Speaker: We were born to run. To some of us, though, that statement might feel a little far from the truth as running doesn't come naturally to all of us. However, it's something we were never actually taught. Whether you're completely new to running or maybe you're a runner who's not happy with their gait, today I'm going to be taking it back to basics and revisiting how to actually run. It's usually fairly obvious to spot a poor running gait and what is going wrong, but when it comes to good runners, it's much harder to see exactly what they are doing. So today, I'm going to be breaking down the movement patterns of the running gait and explaining exactly how to perform them correctly, as well as giving you some tips to get going. Before we actually start moving, we need to address how you stand, as your posture will carry over onto your running. You might have flashbacks from school of being told to stand upright. Well, obviously, running is a fluid movement.

but still, having your head held high and
shoulders nice and open, your tummy tucked in, and your hips facing forward is going to
help. You want to picture having a line that dissects
your body. It goes up from your feet, so through your ankles, your knees, up through your hips,
dissecting your shoulders, and then your ears. You want to maintain that line when you start
running, although you're going to have a slight forward tilt, so the line is basically coming
up at a forward angle from the ground. Let's now address the specific parts of your
body and how they should move. We're going to start off with the feet and the ankles.
When you're walking, you land with a heel strike, with your leg out in front of you, and
your leg nice and straight. As soon as you start running, the force that's
going through your bones and your joints is greatly increased, so you do want to make
sure you've got a slight soft knee, so there's

a very slight bend in it, and making sure it's
not fully extended. As to where your foot lands on the ground, well, that is eternally
open to debate, and it's something that I suggest you experiment with yourself. Having a midfoot
foot plant actually does help with some shock absorption, and it'll also help encourage you
to have a better body position. It goes hand-in-hand because as you start running, and you start
to implement that forward tilt we've already talked about, you'll find it more easy to
land with a midfoot strike as well. Sticking with your feet, you also need to
address where your foot lands in relation to your body, and it's really common to see
people overstriding, so basically, landing on their heel with their foot way out in front,
a little bit like the walking action. When it comes to running, this is pretty much acting
like a brake, so putting your foot down out in front of you and then having to move your
body over it. It's also really jarring on

the body. Ideally, you want your foot to be
landing underneath your body whilst it's already started to move backwards. The good drill
to just get awareness of your foot landing underneath your body is simply running on
the spot. There are a couple of old-school on-the-spot
drills which will really help with the points that we've been covering. First of all, high
knees. I expect most of you understand what I mean by this one, but you are simply jogging
on the spot. You're going to start off by just bringing your knees halfway up to hip
height and really focusing on landing on your midfoot and keeping that time on the ground
really short. Short contact time and nice and springy off the ground. Once you've mastered
that, then try to bring it up to full hip height. Basically, you're getting your knees
up to 90 degrees or your hips up to a 90-degree angle. Then take plenty of rest.
Just try to do this for 10 to 15 seconds because

if you're doing it well, it will be hard.
Then we need to look at the other end of your running stride, so your bottom activation with
some butt kicks. You're simply going to place your hands behind your bottom, and you're going
to start off by trying to flick your heels up towards your hands. Just do them halfway
to start with, and this one, you really need to focus on keeping a good posture because
it's quite easy to start to lean forwards. As a result, it will be quite easy to naturally
land on your midfoot or even your forefoot, and then progress this to actually touching
your hands with your heels. Once you've got these mastered, really concentrate
on keeping posture throughout and staying nice and upright because
it is easy to cheat. Obviously, that's going to then not get the point of the drill. Then finally, once you're
ready, you can start to progress this to moving forward, so covering a distance of say 15
to 20 meters, and then just jog back for recovery.

[music]
Speaker: A common cue from running coaches is to hear them say, run tall. Well, it acts
in the same way as standing tall, so you put your shoulders back and you automatically
tuck your tummy in. I bet you've done that without even realizing it. These cues are
great for making you look good when you're standing and running, but we're not focusing
on that today. We want you to be running more easily, and it will have a knock-on effect
because tucking your tummy in is naturally going to rotate your pelvis slightly posteriorly,
so basically bringing your hips up towards your chest. That's going to then make it much
easier to lift your knees when you're running. Your hips are essential for all of your running
propulsion. We talked about the front of the hip, so the knee drive coming forwards, but
we also need to look at the posterior chain, so what happens at the back. When you're running,
you need to have good extension in your leg.

as your body moves over your foot. If that's
restricted, then you're going to be restricting your stride length. You need to make sure
you've got strong glutes firing because that's the powerhouse, your bottom muscles, but also
that your hips aren't too tight so that you can get that full running propulsion from
each stride. Moving up to your shoulders. Ideally, you
want these to remain as relaxed as possible because if they come too tense or bunched
up around your ears, then you're going to find it much harder to breathe but also just
restricting your overall movement. Any movement that comes at the shoulder should be a result
of your arms moving forwards, not as a result of your shoulders actually forcing that movement.
Your arms are actually there to help you run more easily. If you think about the forwards
and backwards motion of your arms actually driving and propelling you forwards, there's
actually a diagonal link from the opposite

shoulder and arm through to the opposite hip,
so connected through your torso. Because of this, yes, your shoulders are working, but
you still need to keep them nice and relaxed. You want to have a bit of a gentle bend at
your elbows, so keeping them in close to your torso. When it comes to your hands, they need
to be relaxed as well. You don't want them super clenched, you don't want them poker
straight, but just somewhere in the middle in a relaxed, but finger bent.
In this relaxed position, you want your arms to slowly be moving forwards and backwards,
keeping them close to your torso. As any movement that goes across your body, it's just going
to be counterproductive, and you'll have to correct that with your legs. You can actually
practice this on the spot now. You might sound silly, but if you just stand still and you
have your arms and you're just simply going to pump them forwards and backwards, concentrating
on keeping your shoulders relaxed. You can

even do it in front of the mirror. Then, if you take one foot in front of the other, and so you're in a partial running stance, and practice it again for 10 arm pumps, and then swap onto the other side for another 10. Obviously, when you're actually running, you're not going to have to physically think about your arms so much because they will move more naturally with the running gait. To just prove how much your arms do assist your running, I want you to have a little go at going out for a run and sticking your hands to your thighs so running with your arms by your side, a little bit like a penguin, and then go back to normal running, and you'll really feel the benefit of what your arms do. Last but no means least is your head. With it being such a heavy structure, its position can have a serious knock-on effect on your running. Remember that line I talked about

at the beginning. Your head needs to remain
in alignment with the rest of your body, because if it's too far forwards or it's looking down,
then you'll find it really hard to lift your knees up at the front of your running gait.
If it's the opposite and you'll find it's too far back, then it's going to cause you
to heel strike and overstride. Also, too much excessive movement, you really
want to try to reduce or keeping it on one side. Because anything you're doing with your
head, your body's just going to have to compensate, and it will end up having to work harder.
A good way to get your head in the right position is instead of thinking about your head, think
about your eye line, so make sure you're looking nice and far ahead, as that will naturally
keep your shoulders back, and it will help you keep your hips up as well.
I can't believe I've actually got this far.

and not addressed breathing. It is quite hard
to have it as a separate section as it's obviously involved in every movement of running. If
you're getting it wrong, then it can have a negative effect on your run. Yes, it sounds
simple. We all know how to breathe, and after all, we have got this far, but you might not
actually be breathing correctly for your running. Signs could be having really tense shoulders
or seeing tension in your face and your neck. When you are breathing, you need to utilize
your full lung capacity for running. So, that means breathing more than purely from your
ribcage. Let's have a look at where you're at at the
moment. For this, you need to just take a lie down a moment and just breathe normally
whilst placing your hand on your belly. If your hand isn't moving, then that indicates
you're only doing shallow breaths, so try to focus on filling all of your lungs with air
right to the bottom of them. This will see

your belly move outwards or upwards underneath
your hand on the in-breath, and then as you breathe out, your hand should fall away. Just
have a feel and get used to doing this while you're lying still and then take it up to
standing, and again, place your hand on your belly to get the feel.
You might find that as you're doing some simple breathing exercises before running, it will help
to remind you to stay relaxed, but also to fully utilize that lung capacity. Finding
the correct footwear is important when running, especially if you're looking at altering your
gait. For this, I would recommend heading to a specialist running store so they can
ensure you've got a shoe that suits your running style, but also fits properly.
Then finally, a bit of strengthening. You need to make sure you've really worked on
strengthening your core and the muscles around your hips as that enables you to keep that
good posture we've talked about for far longer.

which in turn makes running much easier and
makes you more efficient. If you're maybe having a play around with your gait or changing
anything at the moment, do let us know. You can do that in the comments section below.
Check out all of our other social media channels and whilst you're there, give us a like and
a follow. [00:09:35] [END OF AUDIO]

How To Run Properly | Running Technique Explained

SUBSCRIBE NOW! http://gtn.io/SubscribetoGTN

The Global Triathlon Network (GTN) is the best triathlon YouTube channel, with videos for anyone who loves triathlon: from seasoned Ironman racers to first timers – and everyone in between.

With the help of our pro and Olympic medal winning team, we’re here to inform, entertain and inspire you to become a better triathlete; including videos on:

How to swim, bike, and run faster with expert knowledge
Beat your PB with record-breaking expertise
Get the best from your bike and gear with pro know-how
In-depth, entertaining features from the heart of the sport
Chat, opinion and interact with us across the channel and on social media every week

Join us on YouTube’s best triathlon channel to get closer to the sport and to become a better, faster and fitter triathlete.

Welcome to the Global Triathlon Network.