The Concept of Efficient Running…

April is definitely in POSE form on this 400m run

I would say 90% of us “runners”/ endurance athletes wake up or come home from work throw on their running shoes and hit the pavement. There is no real “form” to the way they run they just want to get some cardio in. 

When I am driving home, I see the same people doing the same route, running the same way and never wanting to improve or understand why they are doing what they are doing. I too, did not care how to run properly. I simply wanted to get my hour of cardio in no matter what my pace or how my form was as long as I had my hour or my 5 – 6 miles I was satisfied. Along with getting my hour or getting my miles in came knee pain, soreness and no real results to my body. 

After the running certification last summer I really started to see a difference not only was my form better, I was faster, lighter on my joints, and was getting a far better workout than before! 

So I found a little outline on the Concept of efficient running 

Key principles 

 

Pose is the best model out there of how to run efficiently. The principles are easy to understand, yet very detailed,and are based on sound principles of correct body mechanics combined with using the laws of nature to assist with movement. The technique promotes faster running with less injury potential. 

 

“Strike a pose” 

 

Holding the correct running posture will allow you to maintain better speed with less effort. Many runners lean forward too much by bending at the hips, which actually pushes them back behind the general center of mass. The hips should be pulled forward under the chest with the head staying in alignment as well (the head should not be forward of the body). 

 

Use gravity to “fall forward” 

 

If you just run in place by popping your heels up quickly you will notice that you start to move forward with just a tiny lean forward. You don’t have to be pushing out the back with your legs to move forward. If anything, the motion of pushing back is throwing your energy in the opposite direction of where you want to travel. Instead, try to redirect your foot forward after contact by allowing the ground reaction and muscle elasticity to pop your foot up off the ground after landing. This can only happen if you are landing under your General Center of Mass (GCM), not with your foot out in front of you. This will feel like you are running with a very compact, small step style, but in fact, your actual distance per stride may actually increase because your general center of mass will be traveling at a faster pace if you aren’t slowing yourself down with each step by landing too far in front of the body. Pull; don’t push 

 

Try to pull your foot straight up off the ground as your GCM passes over it instead of trying to push-off with the back foot to propel you forward. This keeps the form compact and quicker, while less prone to fatigue or injury because the full range of the limbs is not being used. The knees should never fully straighten at any time while running. A mistake many make is to extend the leg out the back to get a full push-off, but since the general center of mass has already passed by this is a wasted motion. 

Try running this way and see how much more efficiently you run and how much better your body feels after those miles! 

written by Annie Mello 

This Week’s EWOD breakdown:

Mon: Interval

Tues: Stamina

Wed: Interval

Thurs: Interval

Fri: Stamina

Sat: No EWOD (Come to the Fight Gone Bad Event Instead)