People often ask me the best ways to improve their running form. It would be easy for me to give them specific cues to force change within your body BUT My first response is usually this: making changes to your form for no good reason can sometimes lead to problems and even injury. If your current form isn’t causing you any issues or injury, here are some simple tips you might want to try first, which may help you to run with more efficiency and power.
Include speedwork
While you might not necessarily want to train yourself to run faster, the faster you run, the more efficient a running form your body will adopt. When you increase your speed, you’ll see that your posture naturally straightens, your arms will begin to move, and your stride length will increase as your feet spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. The more you practice running faster, the more efficient a runner you will become. The benefit of speedwork is that it’s great to be aware of your cadence without obsessing over ‘perfect’ numbers. Just notice your step rate rather than forcing a number. Short, easy strides on easy runs also count as speedwork too, and naturally help reduce braking forces and over striding.
Introduce speedwork carefully if you’ve never tried it before. Include some 20-30 second bursts of speed in the middle of a run, or try an unstructured fartlek session once a week where you run efforts of varying speed and distance between lamp-posts or trees. Build up to structured interval sessions as you gain experience and confidence.
Run up hills.
Short hill reps of around 30-60 seconds are excellent for encouraging a more efficient running form, and create a similar adaptation in the body that short interval sessions do. Hill sprints power up your running, as they are effectively resistance training; you versus the hill.
If you’ve never tried running up hills before, include a few minutes of uphill running into some of your runs, or try some short hill repetitions with recoveries (jogging, walking or standing) that are around 2 to 3 times the length of the uphill effort.
Strength train
Strength training doesn’t have to be complicated – in fact, the simpler the better. As well as helping to prevent injury, including exercises which help improve balance, core strength and mobility will help contribute towards your running efficiency and stride length. Exercises such as glute bridges, single-leg squats, step-ups, resistance band work, and exercises which target the core such as the plank, are all great exercises to improve control and alignment. Tight muscles can also subtly compromise form, so short mobility drills before or after runs (ankle circles, hip openers, calf stretches) allow a freer, more efficient stride.
If you need some guidance with strength training, alongside my coaching, I work closely with Pilates teacher Louise at Studio44 Pilates on my Run+Pilates Performance Coaching Package.
Practice running drills and plyometric movements.
Drills are exaggerated movements which emphasise elements of the running motion in isolation, and which the more we practice, the more natural they become. Movements such as high knees, skipping, hopping, and bounding can help improve our running economy through repetition of a learned movement, improve our mobility and range of motion, and strengthen the muscles used, so it’s worth scheduling drills in either as part of a warm up, or as a standalone session once a week.
Plyometrics are movements which incorporate jumps, and are important for building explosive strength which will translate into less time on the ground, through a longer, more energy-efficient, stride, as well as improving our elastic recoil, helping our body become more efficient at releasing energy and pushing off into the next stride. Why not try skipping for a minute every time you get back from a run?
Include a weekly long run.
As well as training your overall aerobic fitness, including a weekly long run can help improve your running form, because practice makes perfect through repetition. Aim for around 90 minutes to 2 hours as a long run if you’re not training for a long distance event. if you’re not used to running for this long, build up to this slowly, by adding 5-10 minutes onto your longest run each week. Be careful not to run this too fast either – the key is running at an easy intensity so you can get the most out of your other sessions dedicated to increasing your speed.
Long runs are a great time to practice body awareness, and notice any tight spots. Instead of forcing an upright torso, use subtle cues: relax your shoulders, lengthen your spine for a few steps, or roll your hips forward slightly. Tiny micro-adjustments like this allow your body to self-correct without stress.
If you need more guidance, coaching spots are currently open – check my Run Coaching page.
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