- So you want to run faster?
Run pain free?
Well, a big part of that is improving your running form.
So today, I want to look at footstrike,
how your foot hits the ground,
and talk about some of the mistakes I see people making
and how we can all improve.
Okay, the first thing I want to talk about
is how a lot of runners and the majority of runners
do run with their foot landing heel first.
So they land as a heel striking runner
and there's nothing wrong with that in an of itself
and I'll explain why in a second.
But they combine the fact that they're heel striking
with the fact they're overstriding, so landing
with the foot too far out in front
of an extended knee, here.
That essentially slams the brakes on with each stride,
puts more strain through the knee and the hip
into the lower back, and really does start to create
this inefficient running stride where you're
just having to overcome the decelerative forces
before you can then get over the top of that landing foot
and push off, onto the next stride.
Now, what we don't want to see is the combination
of heel strike and overstride, but what we are
okay with seeing is someone landing with a heel strike
underneath a flexing knee.
So a shorter stride usually comes with a quicker turnover,
so a faster cadence, and that really does start to negate
a lot of the excess braking force that comes
with an overstride here, and just put you in a position
where your body can continue moving forwards
over the top of this flexing knee, over the top
of a light heel strike, onto the next stride.
So first things first, have a look.
If your Garmin or your whatever device you're using
gives you some cadence data,
have a look at whether your cadence is down
in the 160s, 150s, we see from some people,
for lots of you, it will be, and think about whether
that's something you can elevate, nice and easily,
because as we increase your cadence by making shorter,
quicker strides,
now again, there's a video right over here
which I will link to which you can go and find out
more information about how to improve your cadence,
how to increase your cadence.
But by making shorter, quick strides, it will stop you
from overstriding, and get you into a position
where you're able to land that foot nicely
underneath the flexing knee.
Now, the second mistake we see people making
is not to do with your classic heel strike.
Again, I said it's fine to come away from a head heel strike
but still heel strike, but if you're
a forefoot striking runner, if you find yourself
landing on the balls of your feet, well,
the problem we see people making isn't the fact
they're landing on the balls of the feet,
it's the fact that they're landing too high up
on the balls of their feet.
They're in a position where they're remaining
fairly plantar flexed the whole way through
stance phase, the whole way through the phase
while the foot's on the ground.
Now if you don't allow that heel to come down to the ground
after initial contact, if you don't allow
this gentle lowering and the kiss of the heel
to touch the ground before you lift off,
you're only placing a lot more stress and strain
on your calves and your achilles tendon.
And again, that's a common factor I see again and again
with forefoot striking runners who have achilles problems,
calf problems, is that when you look at their running,
they're very, very aggressive.
And it's that aggressive nature,
the forefoot strike, that really we want to start
to dial back on.
I don't want to see people, whether we're talking
forefoot strike or heel strike, I don't want to see
people at extremes.
So the extreme for a forefoot strike
is somewhere right up on their toes like a sprinter,
albeit, they're a distance runner, and the extreme
for a heel striking runner would be someone who's
landing way ahead of themselves,
toes up towards the sky here,
on an almost extended knee, overstriding.
Again, we don't want to see either of those extremes.
Instead, we could see someone with a light,
little heel strike underneath a flexing knee,
or a gentle, little, almost mid-foot strike
where they're landing still balls of the feet first,
but the heel comes down and kisses.
Now the third mistake I see people making, all too often,
is that they try and force themselves into a kind of a mold
that their body isn't ready for
when it comes to running form,
particularly when it comes to footstike.
So if you know that you're a heel striking runner,
and you, perhaps you've read a book, perhaps you've read
an article online that suggests that we all benefit
from running forefoot, and again, we're all so different,
I don't believe there's a one size fits all solution,
but if you've read something, you're motivated to go out
and change and try this new style of running,
and all of a sudden you go from being this guy or girl
to trying to be this guy or girl, of course,
your body's gonna be loading differently,
your muscles are going to experience different
stress and strains, the tendons, also,
and you're going to, in many cases, start feeling,
well, classic is feeling tightness through your calves.
Instead, what I would rather you do, instead of making
that mistake of trying to almost become this square peg
in a round hole, I would embrace the way in which
your body is put together, embrace your own strengths
and weaknesses.
We'll run as a kind of an expression of our own
individual strengths and weaknesses and try and refine
what your body already knows what to do well.
So if you're a heel striking runner, try and focus
on becoming a lighter heel striking runner
without overstriding, just by dialing the cadence
up a little bit.
If you're a forefoot striking runner and you find yourself
naturally right up on your toes,
try, especially if you're trying to run longer distances,
try to dial that back to a point where you can just feel
that yes, you're landing on the balls of your feet.
It still feels light, it still feels springy,
but you can feel that you're coming down,
allowing the whole foot to load.
You feel the heel kiss before you, then, move on.
That, for me, makes such a difference.
I'm a tall guy, again, I'm slightly,
I'm not your classic runner's build,
and I do find myself right up on the balls of my feet,
because I've got relatively poor ankle dorsiflexion,
poor movement in that direction.
Now I, as I've started training for marathons
found that whilst I get away with being right up
on my toes for five K or 10 K, all of a sudden,
I have to dial that back because the longer runs,
like 14, 16, 18 mile runs,
if I was right on the front of my foot,
my calves would hate me.
So instead, learning just to find a bit more
of a middle ground made all the difference.
Now, I mentioned cadence, I mentioned
stride length, as well.
If you'd like to see a video in terms of how to improve
your stride length with one really simple, easy tip,
check out the video right over here.
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