123

Changing running style?! (Read 1207 times)

    One simple thing no one has mentioned yet is incorporating some form drills into your weekly routine. 

     

      Having read 30 pages of Running Technique, I already realise knwo my big problem in running: Far too little use of the glutes and hamstrings. My wife has also always said that she doesn't find that my butt is used very much when running. The book says that the glutes and hamstrings are more important than quadriceps for running, so before making any videos, I already know a thing which can be improved immensely. Now I "just" need to learn how to use the glutes and hamstrings when running! I'm sure the book will tell something about this Smile

        After my stress fracture in the Spring, I have been trying to improve my form. I have been focusing on getting my footstrike under my center of gravity, midfoot strike, etc. 

         

        I think my form is improving and my legs are definitely changing as a result.  I have no idea how much of the current low-drop shoe / good form stuff is hype though.

         

        It feels like a delicate balance between improvement and risking injury. Today I was running in my more minimal trainers and my right achilles started to get sore. Other days it is my hips that get worked.

         

        --

        Nashville, TN

         

          Having read 30 pages of Running Technique, I already realise knwo my big problem in running: Far too little use of the glutes and hamstrings. My wife has also always said that she doesn't find that my butt is used very much when running. The book says that the glutes and hamstrings are more important than quadriceps for running, so before making any videos, I already know a thing which can be improved immensely. Now I "just" need to learn how to use the glutes and hamstrings when running! I'm sure the book will tell something about this Smile

           

           This was my problem as well and I'm slowly getting the muscular balance back in order.  Glad the book has already shed some light on your situation.  Good luck and be sure to progress slowly - be prepared for some mild soreness along the way while your body adapts!

          joescott


            I haven't read the whole thread here, but just enough to be dangerous.  Generally I think one needs to be very very careful tinkering with technique or style.  It's not that some people might not in fact benefit from some interventions, but I just think everyone should really be confident they really know what they are doing if they do so, and be very wary of form "experts".  At a minimum they should read this article from the NY Times from a few years ago, which I have excerpted here in part.

             

            Dr. Daniels showed this in a study in which he videotaped runners. Then he sent the videos to coaches and biomechanics experts, and asked which were the more economical runners.

            “They couldn’t tell, no way at all,” he said.

            - Joe

            We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.

              joescott: Interesting article. It seems as if increasing mileage ought to improve the running style of most runners.

               

              However, if you compare the style of average shod runners with children, it is my impression that the latter have a running style which much more resembles the way the elite runners move. I could imagine that if adults who are average runners had done a lot of running throughout their entire life and they had done a lot of it in bare feet, their running style would be very different and more efficient.

               

              Most coaches recommend doing some strength training to get a stronger core and stronger legs; I feel certain that if you for example via strength training get stronger in your glutes and hamstrings, you will use them more when running.

              joescott


                To me it seems the barefoot running movement at this point seems long on opinions and conjectures and still pretty short on science.  Maybe they will be proven right in the long run, but to now it all seems rather full of passion.

                 

                On the question of strength training being a benefit to running.  Sure, the right kind of strength training can absolutely benefit running.  For me personally, I don't feel like I have the time to add strength training into the mix, and so with the time I do have I go with the law of specificity:  I want to be good at running, therefore I run.  I gain strength from conventional hill repeats or hill sprints.

                - Joe

                We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.

                stadjak


                Interval Junkie --Nobby

                  Also relevant.

                   

                  Note: strangely, none of the women in the study developed T-Rex style running.

                  2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                    It may help a lot of people's running style increasing mileage, but this definitely has not helped me. I have been running a lot for 12 years with an average of about 45 miles a week and the last couple of months 60 miles. I have done nice amounts of hill training which is great but my running style is the same. Daniels talks a bit about having the perfect stride frequency of 180 per minute; typically non-elite runners have a lower frequency but changing it may help as the strides then normally will become shorter. It is not my impression that very much research has been made on changing the running style but it makes good sense that doing dynamic exercises resembling running will help. This article is very interesting I find: http://www.irunfar.com/2011/03/improving-running-economy.html

                    joescott


                      It may help a lot of people's running style

                       

                      I think fundamentally this is asking the wrong question.  How do you know your running style is "helped".  Bottom line, if it doesn't improve your economy (the actual energy cost of covering the distance) or decrease your injury risk, then it ain't helped.  I don't know, I just find it pretty compelling that Daniels and many others have objectively measured the energy cost of running and found many counter-examples that show pretty ≠ economical. Tinkering with the form of economical yet ugly runners is likely to do more harm than good -- certainly this is true in the short run. 

                       

                      The right question is, will this in the end make me faster (can I cover more ground with the same energy cost), not how can I improve my running style?  You are certainly right, there are scientifically proven interventions that can improve this, things like heavy weights and plyometrics; I'm not arguing against that.

                      - Joe

                      We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.

                      stadjak


                      Interval Junkie --Nobby

                        One thing to note about these "style" suggestions is that they might be helpful when they counter some other "bad" suggestion you've been operating under.  For example, many rec runners are (were?) convinced that long strides (meaning your foot-plant is well in front of your kneecap) is better, so they try to over-extend when they want to run faster.  Knowing that this is not helpful may be helpful in allowing form to return to a more "natural" state for the runner.  I used to run under that misconception.

                         

                        I'm a pretty tall guy at 6' 3".  When I encounter a non-runner and we talk about times, they suggest or even state that one of the reasons I'm 'fast' [I'm not that fast] is my really long legs.  Again, then think that long legs = long strides = covering ground faster/with more ease.  I wish there were a strong causation.  Alas.

                         

                        I bought a metronome to hit 172 beats per minute.  Insanely fast compared to my normal cadence.  Screw that.

                        2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                        xor


                          Do you run with the metronome?

                           

                          DoppleBock


                            What I am scared about these might be totally 2 different answers

                            1)  What makes me faster in 5k - Marathon

                            2)  What helps me cover more total ground in a 24 or 48 hour race

                             

                            2)  Has nothing to do with speed - But what stride takes least energy, but also what stride causes the least amount of stress on muscle - joint - tendon - ligamins  

                             

                             

                            The right question is, will this in the end make me faster (can I cover more ground with the same energy cost), not how can I improve my running style?  You are certainly right, there are scientifically proven interventions that can improve this, things like heavy weights and plyometrics; I'm not arguing against that.

                            Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

                             

                             

                            stadjak


                            Interval Junkie --Nobby

                              Do you run with the metronome?

                               

                              I tried it for two weeks.

                              2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                                joescott: The article to which stadjak made a link claims that increasing mileage may help improve people's running economy.

                                 

                                I don't think that anyone has stated that a pretty running style is economical. Daniels believes in trying to increase the stride frequency which will probably improve the running style for many runners (and perhaps make it prettier Smile

                                 

                                If you are injured, it makes good sense to me to try to strengthen the areas which have caused the injury. If a person gets tendonitis from increasing mileage from 30 to 40 MPW and the runner then takes a break, the tendonitis may disappear. However, it is quite likely that the injury will re-occur if he goes back to 40 MPW without trying to strengthen the calves/tendons.

                                 

                                Strengthening the glutes and hamstrings with exercises that resemble running could be a good way to get rid of some types of injury and perhaps also get a more efficient running style instead of relying so much on the quads.

                                123