Running is easy right? Just lace up your shoes and head out the door – one foot in front of the other.
That’s what I thought before I met Jeff Waldberg, my Physical Therapist at Ortho Pro. An unfortunate injury led me to him and so began my personal recovery and the road to better (and more efficient) running form.
On my first visit, Jeff performed a detailed running analysis on me and lo and behold, discovered that after all these years I have been a heel-striker – a common form error that probably contributed to my injury.
The road to recovery is slow, involving boring workouts on the treadmill. But there is some important work going on here. I am learning to run all over again and let me tell you it’s not easy…old habits die hard.
So what is perfect running form? Here are some tips from the “top down” from Jeff and the folks at Runners World:
Head Tilt
How you hold your head is key to overall posture, which determines how efficiently you run. Look ahead naturally, not down at your feet, and scan the horizon. This will straighten your neck and back, and bring them into alignment. Relax your jaw and don't allow your chin to jut out.
Shoulders
Shoulders play an important role in keeping your upper body relaxed while you run, Your shoulders should be low and loose and remain level as you stride. Don’t hunch up your shoulders.
Arms
Your hands control the tension in your upper body, while your arm swing works in conjunction with your leg stride to drive you forward. Keep your hands in an unclenched fist, with your fingers lightly touching your palms. Your arms should swing forward and back, not across your body, and remain between your waist and lower-chest. Your elbows should be bent at about a 90-degree angle.
Torso
With your head up and looking ahead, and your shoulders low and loose, your torso and back will naturally straighten to allow you to run in an efficient, upright position. Stretch yourself up to your full height with your back comfortably straight. If you start to slouch during a run, take a deep breath and feel yourself naturally straighten.
Hips
The proper position of your torso while running helps to ensure your hips will also be in the ideal position. With your torso and back comfortably upright and straight, your hips naturally fall into proper alignment--pointing you straight ahead. If you allow your torso to hunch over or lean too far forward during a run, your pelvis will tilt forward as well, which can put pressure on your lower back and throw the rest of your lower body out of alignment. Here’s where some imagery works well; think of your pelvis as a bowl filled with marbles, then try not to spill the marbles by tilting the bowl.
Legs/Stride
For efficient endurance / distance running you only need a slight knee lift, a quick leg turnover, and a short stride. Together, these will facilitate fluid forward movement instead of wasting energy on upward motion or bounce. When running with the proper stride length, your feet should land directly underneath your body. As your foot strikes the ground, your knee should be slightly flexed so that it can bend naturally on impact. If your lower leg (below the knee) extends out in front of your body, your stride is too long. One easy test for this that Jeff shared is if when you are running on the treadmill your toes periodically hit the front board of the treadmill, your stride is too long.
Ankles/Feet
To run well, you need to push off the ground with maximum force. With each step, your foot should hit the ground lightly--landing between your heel and midfoot--then quickly roll forward. Keep your ankle flexed as your foot rolls forward to create more force for push-off. As you roll onto your toes, try to spring off the ground. You should feel your calf muscles propelling you forward on each step. Your feet should not slap loudly as they hit the ground; proper form is springy and quiet.
Turnover
One final tip that Jeff has shared is about leg turnover. The very best runners use high turnover instead of long strides to run fast. Running with quick, short steps decreases the energy cost of fast running, decreases the stress on the muscles, and minimizes landing impact. Longer strides demand more vertical movement, which is terribly inefficient. Efficient runners move almost perfectly horizontally.
To ensure the proper leg turnover, many trainers use a clip-on mini-metronome that beeps at a rate that you set. This helps train proper leg turnover until it becomes completely natural and you don’t have to think about it. So what is optimal turnover? About 180 steps per minute – and that is true no matter how fast you are, no matter how tall.
Jeff uses a “low-tech” method with me…he stands next to the treadmill and claps his hands to the proper turnover rate. I swear he has ingrained it in my head. No matter what speed the treadmill, no matter what music I am listening to I hear that clap inside my head. Amazing!
So there it is…the key to running proper. Simple, right? Check out the "Before" picture from my running analysis attached to this post. How many "violations" of proper form can you spot?
