Size Doesn't Matter - But Your Technique Does (For Running, That Is)

When I signed up for my first ultramarathon, I started training like crazy. I hired a personal trainer and a strength coach to kick my butt into high gear twice a week. For months I ran, biked, squatted, pressed, lunged, and lifted my way towards ultramarathon fitness. I was in the best shape of my life. Little muscles I didn’t even know existed started popping out and I delighted in making my girlfriends squeal in horror at the size of my flexed quads. And yet, in spite of all my hard work and my Herculean muscles, just a few months before competition day, my training suddenly ground to a halt. 

I started developing all sorts of injuries, from pains in my knee to stress fractures to tendonitis. I saw doctor after doctor, determined to fix the problem. I got ultrasound, electric stimulation, orthotics, and kinesio taping, but nothing seemed to work. I was told I had lazy glutes, imbalanced quads, tight hip flexors, weak bones, and fallen arches in my feet. One specialist finally told me my body simply wasn’t made for running and if I wanted to walk without a cane in my thirties and forties, I had better quit.

I was devastated, but also too stubborn to give up. At long last, I was put in touch with a fellow Canadian, legendary ultrarunner Ray Zahab. Within seconds of seeing me run, Ray had the answer dozens of doctors had been unable to find. The problem wasn’t in my bones, muscles, or tendons. No, the problem was in my running technique. 

Over the months I had spent working on every aspect of my body, I hadn’t spent a single minute working on the way my body moved. Frankly, I didn’t really think there was much to it. However, what I quickly learned was that if you don’t have proper running form, then it really doesn’t matter how much you run, how many weights you lift, or how large your quads are. That’s right: the size of your muscles doesn’t matter – it is how you use them!

So that you can avoid the same mistakes I made, I’ve written down my top five basic pointers on running technique:

1. Body Position

Generally speaking, you want to be running with your head in a neutral position, looking forward, and with your shoulders down and back. Of course, if you are running over difficult terrain, you may have to look downwards to avoid tripping, but you want to avoid running with your head down because it will also pull your shoulders forward and hunch your back. You should also be keeping your arms at about ninety degrees, swinging your arms forward and back with your elbow tight to your body. Avoid the tendency of sticking your elbows out or swinging your arms diagonally across your body, as this will waste your energy. You want to use every bit of effort into propelling you forward, not sideways!

Some people advocate leaning forward with your upper body so that you are leading with your chest. I agree this is a desired form, but I don’t think it helps to try to force it. You will naturally wind up in this position if you follow the next two points.

2. Stride Length

This one is a big one, so pay attention: the vast majority of you are probably overstriding. This means that in an effort to run farther and faster, you are reaching your leg out too far in front of you and most likely landing on your heel. This is the equivalent of slamming on the brakes! Remember, you want to get maximum result out of minimal effort. The best way to do this is to land front- or mid-foot with your body positioned more or less over top of your leg so you can push forward off it. Easier said than done, right? Working on point number three will help get you there!

3. Cadence

Cadence goes hand-in-hand (or foot-in-foot!) with stride length. Cadence refers to the speed at which your legs are turning over. Just as most of you are probably overstriding, I would bet good money you are also using a very low cadence. To find out what your cadence is without having to rely on fancy gadgets, time yourself running for ten seconds and count how many times your feet hit the ground. Before I started working on my technique, I was running at 22 per 10 seconds, or 132 foot strikes per minute. The most efficient cadence is 30 foot strikes per 10 seconds, or 180 foot strikes per minute. Next time you watch a marathon on television, watch for the top runners’ cadences – you’ll see pretty near 180.

Rather than try to count your steps all the time, the easiest way to increase your cadence is to run to a song that has a beat close to 180 or 90 beats per minute (bpm). For me, my song is Cinderella Man by Eminem. Seriously! It has a beat of around 90bpm, so I know I need two foot strikes per beat. On one run, I listened to the song on repeat thirty times until it was engrained in my brain – and in my feet. If you can’t find a song of your own, you’re welcome to borrow mine!

At first, you’ll feel a little bit like motor-mouse. You will feel like your legs are spinning underneath you at a ridiculous speed without getting you anywhere. But give it time. Soon, you will start to build speed while maintaining your cadence, and your stride length will follow as well. All the pieces of the puzzle will start to come together!

4. Breathing

Some people try to match their breathing with their strides. If this describes you, here’s a quick anatomy lesson: your legs are not attached to your lungs, so stop trying to match them. You want to be able to get into a good breathing rhythm, but it may or may not match what your legs are doing. Your breathing will, however, give you an indication of how hard you are working. If you are running long distances, you should be able to breathe comfortably enough to carry a conversation. If you can’t, slow down a bit until you get your breathing back.

5. Relaxation

I know - running can be painful. It can be a real struggle. But whenever you can, remind yourself to relaaaaax. This means every part of your body. For me, I find that if I’m not thinking about it, I will automatically start to clench my hands into fists. Every twenty minutes or so I try to tell myself to let them go and I immediately feel a difference throughout my body. The tenser you are, the more unnatural your running stride will be. For example, if your knees and lower body are tense, you won’t be able to absorb the shock of hitting the ground very well and this will cause you to bob up and down, which is really inefficient. Telling your lower body to relax will help keep your upper body steady and allow you to channel your energy forward rather than up and down. If you are running trails, think of yourself as a stream of water easily passing over the rocks and roots underneath you. Smooth as silk!

Next time you go out running, try tackling one of these points at a time, and then when you think you’ve mastered it, move onto the next one. Before you know it, you’ll be the hottest runner out there - because it is all in the technique, baby!

The Single Secret to Becoming a Better Runner

Do you want to know the secret to becoming a better runner? Become more efficient. That’s it. Overly simplified, yes, but that is it.

An Example of Excellent Running Technique

All that training you are doing develops efficiency in one way or another. For example, those countless hours of training work to better your heart’s stroke volume, teach your body to efficiently metabolize fuel, and adapt the nervous system to fire your muscles in the most effective manner possible. The foundation for improving as a runner revolves around the idea of maximizing efficiency.

There is no better place to find excellent running technique than at the Ironman World Championships where even the tiniest inefficiencies can make or break the race. The 2014 winner for the women, Mirinda Carfrae, is arguably one of the best runners in the history of the event.

Mirinda managed to put the pedal down in the marathon to close down more than a fourteen-minute gap and bring home the victory. Her run exemplified so many aspects of excellent running mechanics. Have a look:

From the Bottom Up

When you watch Mirinda run it is smooth and with little wasted motion. You are watching someone with a kinetic chain that is totally optimized - no weak links. From her feet all the way up to her arms and shoulders, the motion flows with grace and control.

How do you get there yourself? Let’s take a look at the most important areas you can work on right away.

Feet: Ground Contact Time and Vertical Oscillation

In running, you only have one point of contact at any time, making it the primary battleground for controlling your forward momentum. Two primary factors come into play at the foot: ground contact time and vertical oscillation.

Ground contact time (GCT) is the amount of time it takes your foot to strike and lift off, and it can have a profound impact on your overall running ability. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that even a fifteen-millisecond improvement in GCT resulted in a 3% improvement overall.¹

"Considering that you want to convert as much gravitational energy into forward motion as possible, energy wasted as vertical motion can pile up in a hurry."

That may sound minuscule, but for a runner able to do 10km in forty minutes, it would result in a one-minute improvement. And for the marathon runner? It turns into seven whole minutes. That’s no laughing matter.

Vertical oscillation (VO) is the amount you bounce up and down with each step.Considering that you want to convert as much gravitational energy into forward motion as possible, energy wasted as vertical motion can pile up in a hurry.

To put numbers to it, let’s look at a 150-pound athlete running 10km. If that runner’s center of gravity rises and falls two inches with every stride, the amount of work done at the end of the race would be equivalent to raising 84 tons one foot high. If you reduce that to only one inch of VO, that number becomes 42 tons. That is a serious amount of energy savings over the course of a race.

How to Optimize GCT and VO

Start with the foot strike. There are varying opinions on what part of your foot to land on, which will be left alone for now. What matters most is striking below or just in front of your center of gravity to minimize braking, GCT, and VO.

The easiest way to ensure proper foot strike placement is to start with a good body lean. Take another look at Mirinda as she runs. What a lean! At the start of your next run try this drill to get there yourself:

1. Stand tall and lean forward, bending from the ankles. The rest of your body should be aligned (straight line from ankle to your ears).
2. Lean until you almost fall over (keeping you heels down). When you reach this point you will instinctively pick your feet up as you would to run. This is the amount of lean you want to shoot for throughout your run.

With body lean in check, adding a quick cadence (turnover) is the next step in keeping GCT and VO low. A turnover of 180-200 strikes per minute is optimal. You can measure this with a metronome app on your phone or with one of the many running watches on the market.

When increasing cadence, one area often overlooked by runners is the swing phase of the running gait (after you toe off). Instead of letting the lead foot trail out way behind the body, mindfully visualize lifting your heel to your butt. This shortens the lever arm of your trailing leg, which in turn reduces the amount of torque required to move the leg back in position for the next foot strike. In short, you save valuable energy.

Hips and Glutes: Improving Strength and Stability

Moving on up the chain is where we find a common weak link: the hips and glutes. It sounds cheesy, but with running, your hips really don’t lie.

Running is essentially a long set of alternating single-leg hops (or partial single-leg squats). If you do not have the strength in the hips and glutes to properly stabilize the motion throughout the duration of your run, you will not only be inefficient, but you will also likely find yourself injured at some point. Improving hip strength and stability needs to be high on the priority list if you want to improve as a runner.

Returning to the same study mentioned above, the researchers concluded that the inclusion of explosive strength training resulted in improved running economy both from minimizing wasted motion and from an increased ability to apply power quickly.

"Improving hip strength and stability needs to be high on the priority list if you want to improve as a runner."

For this reason, it is a great idea to include two or three workouts each week that have an element of explosive strength training. This can take the form of plyometric box jumps, single-leg hops, squats, and much more. Throw them in the mix. Your body will thank you later and you will be a much stronger, more well rounded runner.

Arms, Shoulders, and Spine: Staying Fluid and Relaxed 

From the hips up, everything should be fluid, relaxed and contributing primarily to forward motion. Any excess tension above the waist is wasted energy. At the shoulders, you want to see the shoulder blades pulled back, relaxed, and together with “heavy” low shoulders. It should feel almost like you have a heavy weight pulling down on your elbows.

The elbows should drive straight back with each stride, but rather than using extra energy to swing your arms, try letting your spine rotate fluidly, almost like you are rotating your ribcage toward the front with every stride. You will find that it will do so quiet easily with stable hips and that it will drive your arms straight forward with little extra energy.

And last but not least, keep your hands and face relaxed. A helpful visual is to pretend you’re holding a potato chip between your thumb and pointer finger and trying not to break it.

So what are you waiting for? Try it out. I bet you you’ll be a better runner when it’s all said and done.

This post is part of Macro Man's Health & Fitness blog. Follow him on Twitter!