Hey guys, its JP Gloria and in this video, we are going to analyze Eliud Kipchoge's running
form!
Its been awhile since I made a video just looking at his running, but I'm super excited to make this analysis.
Lets take a closer look at his beautiful running form,
when he participated in the breaking2 project, where he technically ran the world's
FASTEST marathon in a time of 2 hours and 25 sec!
Now, before I get into looking at specific parts of the body, I want to point out one
of the most incredible things about Eliud Kipchoge which is... his ability to maintain
form throughout almost the entire race at crazy pace of around 4 min and 35 sec for
over 2 hours!!
This takes so much mental focus and discipline to do!
He did end up fatiguing toward the end of the race, as you can see by the decreased
forward lean of the body...as well as beginning to showing a lean more toward the right side,
but still...what Kipchoge did was nothing short of AMAZING!!!
As we do in most of these running analysis videos, we will start at the feet and work
our way up.
As you can see, he presents with forefoot landing as the foot touches the ground.
Landing this way allows for improved active push off from foot as well as a quicker foot
turnover.
This aids in his ability to maintain a relatively high cadence throughout the entire race at
around and slightly above 180 step per min.
However, as I mentioned in previous videos, while specific foot landing
gets much more attention, positioning of the foot under the center of mass may be more
important.. as it allows for optimal stride length to allow for quick transition from
accepting weight onto the foot to propelling forward.
As you can see, Eliud's foot lands a little bit in front of the hips, where his center
of mass should be.
A more in depth explanation of the importance of landing under the center of mass as well
as running tips to apply this to your running... can be found in my previous video looking
at how elite runners increase speed during runs.
Next, lets look at the knees.
As I mentioned in my previous video that looked at Kipchoge's foot landing, his knees seem
to stay slightly bent throughout the entire running cycle.
This is seen as his foot begins to carry his weight, aiding in shock absorption.
This also occurs when he extends his leg to propel his body forward.
This shows that he is trying to minimize upward movement, and maximize forward movement.
Obviously, there is always vertical force required as he pushes forward because without
it.. he would collapse into the ground or his foot would not clear the ground and he would trip.
However, he tries to give the precise amount of vertical force to prevent this to maximize
efficiency as he runs.
One popular way to apply this to your running is to differentiate between concepts of push
off and pull through.
Instead of thinking of pushing off from the ground, think of pulling through the ground
instead.
Applying this concept, has helped many runners stay low and prevent excessive vertical movement (aka bouncing as
they run). Next, we will look more closely at the pelvis.
Compared to the other 2 runners, Eliud presents with a relatively more netural position of
the pelvis.
Checking out this runner, you can see he presents with more what we call anterior pelvic tilt,
which is tilting of the pelvis forward.
This decreases ability to use the elastic properties of the hip flexor and quads to
aid in swinging the leg forward, as well as something that may be even more vital in this
long distance race, which is...ability to breathe.
With an excessive anteriorly tilted pelvis, this usually causes people to breath more
from the chest and neck and not from the diaphgram, which is the main breathing muscle.
Breathing through the diaphragm allows you to take deeper breathes for improved oxygen
intake, which is vital since the marathon highly involves the aerobic energy system.
To incorporate this into your running, first, you need to understand how to take deep breaths
through the diaphragm.
You can start by lying down...like this, and putting your hands on your belly.
As you breath in, you should feel your belly rise, and as you breath out, your belly should fall.
Once you get the hang of it, try doin g this when standing still, then progress to walking,
then eventually to your running.
Next, we will look at his trunk.
His trunk may seem bent forward, but actually his whole body is leaning forward.
Maintaining his body in this position, allows for Eliud to not only increase forward momentum
as he runs, but also ability to extend his more.
This allows for improved ability to utilize the hip flexors, but also increases
elastic energy built from increased tension on the hip flexors and quads to aid in swinging
the leg forward.
To learn how to do this forward lean, start by facing a wall.
And while keeping your body upright, try to bend forward from the ankles.
This should help you learn how to do this forward lean and eventually incorporate it
into your running.
Finally, we will talk about his upper body.
Initially, it may look like there is alot of excessive movement going on, but really
there is not.
If you look closely, he stabilizes his trunk and keeps his neck in a neutral position
throughout almost the entire race!
Stabilizing the body in these areas prevents energy leakage and to improve efficiency during
running.
To apply this, just be aware of head position, and engage the core as you run.
When you engage the core, you need to find the right balance of activation.
Too little, and you'll end up with excessive movement in the legs and excessive anterior
pelvic tilt, and too much, and you'll get tired too quickly into the race
And that's it for the quick analysis of Eliud Kipchoge's running.
I really love watching this man run and I'm super curious about what he will accomplish
in the near future.
I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
If you did, please make sure you subscribe and click that bell, so you can see my future
videos.
Also, comment below about what you thought about the video as well as any runner you
would like me to analyze next!
And as always, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!