Posture - Good Form Running

Posture in running not only relates to your spine, but also your hips and arms. When you run slouched you keep your lungs from fully expanding and you tend to look down instead of straight ahead.

Your hip position is also critical because it determines which muscles and tendons will absorb the most impact. When your hips are underneath you, your biggest muscle groups and tendons will absorb the most impact which will help you run further and faster. Avoid slightly bending your hips backwards like you're about to sit down. This puts extra stress on all the wrong areas and you get tired faster.

Your arms need to be at a 90 degree angle, stay compact, and swing on the side of your body, not across the front of you. Imagine a line drawn down the middle of your body, and then make sure your arms don't swing over that line.

Believe it or not, your running stride starts with your arms. It's similar to two gears working together, like the photo on the right. The smaller gear (arms) moves the bigger gear (legs), so the better your arm swing, the better your leg stride. On your next run experiment by keeping your shoulders relaxed, but also driving your elbows back and pumping your arms fast. Your leg speed will want to follow.

Watch a Video on Posture

Intro - Good Form Running

Video: Intro to Good Form Running

I'm assuming since you are looking at these posts you have an interest in becoming the best runner you can become. Many people don't realize the science and technique behind running. It is so much more than simply moving your legs faster. If you take the time to learn the science behind running you will run faster, longer, and more injury free. 

There are 4-basic steps to good form running and we'll have a post for each one. Each of you approach learning differently. Some of you will try and incorporate all 4-techniques at once and others will pick one technique, perfect it, and then incorporate another, or some of you will combine the two methods together and create a hybrid. Believe me, this is harder than you think and you will find greater success if you work on one thing at a time.

It is easy to over-think things and accidentally make your stride mechanical rather than natural and smooth, but if you choose not to work on it you'll put yourself at greater risk for injury, so it's worth the work. As you continue to work on form each of the steps will gradually become a habit and you'll fall in love with running even more. 

The four steps are:

1) Posture

2) Midfoot

3) Cadence

4) Lean

Video: 4-Steps Working Together

Studies have found that proper form will help you run faster, but there are runners who are just as fast with improper form. To me, the greatest benefit of proper running is less injury. If you have less risk of injury you can train harder and more consistently, which in the end will help you run faster and reach your potential.