I didn’t see it posted here, so posting (or reposting) just in case.
3 Running Form Tips to Make You Faster
I’m an old runner and big eye opener for me in the second stage of my career (after a long post-college hiatus) was learning or relearning what I intuitively knew but didn’t quite understand in my younger days. Running “form” is in a way very simple: posture- run tall from hip flexors, engage glutes, thrust back, not forward, etc. Sounds easy, the trick though is applying it over and over again in practice.
Dave does an awesome job explaining things in this article. Thanks Dave!!
I didn’t see it posted here, so posting (or reposting) just in case.
3 Running Form Tips to Make You Faster
I’m an old runner and big eye opener for me in the second stage of my career (after a long post-college hiatus) was learning or relearning what I intuitively knew but didn’t quite understand in my younger days. Running “form” is in a way very simple: posture- run tall from hip flexors, engage glutes, thrust back, not forward, etc. Sounds easy, the trick though is applying it over and over again in practice.
Dave does an awesome job explaining things in this article. Thanks Dave!!
I don’t really understand how he is saying to engage the glutes (though I do get they are important)
I think he’s saying instead of just going out and putting one foot in front of the other, try and make a conscious effort to engage your glutes and core. I try and do this after running for a couple hours and it helps. I think weak glute muscles and flexibility are extremely common among runners, triathletes etc.
I didn’t really understand this either until I started to become aware of my posture and hip flexors. Posture: move pelvis slightly forward, back will probably straighten a bit - the idea is to align shoulders over pelvis (I think this is what Dave refers to by the “holding coin with butt-cheeks” analogy).
Hip flexors: I’d always heard that they’re tight among runners and general population, but didn’t really understand how tight mine were until I started stretching them. Once I became more aware of how hip flexors move, then I could feel glutes powering (also when doing bridges, squats, etc.)
All this stuff was probably done “naturally” if you did (or do) competitive running in HS/College. But after years of non-activity it’s helpful to actually understand or be aware of these things (particularly with so much noise in the information - minimalism, pose, etc.)
Here’s another article that might be helpful: It’s All in the Hips
Also the book Anatomy for Runners from Jay Dicherry has a lot of information.
He is a regular poster on ST. He actually gave me this advice a few weeks ago on a random thread…after googling his cred, I gave it a try, and I can say that my form, speed, and efficiency all improved almost immediately.
He is indeed a regular poster, thanks for mentioning that. I should have probably pointed it out in the original message, jut took for granted that people would know he is. He also writes great race reports.
Dave, thanks for chiming in and for the links to those articles, I hadn’t seen them. I think you’ve mentioned the central governor workout before in the lead up to a race and see that in one of the articles, I’ll have to give it a try before a race.
Dave, thanks for chiming in and for the links to those articles, I hadn’t seen them. I think you’ve mentioned the central governor workout before in the lead up to a race and see that in one of the articles, I’ll have to give it a try before a race.
All best wishes in your upcoming races!!
You rock! I’ll also take requests for any topics people want to read about. I have discretion to write about anything, so fire away if you’d like to read about something interesting/gross/confusing/smelly in a national mag
