What is ‘Good Running Form?’

At the start of the year I fell over and sprained my ankle (or sprained my ankle then fell over!) And wasn’t able to run. It’s coming up for 3 weeks now since I did it and I’m back running (if not somewhat slower than before) but not running particularly well. I still don’t feel quite confident on it and steep descents are still a bit off yet. I’ve been slowly building back up though and did my first track session of the year last week. I’ve been training in the gym and doing my S&C classes for runners so my strength is returning. What I now need to build in is some good quality training to work on speed and form.

So what exactly is good running form? I thought it might be useful to have a really simple breakdown of some of the basic elements that you can work on even as a new runner. Running is a sport and for most people they aren’t taught how to run, they just rock up and ‘do it’. The pic below highlights the basics between good and bad running form. Have a think about your running form next time you are out. We’ll have a closer look at the key elements below

Most people take up running by completing the c25k or by just starting to run. No one ever really gets coaching when they start running which is pretty unusual if you consider it as a sport. Most other sports you would have some input on what to do, how to use the kit and technique. Imagine taking up skiing and someone just shoving you at the top of a snowy hill. You’d probably want to know how to stop, turn, slow down and place your body in the optimum position to get down the hill safely. This doesn’t happen with running.

Good running form!……..these are the basic areas to focus on to ensure you are as efficient as you can be and they can reduce your risk of picking up an injury early on in your running career.

Upper Body- this should be drawn up by pulling your tummy button in to your spine, feel like you are growing tall rather than arching backwards. You should feel like you are falling into each step rather than collapsing into it.

Shoulders- they should be relaxed and pulled back slightly. Elbows should stay at about 90 degrees and focus on driving the elbow back rather than pumping the arms up and down. Upper body strength exercises can be really beneficial for runners as a strong arm drive will translate to the lower body, helping to drive the runner forward. Next time you are out try doing 30 seconds where you focus solely on pumping your elbows back as fast as you can. You can’t help but speed your legs up.

Hips- try to keep them level and facing forward. Weak muscles around the hips can mean the pelvis drops on each stride which loads tendons and can cause pain around the side of the hip. Strength and conditioning exercises are key to improving the resilience and function of these hip muscles. If you want to get quicker, adding in strength and conditioning is as important as the running.

Foot strike- depending where you read, anywhere between 70-93% of runners heel strike with some debate about better runners heel striking less. The key isn’t so much what hits the ground first but where it hits the ground. Many new runners over stride, with their heel striking the ground first ahead of their hips. This creates a braking force that they then have to overcome. The calf muscles have to push them up and over the foot which can cause calf overload and fatigue. This causes calf pain and tight calves which lots of runners experience. The tendency is for runners to spend lots of time stretching their ‘tight‘ calves out. This is in fact counter productive as what they should be doing is building strength and resilience into the muscles and reducing the load on the calf muscles (by running with better form!!)

(Left pic= overstriding, right pic=foot landing under the hips to reduce braking force)

Cadence- this is the number of times your feet hit the ground in 1 minute. The magic number used to be 183 but this wasn’t based on any science. Research has now shown that for most runners, improving their cadence reduces the peak load on the hips. Knees and ankles. Many new runners have a low cadence which basically means each foot is in contact with the ground longer than it should be. This overloads the soft tissue as it has to support the joints being loaded. This over load in an area is what causes injuries. For most recreational runners even a 10% increase in cadence can reduce loads by up to 14%. By increasing your cadence your foot lands closer to your hips and you start to use the muscle’s stored energy. You can check your cadence by counting how many times your right foot hits the ground in 1 minute and multiplying it by 2. Once you have your number try adding 10% on and download a metronome app on your phone and do some intervals with a higher cadence. Think about all the other points above and you should feel like you are ticking lightly along. Imagine you are running lightly over hot coals.

Rememebr, running is a sport and it takes practice and patience. Adding in Strength and Conditioning will help your body combat the stresses it is put under. Don’t rush things, it takes months and years rather than weeks and months to develop a strong body for running.