ready to come down and repeat the cycle. The most efficient runners will make this happen through a combination of muscle force, elastic recoil and momentum left over from the drive phase. Think of a rubber band being stretched to its limit and released. The energy created as it contracts is enough to lunch a folded paper pellet all the way across the room. As you run, your legs work in exactly the same way; they are stretched all the way then contract during the first phase of the recovery run, creating an explosion of energy. This is elastic recoil, and it amounts to free energy inasmuch as it requires no muscles exertion to create it.
In short, heel moves towards the buttock, hips swing the leg forward and momentum starts to unfold the knees so the legs is almost straight when foot strikes and we are back at the support phase.
Where foot should strike:
(1) Sprinting: Ball of foot/underside of toes
(2) Short/middle distance: Forefoot/ball of foot
(3) Long distance: Mid foot
(4) Competition pace long distance: Just in front of mid foot
Summary of ideal running posture:
(1) Head and neck: erect, eye lines focused about 40M in front, neck in line with spine
(2) Shoulders: Square to the front, level and loose; they should not move as your swing your arms
(3) Arms: Close inside sides, elbows bent at approximately 90 degree
(4) Hands: Loosely rolled into fists, thumb resting on top of index finger, wrists straight and relaxed.
(5) Trunk: Upright and facing forward, with chest out.
(6) Hips: In line with shoulders; no lateral movement
(7) Legs: Working in a smooth circular movement; knees shouldn't be lifted too high
(8) Feet: Pointed straight out to the front so the energy of the push is used as efficiently as possible.
Over striding
After worn out shoes and failure to warm up properly, over striding is the bigger threat to running performance, a factor which increases considerably among novices. It's very tempting to stride out too far as a way of either conserving energy by decreasing turnover o increasing your speed by covering more ground, but in both cases over striding will have the opposite effect.
If your foot lands too far in front of your hips (your body's center of gravity), it will put unnecessary strain on your knees and hips, as the impact of landing will not be absorbed in a vertical line from the feet up through the ankles and knees to the hips. The knees will bear most of this unabsorbed shock as they are the pivotal point between the planted lower leg and the still moving upper leg, but the iliotibial band will also suffer because the jolting involved will create all sorts of friction around your hips. Because over striding pushes you to land on your heels, they will also take a bashing, especially at your Achilles tendon.
To avoid over striding, practice your stride with gentle running and stride outs, making sure to land on your mid foot, with a smooth forward momentum and very little jolting. Shorten your stride if you have to. The average runner should be taking between 85-95 strides a minute; and much less than that suggests you are over striding, then if you wan to cover more ground, increase your time in the air without overstretching your leading leg.
4 basic rules for running faster
(1) Bend the knee on your swing phase as it will get to where it needs to be more quickly because your foot has to ravel in a shorter arc.
(2) Keep the muscles along the front of your leg loose (quads, hip flexors), so there is no resistance when you straighten your leg as you push off from the ground
(3) As you push off, try consciously push backwards, getting the most out of your hamstrings and glutes. This will keep you moving forward rather than wasting energy going up and down.
(4) Don't over bend the corresponding knee as each foot hits the ground. It will dissipate energy, dampen your elastic recoil and keep your foot in contact with the ground for too long.
Up and down hills run:
Unless you plan to do all your running in the stadium, sooner or latter your are going to have to run up a hill and, very probably, down the other side. If technique is important on the flat, then it is vital on the inclines, and knowing how to run hills separates the good runners from the very good runners.
Correct technique on hills will gain you ground, conserve your energy and reduce the risk of injury.
(A) Running up the hill
The most important aspect of good uphill running technique is that it will conserve energy, which will pay back later in the run.
As you go over Mt Faber hill don't accelerate suddenly, but maintain total control over your running by adopting "baby step" and shorter strides. The most common mistake made by runners on an uphill surface is to stride out to maintain the same speed as on the flat by pushing harder against the ground. With this comes all the problems inherent with over striding and the additional force being applied to the push will quickly drain you at a time when you needed energy the most. Shorten your stride when running up hills, reducing your arm action correspondingly, and maintain the same stride per minute rate you would have on the flat. You should bounce up hills in short sharp steps, making sure you keep your elastic recoil at its most efficient.
When running up a hill, just as your stride turnover should remain unaltered from running on the flat, so your breathing should stay the same. If it gets much heavier, then you are probably running too fast.
Every runner who is at all serious about running should include hill running in their training. Sustained hill running is excellent for developing your quads. Training on hills will make you physically and mentally stronger.
(B) Running down the hill
The key to efficient running down hills is to allow gravity to do most of the work for you, but to achieve that you'll have to overcome a natural fear of hurtling downhill out of control.
The easier mistake to make when running down hills is to increase your stride length. This will happen if you push off horizontally, which, in conjunction with the surface falling away, will mean you end up almost leaping along. Quite apart from this being grossly energy inefficient as you are using a large amount of energy to push yourself forward, it ill mean gravity is working against you. After the propulsive force pushing you forward has dissipated, you are allowing gravity to pull your striking foot down to the surface from a greater height than is recommended, thus massively increasing landing impact. The stresses caused to your ankles, knees and hips will be felt later in a long run, and will have a cumulative effect on your body during your running life.
Ideally, you should be taking smaller steps to remain in control and, while keeping your body straight, angle yourself slightly forward to allow your momentum to carry you along. The angle of your lean should be relative to the gradient of the hill, as you need to strive to maintain the same right angle between self and surface as you would when running on the flat.
Touch down with your striking foot as lightly as you can to minimize wasted energy, then keep your feet as low to the ground as possible to maximize your momentum's forward thrust. This way you will be expending minimum effort to maintain your forward movement, as the only energy used should be for keeping your arms and legs moving and staying on balance.
View Related Articles:
- Marathon Training Tip #1: Getting Started
- Marathon Training Tip #2: Running Gear
- Marathon Training Tip #3: Before and After your run
- Marathon Training Program - Week 6
- Marathon Training Program - Week 7
- Marathon Training Session #5
- Marathon Training Session #6
No comments:
Post a Comment