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Lengthing one's stride (Read 318 times)

    If you want to work on stride length, do plyo exercises/drills and perhaps more importantly strides after pretty much every easy run.  6-8 X 10 sec with plenty of rest should not be too hard to do, the hard part is to remember to do them.

    LedLincoln


    not bad for mile 25

      Thanks everyone. I don't think I will tinker with my stride. That last mile took a lot out of me yesterday, and I can't believe how sore I am this morning.

       

      Good decision.  I think that caused me to pull my hamstring early in my running career.  I'm with Mikeymike on this.


      some call me Tim

        Tangentially, I've found that if my hips are tight, my stride is artificially short. These two help me more than any others. Especially the first... you can lean your torso in different directions and hit a lot of different areas. Minimum 2 minutes per mobilization, done well apart from when you run.

         

         

        drrbradford


          Tangentially, I've found that if my hips are tight, my stride is artificially short. These two help me more than any others. Especially the first... you can lean your torso in different directions and hit a lot of different areas. Minimum 2 minutes per mobilization, done well apart from when you run.

           

          This, too. It's all very well saying just let your body do what it wants but now and again the pathetic little fucker needs some corrective discipline.

          JimR


            Thanks everyone. I don't think I will tinker with my stride. That last mile took a lot out of me yesterday, and I can't believe how sore I am this morning.

             

            How did you expect this to work anyway?  Without changing anything else, if you increase your stride length, you will do either or both of these 2 things:  1) increase the length of time your foot is in the air 2) increase the amount of time your foot is on the ground.  Either of these is associated with a corresponding decrease in cadence.  So even though you increased your stride length, you've also decreased your cadence and the end result is no increase in speed.

            bap


               

              Jackpot.

               

              If your stride gets longer, you will be running faster because speed is a simple product of stride rate * stride length. Given how fitness works you can't just decide to run faster so if you try to have a longer stride at a given pace then rate necessarily decreases. Generally this isn't a good thing, as it results often in over-striking and a stride without as much as pop

               

              I've been working on my stride length after coming back from injury by incorporating strides and drills 2 or 3 times a week and more short repeats.

               

              However, if you think about it, a higher range of motion is going to reduce your turnover. In my case it's down from about 180 to 170 during easy runs, so the net impact is not significant.

               

              My next goal is to increase turnover while maintaining the additional stride length, by adding more turnover drills and short, fast sprints, say 20 x 50m with long recoveries plus I'm working improving my arm swing.

               

              Jim, I wrote this without reading your post first, so it's good to see that my experience is consistent with what your advice.

              Certified Running Coach
              Crocked since 2013


              #artbydmcbride

                I am working on pushing away from the ground with more force....hopefully this will increase my stride length without me reaching too far forward with each stride.

                 

                Runners run

                bap


                  I am working on pushing away from the ground with more force....hopefully this will increase my stride length without me reaching too far forward with each stride.

                   

                  Ilene, what you need to work on is snapping your foot back powerfully as you land.

                   

                  I'm not sure how to explain it but if you do the straight leg drills, keeping the toes up and pulling your foot back underneath your body as powerfully as you can you'll see what I mean.

                   

                  Initially you should do them slowly a shown at the start of this video, and build up to doing them at walking pace.

                   

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihUrTZzQMjc

                   

                  Gradually build up to this

                   

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgCTnZgJeak

                  Certified Running Coach
                  Crocked since 2013

                     

                     

                    Initially you should do them slowly a shown at the start of this video, and build up to doing them at walking pace.

                     

                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihUrTZzQMjc

                     

                     

                     

                    Extra benefit: come November you will knock your local community ballet's Nutcracker toy soldier audition OUT OF THE PARK!

                    Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                    We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
                    bap


                      Maybe they should call them nutcracker drills.

                       

                      They're also known as goosesteps.

                      Certified Running Coach
                      Crocked since 2013

                        play this on an incessant loop during a 24hr period & you'll be rewarded with:

                         

                        a) an increased stride-length, or

                        b) immediate incarceration to a local mental health facility.

                        My leg won't stop mooing.

                         

                        i think i've got a calf injury.

                        JimR


                          Running is all about coordinating the actions of moving our legs and feet from position to position as we move forward.  The faster we run, the more pronounced those motions become both in range and speed.  We have to take our feet and lower legs from zero to ~twice our speed in a short period of time, and bring them back to zero. and the faster we run that more acceleration and power that takes.  This is where a large part of our energy goes when we run, just maintaining that motion.

                            play this on an incessant loop during a 24hr period & you'll be rewarded with:

                             

                            a) an increased stride-length, or

                            b) immediate incarceration to a local mental health facility.

                             

                            With an emphasis on b)

                            sport jester


                            Biomimeticist

                              Oh its nice to see that someone remembers that nobody besides me uses actual math to answer your question...

                              Experts said the world is flat

                              Experts said that man would never fly

                              Experts said we'd never go to the moon

                               

                              Name me one of those "experts"...

                               

                              History never remembers the name of experts; just the innovators who had the guts to challenge and prove the "experts" wrong

                              xhristopher


                                play this on an incessant loop during a 24hr period & you'll be rewarded with:

                                 

                                a) an increased stride-length, or

                                b) immediate incarceration to a local mental health facility.

                                 

                                That's about as bad as a rick roll.

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