Hey guys, its Dr. JP and today we are going to take a look at the running form of Samuel
Tefera as he broke the world record for the indoor 1500m race!
This is an incredible feat as the previous world record set by El Guerrouj has stood
for over 20 years...which is basically older than Tefera himself at 19 years old!
It will be interesting to take a look at this middle distance runner and take a closer look
at the way he runs!
Hopefully, you guys will learn more about running and apply this knowledge to improve
the way you run as well!
Now, lets get into this analysis!
To get a good understanding of Tefera's running, lets look at the way he ran this race as a
whole.
First, we will be taking a look at his time splits.
The race started pretty quickly as the pacemakers were set to help achieve a new world record.
The first lap was completed in around 27.66 seconds.
Then, the following 2 laps were pretty consistent as they were completed in basically 28 seconds.
At this point, the top runners were on track to getting the world record.
However, going toward the 1k mark, the pacemakers started to slow, as this distance was completed
in 2:21.27.
This was slightly slower compared to world record pace.
This is basically where Kejelcha started to pick up speed and Tefera followed.
Lap 6 ended up being completed in 28.01, which was faster than all previous laps besides
the 1st one.
This pace didn't let up either as they continued to go faster, as the 7th lap was completed
in 27.92.
It ended up being a close race between Tefera and Kejelcha; however, unlike Kejelcha who
was starting to tire, Tefera kicked up another notch..breaking the world record!
This race was definietly influenced by the pace set by the pacemakers, then by Kejelcha
during the later part of the race.
The intense competition between the two after the 1k mark definitely brought out the best
in both of these people.
Now, we will take a closer look at Tefera's running form during this race.
The clip we will be analyzing is during the final part of the race.
This takes place as Tefera begins to pick up speed and go past Kejelcha.
I would have loved to analyze another clip that looks at his form during a straight away
instead of coming off a curve; however, this is was the best view of his form throughout
the entire race footage.
Anyway, as we look at his running form, lets take a look at overall components of speed,
which are stride frequency and stride length.
First, we will look at stride frequency and during this specific clip, he presents with
a step rate of 200 steps per minute.
This is a pretty high step rate compared to recreational runners for this type of race;
however, compared to elite runners, this is not a step rate that completely sets him apart.
Now, we will take a look at stride length...
Based on some calculations for this lap, he presented with a step length of 2.15m.
Now this kind of step length sticks out a bit more compared to his step rate, but nothing
absolutely out of the ordinary.
Overall, hes pretty balanced between his step rate and step length.
Next, we will take a look at specific aspects of his running form to see what allows him
to maintain this slightly increased step length coupled with his decent step rate, leading
to him breaking the 1500m world record.
First lets start with the foot landing.
As you can see, Tefera lands right around the midfoot area.
This seems pretty typical as I tend to usually see people adopt more of a forefoot landing
during high speed runs, like sprints.... then for slower paced races like marathons,
a good amount of elite runners adopt a more rear foot landing pattern.
Since this is a middle distance race, landing around the midfoot area pretty much follows
this theme.
Many people tend to focus on the type of foot strike; however, it may be more important
to look at where the foot lands relative to the body.
I placed markers from where the foot lands to where the body's estimated center of mass
should be.
As you can see, his foot lands slightly in front of the body's center of mass.
Usually people think about biomechanics in ways to just increase speed.
This is why its a common belief that landing as close to the body's center of mass is ideal
as doing so will increase step rate and in turn, increase speed.
However, this does come with a price as landing too close to the center of mass doesnt give
enough time to fully utilize the elastic properties of the muscles and tendons, leading to decreased
efficiency.
In this case, while he doesnt land that close to the center of mass, he doesnt land too
far from the center of mass where it could be considered overstriding.
Landing in this manner allows him time to use the elastic properties of the muscles,
allowing for a more cost efficient run.
Doing so may have helped conserve energy for that final kick toward the end of the race.
Now, we will look at the range of foot movement from when the foot first makes contact on
the ground to when the foot begins to push off the ground.
What I find to be one of the more important aspects of this frame is hip movement prior
to push off.
Tefera does a great job of utilizing the hip extensors as well as proper timing of the
push off as you can see by the positioning.
By utilizing his hips to this extent, this may contribute to his decent step length.
Now, even though he takes bigger steps, this does not signficantly impact his step rate.
One reason for this is due to the stretch reflex that occurs in the hip flexors as the
hips extend back during push off.
The hip flexors act like an elastic band and get stretched out prior to push off.
Then, after push off, the tension is released, aiding in swinging the leg forward.
Next, lets take a look at vertical oscillation, which is basically the amount of bounce he
has as he runs.
As you can see, he really doesnt have much vertical bounce..
This may be attributed to great utilization of the hips as I mentioned earlier as well
as the decent step rate he maintains as he runs as both of these factors minimize vertical
oscillation.
This is important as excessive bouncing can lead to increased stressed on the joints as
well as force directed more upward than forward, leading to decreased running efficiency.
Now, we will take a look at this frame.
Postural alignment is important in this frame as tons of force is being released at this
moment and being able to stabilize the body in the appropriate position will minimize
energy leakage and optimize force output.
Take a look at his trunk.
He presents with a balanced upright trunk that is not leaning forward and no excessive
arching of the back is seen.
It may initially seem bent forward, but that is because the whole body is tilted forward.
This slight forward body tilt actually allows for improved ability to extend his hips as
we mentioned earlier in the video as well as improved momentum forward.
Lets pay closer attention to the arms now.
I placed markers showing the range of the shoulder movement as he runs.
Really not much to talk about here as he presents great shoulder movement for this pace, especially
that backside movement.
Having enough shoulder movement helps counteract angular forces produced from the legs, which
helps stabilize the body and maintain a straight path when running.
Now, lets a look at the arms from a different angle.
You can see that there is is no crossing of arms through midline.
However, unlike other middle distance runners we have seen, he pretty much keeps his elbows
at a 90 degree angle and is not really compact as they are kept a little out to the side;
however, as I mentioned in previous videos, specifics in arm swing do not matter as much
as long as angular forces from the legs are counteracted effectively.
Staying on this angle, lets look at the head.
He pretty much keeps it in a neutral position.
There is not much forward and backward movement, but rather side to side movement of the head,
which is typically due to weightshifting that occurs.
We can also take a look at the body as a whole to take a look at symmetry.
As you can see, there is no significant assymetries or differences when comparing both the right
and left side of the body.
And thats it for the quick analysis on Samuel Tefera as he broke the 1500m indoor world
record!
Let me know what you guys think about the video!
I'd really appreciate it if you shared it with your friends as well.
Also, please let me know who you'd like me to analyze next.
And as always, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!