The Home Fitness Manual

Not everyone is gifted with having proper running form. I know I wasn’t. Yet, with a few tweaks here and there to my technique it didn’t take long before I was able to
enjoy going out for a run with confidence in my ability.

I do believe running is by way far one of the best examples of getting a great workout while not need a gym. Really, what do you need? A decent pair of shoes, an ipod? In some circles, shoes aren’t even required.

(Photo: aye_shamus)

Whether you happen to prefer marathon running sessions or like to sprint your way to a heart-pounding good workout, learning to keep yourself injury-free is important. In this post I’ll highlight a few pointers to consider when correcting your technique.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Examples of Foot Placement for Proper Running Form

Despite the simplicity of going out for a run, there are actually many small things going on at once when you set off on your session.

One of the things that might not concern you at first is how the foot rolls with each stride. This is called Pronation: when the heel touches down and when the toe lifts off. There are three types of Pronation—Normal, Overpronation and Underpronation.

Here we are going to look at what Normal Pronation looks like in the following video. This is the ideal model of how you would want your foot to roll with each land of the heel. The model is to have the ankle roll in slightly as the foot lands on the ground. With each plant of the foot, you’ll have more surface area to push off of as you continue with each gait.

Overpronation occurs when the foot rolls in by 15 degrees, and the toes (usually the big toe more than the others) take on extra pressure when lifting off. Generally, if you have flat or low arches your running pattern may be affected by this. One way to correct this behavior is to choose a pair of mobility control, or stability, shoes.

If you’re suffering from Underpronation (Supination), you might notice the soles of your shoes will have consistent wear on the outer edges. The description of Underpronation is: when the heel touches down, the outer side of the foot has more contact with the ground than any other part. Also, as you may have guessed by now, the outer part of the toes are used more with lifting off more than they should be for proper running form.

A Few Notes on Footstriking Patterns

With barefoot running become quite popular in recent years, this has led to a slight revolution in the general theory how a runner should land with each stride.

Without all the comfort of a cushioned shoe, our feet are designed to absorb the impact using the forefoot region. Just try running down the block minus a pair of shoes. Landing on the heel will be painful. Touching down on the forefoot will probably be more comfortable.

An interesting comparison can be made with the best runners in the world, how they typically land on the heel, while the rest of us may actually land on the forefoot. Forefoot running usually results in less injury and is the more efficient/natural way we were designed to run, but can result in quicker fatigue.

When discussing your proper running form along with your footstrike pattern, you might want to factor in what kind of running you’re going after. Are you planning to head out for an hour or more? Or are you using High Intensity Interval Training to finish off a workout session?

Typically, if you’re out for a long distance run, using the forefoot method will keep you from reaching fatigue too soon. Want to go fast? Striking on the toes might be the way to go for shorter distances and times since you can deliver a greater source of liftoff with this method.

A radical change in your current style may not be totally necessary, but it’s an interesting topic of discussion.

Simple Tips to Run Faster and Longer

The mechanics of running are very simple. However, if you find yourself needing to fine tune your technique there are three points of interest to consider for acquiring proper running form. You may want to pay attention to these when you’re on a run:

• Cadence
• Lean
• Posture

Cadence is important because it represents the rate of steps you make per minute. Using elite runners as an example again, most will probably maintain around 200 steps or more per minute. Having a fast cadence tempo means your running faster, which is not a bad goal to reach. Another reason to have a faster cadence is to lessen the amount of time your foot has contact with the ground. Shortening how much time the foot has with the floor just helps to shorten your chances of injury.

Paying attention to how you lean and the state of your posture are extremely important complimentary actions to consider when out on a run.

When running you’ll want to add a slight lean forward, if forward is the direction you are intending to go. It’s not an over-exaggerated lean in anyway, but you don’t want to sit back in your stride. A natural lean should come from your ankles, almost as if you were falling forward. The goal is to take advantage of gravity.

Posture is highly important because it’s the foundation of holding your body in alignment. Most people tend to have good posture when starting out on a run, but when fatigue settles in this is generally when their head starts to drop and the shoulders begin to slouch. A moment is all it takes to simply bring yourself back into position for keeping that posture good.

While it might seem difficult at first to pay attention to everything that is happening with your body when you’re on a run keeping focused is important. Giving a second to correct your posture every now shouldn’t be that hard when you finally establish your cadence. Time and practice will be your allies to get that proper running form down clean.