How To Run More Efficiently

Head Shoulders Knees Toes no I'm not talking about the classic Nursery Ry today I'm going to be going through some simple yet effective techniques to help improve your running efficiency starting with your head all the way down to your toes whether you're an experienced Runner or if you're just starting out making the smallest adjustments to your breathing or your running style can make a huge impact on how efficiently you run but what does running efficiency actually mean well when you're running more efficiently you're able to maintain your pace for longer periods of time this can help you run faster for longer and with less effort you're also putting less stress on your body which can help reduce the risk of injury and ultimately you can conserve much needed energy during training or racing so how do you run efficiently well since I'm a little out of breath let's start with head position and controlling your breathing imagine there's a piece of string coming out the top of your head pulling you up and keeping you nice and Tall your chin should be parallel to the ground and avoid looking down so what about breathing well if it's not something you've paid much attention to whilst running before then it might feel slightly odd and uncomfortable to begin with but focusing on controlling your breathing during low intensity aerobic exercise and starting to implement it into your routine can have a massive benefit to your overall running efficiency and performance rhythmic breathing is a great way to focus on your breathing whilst running breathing in a rhythmic pattern allows you to keep your heart rate under control it's also going to allow you to get more oxygen in which is going to give you more energy over time by increasing your stamina and your endurance you can do this by following a 32 breathing pattern which will allow you to Alternate which foot gets the impact as you exhale or you can try inhaling for a certain number of counts and then exhaling for the same number find a rhythm that works for you and give it a go if you want to learn more about the science behind breathing whilst running check out our video on how to breathe when running now onto our shoulders now maintaining good body posture not only prevents injuries but also plays a major role in our running efficiency when fatigue starts to kick it's so easy for our posture and running form to suffer holding tension in your upper body waste energy it can cause you to slow down and it can also cause your breathing to become a lot shallower which restricts the amount of oxygen going into your lungs tents or hunt shoulders can change your arm Carriage forcing your arms to swing across your body rather than backwards and forwards which means you're running less efficiently if during a run you do feel like your shoulders are slouching then simply drop your arms and shake out your hands to increase blood flow and then pull your shoulders up and back as if you're hooking them onto something behind you and remember to stand up tall keeping your arms at a roughly 90° angle and driving your elbows backwards will create momentum this will help you run faster for longer and dictate the pace of your running Hill reps are great for exaggerating this focus on keeping your hips high and Tall you may feel your bum or hips naturally sink backwards when fatigued as if you're almost sinking into a sitting position instead think about squeezing your glutes and keep your hips up and forward keeping nice and Tall avoid dumping weight on either hip like when you're standing in a queue for your coffee so we've covered our head we've talked about our shoulders now it's time to move on to our feet when it comes to foot placement and stride our bodies are incredibly good and receptive at self- optimizing to a style that suits our individual body mechanics in fact there are plenty of examples of elite athletes at a high level who perhaps don't have the best foot placement or stride but their bodies have self-optimized and allow them to perform at that high level in general are three foot stripe patterns 4 foot midfoot and heel you might find that you do a combination of these depending on the pace or distance that you're running while it can be difficult to make significant changes to your running mechanics and form understanding the variation in different types of foot strike and the impact it can have on your performance could have a big impact on your running efficiency unsure about what your foot strike pattern looks like why not record yourself doing it or get a friend to record for you let's know what it looks like in the comments cheers zoen [Music] so the main things to aim for are making sure you're making contact with the ground underneath your body and limiting your ground contact Time by doing this you're going to propel yourself forward and you're going to avoid over striding which will lead you to running more efficiently and effectively here are two simple drills that focus on active foot placement you can incorporate these into your routine on a flat surface before or after a run you might get some funny looks in the park but no one's going to be laughing when you've got good running form and perfect efficiency toe Taps Focus here is on pushing your toes into the ground and bouncing off as quickly as possible so pull your toe up to your shin when lifting your foot up and then power your toes down towards the ground to make contact straight leg runs so you're using the same foot contact as with the toe Taps but you're gently kicking straight legs out in front of you the focus here is on not leaning back staying up tall and only kick out as far as you're able to something else to consider is Cadence which essentially is how many steps you're taking per minute an easy way to calculate your Cadence is to count how many times your right foot hits the ground within a minute and then multiply that number by two it's not a one-size fits all though the thing with cadence is it can be affected by lots of different factors like age weight height and running ability but improving your Cadence usually by increasing it by a few perc can help preserve energy and reduce your risk of injury these small changes can really help maximize your running efficiency and improve your form and performance to learn more about Cadence and how to improve it dive into our how to improve running cadence video efficient form and controlled breathing can make running feel effortless and it can make a huge difference to your running if you're trying to improve your pace or your distance so the next time you're on a run why not try doing a 30se second Head Shoulders Knees and Toes form check is your head up with your chin parallel to the ground are your shoulders relaxed and your hips forward and up and which part of your foot is hitting the ground and is it underneath your body or too far out in front I feel like like I could run forever

Channel: The Running Channel

Views: 65,915

Keywords: How to run, running, running tips, training for beginners, how to start running, running training, training advice, 5k run, 10k run, half marathon, marathon, couch to 5k, fitness, running challenge, personal best, parkrun, how to run faster, best running videos, marathon running, the running channel, run improve repeat, running form, stride, how to improve your running, running technique, running cadence, cadence, run better

Id: bbM3e3XD3KA

Length: 6min 4sec (364 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 10 2024