It's just incredible to watch elite runners in motion. Their technique
seems to somehow make running look effortless.
Yet we all know the reality when it comes to getting out there
and running mile after mile... Running is hard!
And if you've ever seen yourself running on video,
there's probably a bit of a difference between
the running technique of elite runners and how you see yourself running.
But we can all definitely pick up some powerful tips from studying
the running technique of great distance runners like Eliud Kipchoge,
Kenenisa Bekele, Bridgid Kosgei and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Let's take a look at some of the key elements of running technique
that these top level runners have mastered,
and I'll explain how you can apply each one of these to your own running
to improve your own running form. Number 1: Posture and forward lean
When it comes to running with proper technique.
I'm a firm believer that it all starts with your posture.
You might have heard runners talking about achieving a forward lean,
as brilliantly demonstrated by Kenenisa Bekele in this slow motion footage.
Now you can see that he's running with a whole body forward lean rather than
simply bending forwards at the waist, which is what I see so many runners doing.
Bending forwards at the waist may feel like you're leaning forwards,
but in relative terms you're pushing your hips back and leading with the chest.
Instead, try focusing on the feeling of holding your hips
high, up and forwards as you run.
This should feel like you're maintaining more of an aligned posture
from top to toe.
As you then increase the pace, you can allow yourself to lean forwards
with your whole body as if you are kind of leaning into a headwind.
That in itself will help you find a more efficient posture
to help maintain that forward momentum as you're running.
Number 2: Stride Length. Your stride length (the distance you cover with
each running stride) is an important factor that dictates your pace.
Cadence (the number of steps you make per minute) is the other big factor.
Now, most elite distance runners run with a cadence of
about 180 steps per minute or above.
And whether that kind of cadence is something
that we should all be aspiring to as runners
is actually quite an interesting topic
and one that I've already made a video about.
So I'll leave the link to that one down in the description.
But when it comes to stride length, measuring the absolute distance from,
let's say, left foot fall to the next left foot fall,
is actually less helpful than understanding where your foot lands
relative to the rest of the body when it strikes the ground.
You can see from this slow motion footage of Eliud Kipchoge
that he lands with his foot beneath a flexing knee.
This is exactly what we should all be looking to do, regardless of whether
you're naturally a heel striking runner, forefoot runner or land on your midfoot.
The reality is that the closer to under a flexing knee you can land
your foot, the more of a midfoot runner you'll become anyway.
Now, for some people, that'll mean if you're a heel striking runner,
the heel strike will just become less pronounced, more gentle.
Runners who land their foot ahead of a more extended knee,
striking the ground too far in front of themselves are described as over striding
and tend to heel strike more aggressively, putting more stress
and strain on their joints,
particularly their knees, their hips and their lower back.
So the obvious question is how can you then increase
your stride length to run faster without over striding?
Well, let's use this video of Jakob Ingebrigtsen to explain
it's all in what's known as the stride angle, the difference
between maximum hip extension and maximum hip flexion on opposing legs.
So as one leg is driving backwards.
How high is the knee drive on the leg
that’s driving forwards at the same time? I tend to focus on the hip flexion,
the knee drive component of this whencoaching.
So is to tap into the crossed extensor reflex.
Again, I'll leave a link in the description to a video
that explains more about the crossed extensor reflex and why that's important.
But for any given pace, if you're creating sufficient hip flexion
high enough of a knee drive, then you'll find that
you don't need to over stride to maintain that pace.
Conversely, if your knee drive starts to drop for that pace
and you're not creating enough hip flexion, the only way you can maintain
the strength you need for that pace is to over stride.
If you get it right, you'll be able to land your foot
beneath the flexing knee as you run. As the pace gets faster.,
the knee drive needs to get higher and higher
as you need to generate more stride length.
And of course, the opposite is true for slow and steady paces.
Just don't allow your knee drive to get lazy on those easy runs,
because that's where you start to over stride
and you'll know if that happens as your foot strike starts to feel
that little bit heavier, that little bit more, I suppose,
plodding if you like. Number 3: Foot strike.
OK, so hopefully I've set this up in such a way now that it makes sense
when I say that the type of foot strike you run with
isn't something we need to set hard rules about.
I'm OK with seeing runners who land with a heel strike
just as long as it's a light heel strike underneath a flexing knee
as we can see from Brigid Kosgei here.
It's the extremes that should be avoided;
If you're running with a really heavy heel strike,
then your best bet is to fix your posture, your cadence and your stride length.
And most likely, the over stride that caused the aggressive
heel strike will be resolved.
Similarly, I only really want to see a pronounced forefoot
strike from sprinters or some middle distance runners.
Forefoot running feels light, springy and fast.
I get it,
but it's not a technique that most long distance runners can maintain
without experiencing some sort of calf and achilles type issues at some point.
As you can see from Eliud Kipchoge here, a midfoot strike
is a more sustainable technique for efficient, long distance running.
Number 4: Running Arm Action
how you use your arms when you run is such a misunderstood topic.
Most runners just think that their arms swing back and forth
as part of their overall running action and don't really give it a second thought.
But in reality, your arms are fulfilling an important function in creating balance,
both from a rotational perspective and side to side.
As we can see from Brigid Kosgei in these images,
she has quite a pronounced crossbody arm swing.
This is present to balance out the movements around her
hips and pelvis as she runs. For an elite runner,
she's got a surprising amount of excessive side to side, and it's
hard to see on video, but no doubt rotational movements around her pelvis.
But she gets away with it due to the counterbalancing effect
of her very unique arm swing.
So if you notice in your own running technique that your arms are doing something
unusual, then perhaps consider what they might be compensating for.
Experience tells me that usually it's a sign that more strength and stability
work, particularly around the hips, pelvis and core is needed.
What we're talking about arm action, there's another powerful tip
that you can use to improve your running technique when you feel tired on a run.
And let's face it,
that's when form usually tends to get sloppy for most of us.
If you focus on maintaining a quick rhythm with your arms,
your legs will follow the rhythm.
Try it yourself.
That'll help you maintain a high cadence and again, stop you from over striding.
It's most effective when you keep a fairly short arm position,
as you can see here from Eliud Kipchoge in this footage.
In fact, if you want a more detailed breakdown of Eliud Kipchoge’s running technique,
check out the video right over here, as there's lots
we can learn from studying one of the all time greatest distance runners.