Transcription
Could tiny changes in how your feet hit the ground and whether you overstride or not actually help you run faster? Back in my college track days, before distance running, I believe raw speed was everything I needed. Like, who worries about technique when you've got quick legs? Thank you, jeans.
Well, ignoring my stride for so long led straight to knee trouble when I decided to start training for my first marathon. And if I'd been working on my form earlier, I'd probably have run faster times earlier, instead of sitting on Google trying to figure out why my knee is the size of a basketball. I got runner's knee twice, actually.
These days, we know great running form isn't magic. It's a learnable skill. And that's exactly what we're talking about today. How to run faster and healthier by dialing in seven practical tips with your running form. We'll be talking about the seven different tools of posture, footplant/foot placement, stride length, arm swing, cadence with a bonus free download training plan so you can improve right after watching this. So stick around for that. Core and perfection. Let's get into it.
What is the difference between good running form and good running economy? And then that will set us up for your seven tips. You are the most efficient person in the world running how you run. I can copy it and run exactly how you run. I'm not used to running that. My muscles won't be firing as efficiently. They're not used to working that way. I'm not running as efficiently because my body's not working. If we change your running form, you become less efficient in the short term. So, we have to decide if we're going to change someone's form. So, it goes back to the old adage, "If it's not broken, don't change it." If they're happy with the way they're running.
I learned really about running form from swimming. Why do we do all these in swimming but not in running? Why do we look at the way we swim so much but we don't look at the way we run?
Just to recap, it's we we do training specifically designed to make the aerobic engine bigger. Base is fun. I really like aerobic base. Like, I I found out that it's almost like spiritual in a way. You know that steady when you get to that that aerobic building. I call it steady or high Z2 heart rate where no lactate is building up. Z2 is fast where I'm like, "Oh, I'm actually moving here." But my heart rate is low. That's some next level. I never became a pro like you. But when we're trying to feel like a pro and I'm like, "Yeah, low heart rate, running fast, you know, this is great." Don't discount the aerobic base stage.
Foot plant. Explain that. You take your shoes and socks off and run, I'll guarantee you will land forefoot. Because if you land on the heel, the shock is so much it just vibrates right through your body. It hurts. So the body knows it's going to hurt. Stops it doing it. How your foot lands on the ground is secondary to that. So long as your foot is coming down behind the knee when you land, less damage and less stress on the body. So it's a very inefficient way to run so that they're constantly accelerating. They're not having this braking force. So yes, you do see people landing on the heels. And I'm not going to say that heel striking is specifically bad. I now think my view is that flat foot running is possibly the most efficient way of running for longer distances. That's up for argument. But I now say land with your foot behind the knee. Great. Yeah, let's jump into it.
So, number one is posture. Tell me more about that. You need to stand up straight. I hate seeing slouched runners looking down. So, your shoulders are slouched forward, your head's down, you're looking at the ground, you're going to run into the ground. You can't get the chest open to breathe. A hook on your head and it's not hanging you so much, but it's pulling you upright. See, just standing up straight and straight and tall, shoulders back a little bit, head looking straight ahead. I mean, I naturally just when I talk, I actually start doing these things myself when I'm talking. But before you run, you should stand and get your posture correct. Gradually, just lean forward a little bit till gravity takes over and boom, you're running. And that's it. Nothing more technical than that is a good way to start. Get the posture right before you run. Once you start running and you're slouched and bending down, you're already off to a bad foot.
So, I know you want to be able to increase your run cadence ASAP. So, to make it easier for you to go out and do it, I created a free six-month, yes, not six weeks, six-month download training plan that specifically allows you to increase your run cadence 1% better each week to slowly adapt your biomechanics. So, why so slow? Because if you change your run form too fast, you can injure yourself and the change won't last. And we're not trying to change your run form. We're just trying to optimize what you're already doing and make it just that much better. Be smart and use the QR code on the screen right here, link below in the video description or in the podcast show notes if you're listening on your podcast player to get your copy of it right now in your inbox. Bonus, you'll automatically be signed up for our 1% better newsletter, which isn't like other running newsletters because we don't do quick motivational hacks. Instead, every week is, you'll get tools and tactics to transform you through small step-by-step daily habit improvements, all to help you train, race, and live exponentially better in your own life. Let's get back into it.
A lot of people don't believe in the arms. You know, they're like, "My arms won't help me go, you know, go fast. I need the strong the big legs." Go out for a run, move your arms really slowly, and try and move your legs really quickly. You can't do it. If you do a short fast arm swing, it'll help you to get a short fast cadence. So if someone wants to pick the cadence up, if you want a longer stride, do a longer arm swing. The arms are super important for balancing the legs. It's a shorter, easier movement. That's much easier. You see a lot of Kenyons running like this. And the other thing with the arms, I'd say that's important is try not to cross the center line. You do see some elites crossing the center line. If you cross that, so your right arm comes across to your left shoulder. So instead of running in a straight line, you're running from side to side. Going more efficient. When you swing the arms, try not to cross the center line as you're running. This helps you keep your legs going in a in a straight angle.
Cadence. We spoke on that a bit with the stride length. More in depth on the cadence. There's something called elastic recoil, and it's the natural spring in the legs and the muscles. So when you hit the ground, you load up this spring in your lower leg muscles, the tendons and the ligaments. So their cadence is way higher, but that's obviously because they're very short. Your stride length is going to be shorter. So the quicker your cadence and around about 170 to 180 is a good target. Somewhere between 170 and 180 is a good cadence to aim for. A note on cadence if you struggle with increasing the cadence. So you know if you naturally run at 160 and you're trying to get to, let's say, 180 and then you could speed that up and start slowly getting up the cadence, you don't want to drastically change it too quickly because you might get injured.
What are you going to say? Now if you're running faster, the heart has to work harder. If the heart works harder, you're going to get tired. To keep the balance the same, you must shorten the stride length to increase the cadence. And then, how can we do that? We can swing the arms quicker if you increase your cadence. You must shorten the stride to keep it all in balance.
I'll I'll let you sum it up in your own words of uh of perfection and champions. We're all not going to become world champions. You can still be a little bit better than you are now. If you're happy with the way you run and what you're doing and don't want to change anything, well, don't change because you're happy. Aiming for perfection. We might not get there, but if you aim for 100%, you might hit 80%. But if you're happy with 70%, you're probably only going to hit 60 or 50%. Always keep aiming for something a little bit higher. Don't get stressed out about it. Remember, it's a hobby. Hobbies are to be enjoyed. So enjoy the process. That's the most important thing. So, my last tip really is just keep aiming for perfection, but have fun. Aim to enjoy what you're doing at the same time. If you want to learn more about this topic, we went into further detail. Should go and check that out right.