INJURIES: True to Form

Proven methods to improve your running form and reduce your chance of injury.

People in all sports can train to overcome flaws in their technique – even Tiger Woods has a swing coach. Despite years of running a certain way, with the right guidance, runners can make significant changes in their running form to help their performance and reduce their risk of injuries.

Runners’ enemy No. 1 is not dogs, cars or the weather – it’s gravity. Adopting a more efficient running form can minimize gravity’s effects. There is always a more correct way to do everything and the laws of physics can be applied to running, just as well as to the golf swing, to make the movement more powerful and more effortless. Adopting a more efficient running form will enhance your running performance and reduce your risk of injury.

Running involves allowing your centre of gravity to fall forward and putting your foot down on the ground so you don’t fall flat on your face. From a standing position you start the movement by leaning forward from your ankles. As your centre of gravity moves ahead of your feet you can now flex your ankle joint by pushing into the ground to assist gravity, which is still pulling you forward. At the same time, your hip flexors go into action to bring one knee up so your foot will be in position to land on the ground.

There is no single “perfect” running form – you can see enormous differences in the gait of Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele and the sometimes-awkward style of women’s marathon world record holder, Paula Radcliffe. But there are ways to make your own running form more efficient and injury-resistant.

The two most common faults I’ve seen over the years are: too low a stride rate and excessive heel striking.

Form Flaw: Low Stride Rate

Fix: Running speed is determined by stride rate and stride length. Many experts advocate that the ideal stride rate (the number of times the same foot hits the ground) is 90 foot-strikes per minute. Interestingly, that’s the same cadence that cyclists strive for when trying to cycle efficiently. One classic study videotaped all the running finals of the 1988 Olympics and found that the average stride rate was 90 foot-strikes per minute for all the runners, whether it was the 100m or the marathon, and whether the runner was 5 feet or over 6 feet tall.

Based on years of treating injured runners, I’ve found that a slow stride rate is one of the primary biomechanical causes of running injuries. Runners with slow stride rates spend more time with their feet on the ground and will either have an increased vertical displacement or they reach with their feet too far forwards.

Form Flaw: Overstriding

Fix: Once you get your cadence up to about 90, the next step is to make sure your foot hits the ground in the right spot. The ideal foot-plant minimizes the braking effect of the ground force. The foot-strike sweet spot lies along your gravity line. If your stride length is too long, the ground pushes back against your foot. You’re also more likely to position your foot in such a way that encourages overpronation, which has been shown to be the cause of many running injuries. Overstriding can also result in your contact foot crossing the midline, putting you at risk for lateral knee and hip problems. By landing directly beneath your centre of gravity, you benefit from the spring action of the arches of the foot and ankle to help cushion foot contact.

Form Flaw: Excessive Heel-Striking

Fix: The second most common running form flaw that I’ve seen is an exaggerated heel contact, which also can cause overstriding. Shoe technology allows runners to cheat a bit and land more on the heels. When an excessive heel striker’s foot hits the ground, the toes are flexed back and have to get back down to the ground before pushoff, putting a lot of stress on the shin muscles. If they are weak the foot slaps down and could eventually causing shin splints. The foot also spends more time on the ground, putting more stress on all the tissues of the legs and lower back. We’re only talking hundredths of a second difference, but it’s repeated about 21,600 times per foot for a four-hour marathoner. The ideal foot-plant should be closer to the midfoot, where you can use the elastic energy of the arches of the foot. A word of caution, though: if you’re not used to it, your calves will let you know at first. Start off with short runs landing more forward on your feet and build up gradually.

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