Techniques

"In 1969, Australian Derek Clayton set the world record for the marathon at 2:08.34 - a record that was not broken until 1981. What is surprising about Clayton’s feat is that he had a VO2 max of only 69.7 ml/min/kg ( milliliters of oxygen used per minute per kilogram of body weight ). That is rather pedestrian for a world class athlete and pales in comparison to the aerobic capacities of many of his running contemporaries such as Craig Virgin (81.1), Don Kardong (77.4) and Bill Rogers (78.5). None of these runners came close to Clayton’s time despite having remarkably "big engines". The reason for Clayton’s success was his economy. He simply wasted less energy when he ran than did others." Joe Friel

If you have spent countless hours on long runs, tempo, hill work, and intervals with little to show for it in terms of faster times, it may be time to take a long look at your running technique. Also a history of running related injuries is a signal that something may be wrong with your technique. The school of thought that argues that one's 'natural' style is not only the best but unchangeable represents a defeatist attitude. I have believed for some time now that it is possible to effectively modify running technique/form to our benefit. An article from ‘The Triathlete’s Training Bible’ by Joe Friel, given to me by Dr. Rob Hasegawa, fuels this belief. "You can enhance your performance by learning to run in an efficient manner. Good form is something all runners - regardless of ability or experience - can work on".

The nervous system has great adaptive capabilities to incorporate subtle changes in data input that create an improved movement pattern .

To better understand this belief let us take a look at the BIOMECHANICS of RUNNING and how we can take advantage of, and learn to run more economically. In this context economy simply refers to how much oxygen you use while running. "Since oxygen usage is an indirect indicator of the amount of fuel burned, and economy is a measure of fuel expenditure in relation to work (like the number of liters per 100km. in a car), knowing how much oxygen an athlete uses at various velocities reveals how economical he or she is."

Efficiency in one sport, however, does not indicate economy in others. You may use fuel like a small, economy car while doing aerobics or while walking, cycling or swimming, but be a ‘gas guzzler’ while running. Do not despair if you are not genetically blessed with a large aerobic capacity, for economy can make up for aerobic capacity!

The more economical you are, the faster you can travel at any given intensity level. For those of you who race what would you give to knock 2 minutes or more off your 10k PR, with the same perceived effort! Its a fact, small changes in economy - running efficiency - can produce rather dramatic changes in performance.

If economy, and hence speed, is to improve there are five main principles we must follow in our training:

1: Our most powerful tool: awareness. Initiate any changes in movement pattern by working primarily with the mind. We are not just stretching and flexing muscles were are making changes in the brain. Always bear in mind that our musculature does not function except as it is directed by the mind and the nervous system. In learning these new running skills/form we don’t train our bodies so much as our minds. Remember: the mind, like a parachute, works best when open! Without this cerebral activity form adjustment is hit and miss, and faulty learning is evident. Know the purpose of each activity and be sure that you are doing what is intended. On those occasions when the actual movement pattern is first introduced, and you may feel a little awkward or clumsy, take a few extra seconds to rehearse mentally: Conceptualize the actual movement pattern desired , and use your imagination to refine these skills. Then do it with every part of your being. This will also help you to persevere during long or intense workouts. Never forget: a casual workout will bring casual results: focus .

2: Practice the new technique frequently, minimum three times per week. Better still four to five. "Improved economy of movement results from training the nervous system to choose the best pathways to the exact muscles that need activating. The more times this is done, the better the nervous system becomes at producing the desired movement pattern." Be patient. A habit, bad or good, practiced daily over the period of years can not be changed or erased over night. Scary! Such changes require a strong desire to improve, dedication and months of constant practice in every workout to fully realize the benefits of running more gazelle like.

3: Allow the body to learn naturally: Begin each exercise with its simplest movements, using repetition to anchor the movement pattern. Do not feel you have to rush. Start by practicing fine form adjustments for just 10 to 20secs. on easy intensity runs. Only when this is mastered do you gradually introduce and practice at higher intensities, race pace, and for longer periods of time. This allows for total concentration and prevents fatigue, which is more obvious when speed and duration become a factor, from interfering as the new movement patterns are practiced and reinforced.

Always remember: Practice does not make perfect! Whatever our teachers, parents and coaches drilled into us. "Frequent repetition of inappropriate movement patterns builds bad habits by destroying the fragile pathways you try to build with drills." Perfect practice makes perfect. A perfect practice for a perfect person: at my clinics and while working alone, or with your buddies, let that phrase be always evident. You are wonderful, a miracle, never forget it.

4: Divide and conquer! Any skill, especially complex ones, are best learned when the desired movement pattern is broken down into manageable units, isolated and mastered, before gradually integrating and combining them into the more complex units. ‘Technicals’ is one method for helping learn and develop these new movement patterns.

To fully develop the new skills, its important to let go of old patterns and fully commit to new. At first this will inevitably result in poorer performance and frustration, but you must that realize that this is merely a stage of learning that you must go through in order to ultimately improve. Have faith. Form changes take months of practice before economy improves, but with persistence running technique will improve. Promise.

5: Train the mind, body and spirit as one. Just as with the physical aspects of training, the law of action and reaction is universal, obeyed by every leaf, stone, speck of dust and human cell. Any mental blocks not realized, be they conscious or sub-conscious, do and will hinder economy of action. [More about this aspect of training, which makes a positive attempt not to separate mind from body, spirit from flesh, and appearance from feeling, in future articles and clinics.]

So, how do you run faster? It helps to understand and obey the laws of physics: "an object at rest tends to stays at rest (inertia) unless acted upon by a force; an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by a force." "If an object rotates around an axis, its speed increases as its radius is shortened." and we know that, "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." In order to move in one direction, we must apply force in the other direction. In running, therefore, we push the body forward by applying force down and behind its center of mass. Not every runner applies these laws to the same advantage. Often these differences are dismissed as ‘style’, but running counter to the ‘laws of physics’ is simply bad form and something we have to work on if progress is to be made. However, no runner should change form and technique without a sound biomechanical reason. To that end let us take a look at ways that this might be done:

The Torso, except in the acceleration phase, should be erect when running: perpendicular to the ground as if suspended by one string from the top of the head. Chin parallel with the ground to align body and minimize heel strike. Only when your body parts are lined up properly will you feel that you are moving forward as a unit - head, torso, hips, knees and ankles as one. Lead with the hips and let your torso rest upright over the legs. The quadriceps can not contract freely to lift the knees if the hamstrings opposite them are working overtime holding you up, trying to keep your forward lean, at the waist, from turning into a dive! Also, when leaning forward center of mass of your body will not be directly above your hips, causing the lead foot to land in front of the hips. When this happens, there is a slight braking effect every time a foot hits the ground. Not what we have in mind when we are racing!

Eyes focused 35m ahead, but scanning near and far. Relaxed face, neck, and shoulders. Mouth open with jaw loose (bounces and shakes as you run). Ears over shoulders. Relax entire body.

The arms help us keep our balance, rhythm, stride length and stride rate. Strong arms and shoulders can make the legs move faster and reach further. "In particular, strong forearm muscles allow for a much freer arm swing. Weak fore arms make the body turn to the shoulder muscles, and this tightens the shoulders, restricts the lungs and shortens arm swing and stride length." Minimize use of upper arms and shoulders. Elbows bent 90 - 110 degrees, hands loosely cupped, thumb resting on index finger. Hands should not cross the body's center line. Your hand can rise as high as the middle of your chest and back as far as the seam of your shorts: "gunslinger".

All movement should be directed forward, front and back, not side to side. Sounds obvious, doesn't it! Look at some of the runners around you: wobbling, swaying side to side and leaning too far back/forward. Adequate arm and shoulder interaction reduces the need for counter rotation of the trunk musculature which is more energy wasteful. Arm swing and leg action are inextricably interwoven. If arm swing tends toward the erratic, it detracts from good technique and is energy costly.

Hips should be lifted forward in line with head and shoulders. If we let our pelvis shift back and tilt, this puts a major mechanical link out of position. Strong abs. and back are a must! "The great Australian distance runner, Ron Clarke, often mentioned in conversations with athletes and coaches that a runner could never be too strong around the middle..." Hip mobility and flexibility lead to a more vertical, energy efficient running style. Lack of hip joint mobility also limits stride length .

The quadriceps balance the hamstring. Problem is many runners quads are too strong compared to the hamstrings, so the hamstring is prevented from fully retracting the heel to the buttocks. This hurts running efficiency and can cause hamstring pulls. Gluteals and hip flexors catch and accelerate the momentum of the push off muscles. Strength work in this area can return big dividends.

Use the ankles as strong levers for running. Increasing speed, on longer runs, comes from a quicker ankle action. Try to feel your calf muscles giving you a direct push on each step, thus taking some of the load from the hamstrings. Remember: Quick and Light. Bounce lightly off the ground. As your form improves, the sound of your feet strike decreases, as the direct force of each ankle push increases. "Top runners prance along, because they use the flick of the ankle and save energy that would otherwise be demanded by the hamstrings and other major muscles." You are trying to resist gravity rather than overcome it. Bounce lightly with smooth, powerful strides. Think of running over the ground as opposite to into it!

The foot is a lever. As we roll up in preparation for push off, the forces applied increase. If we roll through the full range of motion we maximize this effect. Many runners do not have the strength needed to do this on a sustained basis.

Foot strike. Ideally: Keep up on the ball of the foot and 'pop' off the road/track. Most runners start with 'heel/ball' method, but as they reach a faster level will probably switch to 'mid foot/heel'. "As we roll from the foot strike to toe off, we stretch the large strong Achilles, which if it is working properly will snap back and recover the heel high to the buttocks. This high recovery shortens the leg’s radius, creating a short pendulum with the recovery leg and therefore increases its speed. Unfortunately in many runners the Achilles is weakened by wearing shoes with a built up heel, so it cannot snap back without risk of injury." Foot and ankle strengthening is very important. For many, but not all, running barefoot and wearing shoes with lower heels can be the answer ( be sure to stretch and strengthen your muscles, especially your Achilles tendon and calf ) Remember: "Forward & Up ... Push off your back foot." Minimal ground contact time means greater power and longer stride length. When an athlete runs in a straight line, successive foot placements should be in parallel with each other and in the direction of the running. This will help to reduce rotational torque about the knees and ankles as well as minimize stride shortening. An important feature to examine in assessing the ankle joint is its flexibility. Improved flexibility has a pay-off in stride length. Good form shows the knee of the supporting leg well in front of the ankle, giving the foot a greater range of motion throughout take-off. This will increase both stride length and power. Tightness in this calf muscle, gastrocnemius, can cause injury to the Achilles. The soleus runs down the outside of the shin bone, assisting in support and balance at touchdown. The hamstring picks up where the Achilles leaves off in recovering the heel to the buttocks and holding it there. Strong hamstrings allow for a quicker, tighter heel recovery and therefore greater leg speed.

When viewed from the side, the path of the foot should be circular and not elliptical. As the dorsiflexed foot contacts the ground, it should be moving backwards, with a "negative foot speed". Shortening the time required to complete this cycle by getting the foot off the ground more quickly and then getting back on the ground as fast as possible will increase running speed. Remember: ‘Keep those kness up!’ ‘The ability to create a negative foot speed ( foot moving backwards at running surface contact time)’, says Ross Denton, ‘is the critical characteristic that often separates the winners from the also rans. By doing this, the runner pulls the running surface backward while propelling the body forward. If the foot is not moving backward as fast as the COM ( center of mass ) is moving forwards, a breaking action will occur on every stride.’ What a thought: six thousand foot strikes per hour, each with a mini breaking effect! The magic word here, dorsiflection. Dorsiflection of the foot recruits the gastrocnemius muscle into the running action. ‘When the foot lands in the dorsiflexed position, the calf muscle can be contracted, helping to propel the body forward by pushing backwards off the running surface. This will move the foot off the ground more quickly. Re-dorsiflexing the foot as soon as it leaves the ground will allow the foot/leg to be more quickly pulled through the recovery phase. "Toes up!".’

A high stride frequency should be one of the first skills to develop. Stride length should remain comfortable. Both stride frequency and stride length increase as we run faster, with stride length increasing more than frequency. The exact combination of length and frequency at a given velocity may differ slightly for each runner due to variables such as leg length, hip flexion, breathing rate, and state of fatigue. Improved flexibility and strength in the ankle joint has a pay-off in stride length. Increasing the hip joint flexibility can lead to an increase in stride length and, moreover, can often lead to a more energy efficient running style.

According to Friel, "One study revealed that when running speed doubles, stride length increased by 85 percent, but stride rate only increases by 9 percent. For example, when speeding up from a 10-minute pace to five minutes per mile, the length of a single step may expand from 18 inches to 33 inches while cycles per minute only goes from 83 to 90 [Single foot strike]. The implication of this for runners is that stride rate must always be relatively high. The reason for this may be that the nervous system, which determines stride rate, has a narrower range of operation than the muscular system, which govern stride length.."

For this reason we work to establish or reinforce a cadence of approx. 180 steps per minute before we concern ourselves too much with increasing our stride length. Please note that we aim for this leg turn-over at whatever ‘Intensity Level’ I thru’ V we are running. That equates with a right-foot strike of 45 +/- 3 per thirty seconds. Initially those of you that have been over-striding will most likely feel that you are running with ‘baby steps’. Stick with it, and train with the knowledge that it is more economical to under stride than .over stride

Push off with the big toe, lift the heel tight to the buttocks, then hold it there until the heel passes above the knee of the support leg as the free leg swings forward. Holding the heel up as long as possible helps keep the body’s center of gravity forward, helps the leg swing faster and therefore produce greater force, and prevent over striding. "After the foot has been pulled up, the recovery leg begins to open at the knee as the foot is allowed to drop back down to the road making contact below or only a couple of inches in front of the body’s center of gravity. From the runner’s perspective, all that has happened is that the recovery foot has been pulled vertically up towards the butt and allowed to drop straight back down to the running surface." That is one of the basic tenets of Dr. Nicholas Romanov’s work: "... that the sensation the runner experiences when running correctly is that his or her feet are simply moving up and down - not swinging forward and backward.’" According to Dr. Romanov, this action is similar to the action of a rolling ball in whic the point of support is always directly beneath the centre of gravity. Movement is very economical, and also diminishes impact forces.

"Another big waste of energy is bouncing up and down with each step. The energy stored by landing forward on the foot must be converted, as much as possible, to horizontal, not vertical, movement." The stride rate mentioned earlier helps achieve a running action with a minimum of bobbing. Bear in mind that if you land on the mid-foot or fore-foot, there’s almost instantaneous rebound that immediately initiates the next stride, says Friel. This rebound effect comes from the energy stored in your muscles as they are quickly stretched and then at once allowed to release this energy. Landing farther forward on the foot not only improves your speed by further increasing power with no effort on your part it helps in another way. In order to land on the heel, the foot must be well in front of the bodies centre of gravity. "When a supporting point is placed in front of the centre of gravity, forward movement is impeded. It’s like hitting the "brakes" with every step. That requires an acceleration to overcome the slow down. Constantly accelerating and decelerating is quite wasteful of energy - hardly economical."

If you hold your leg straight out and let the lower leg hang, you will see that the foot cambers so that its inside is slightly higher than its outside. That’s how your foot should touch down, outside first, with the initial contact just behind the little toe joint. The foot lands and rolls towards the mid-line, stopping there in a strong, healthy foot and continuing to a straight, smooth toe-off. If the foot is weak, however, it will continue to roll inwards (overpronate), causing stress that can lead to shinsplints, plantar facsciitis and knee and back problems. The correct shoe, foot strengthening exercises, and in some cases orthotics are needed to correct this problem.

If you have been running for a while and are a well established heel striker proceed with caution. The stresses on the feet and lower legs could result in an injury. Initial practices should be on a soft surface with plenty recovery time between sessions.

So what is your optimum stride length for a particular running velocity? Unless you are trying consciously to take longer or shorter strides than normal, this optimum stride length is probably occurring sub-consciously. The more skilful the runner, the more precise the relationship. It develops with practice over time, from cerebellar integration of incoming information from joint receptors.

Running economy refers to improved balance and co-ordination, elimination of unnecessary movements, refined required movements and more efficient use of prime movers. These changes will occur for the most part in the general preparation phase where volume is high and the intensity is relatively low. This 'improved form' must also be evident - and carry into speedwork - if your times are to benefit.

Hip mobility not only improves stride length but can be very important for middle and distance runners to avoid injuries. Try rotating your hips, [‘Run like a woman.’] a little swish can help send the knees forward and might even add an easy inch or two to each step. Do not rush through stretching and technicals.

Core strength is an important component in training to improve running form by preventing unnecessary rotary motion.

Ankle strength and mobility / flexibility not only improve stride length and foot placement, but will help prevent injuries.

Upper body strength aids a relaxed and smooth arm and shoulder action and helps the athlete when fatigued: towards the end of a race, running into the wind or running up hill.

Sprint exercises help the athlete in achieving a foot strike closer to the point under the centre of gravity, increase knee flexion at the end of the forward swing, refine necessary movement and improve balance and co-ordination. This all results in the athlete being better able to maximise the effectiveness of the prime movers involved in running. The end result: minimum energy devoted tinitiating the movement, minimum opposing resistance and minimum force required to continue the movement.

The Four DRIVES: will help you go faster with proper form. They are worth memorizing...

DRIVE OFF the back foot

DRIVE UP with the knees

DRIVE FORWARD with the hips

DRIVE DOWN with the arm

Last but by no means least. Indeed, possibly the one most important element of running well, the element that brings it all together, a possible link between body, mind and spirit . . . BREATHING, specifically Belly Breathing. Smooth, relaxed and rhythmic. THINK: Inhaling gives the power, while exhaling brings smoothness/confidence, releasing all tension. While running maintain RELAXED, inhaled chest/shoulder position after exhaling. ‘Rhythm breath.’

GOOD RUNNING STYLE IS A BLENDING OF ALL THE SEPARATE MOVEMENTS OF THE TRUNK AND THE LIMBS SO THAT ALONG WITH OPTIMUM MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY WE ALSO HAVE THE VISUAL APPEARANCE OF MINIMUM EFFORT FOR THE TASK REQUIRED.

‘Do what comes naturally, as long as ‘naturally’ is mechanically sound. If it isn’t, do what is mechanically sound, until it comes naturally.’

Refuse to focus on anything but the joy and the fun of a practice / race well done.

Running Techniques: Use the "laws of physics" to your advantage.