If you want to run efficiently, faster and with lesser impact on your body, you MUST learn to improve your running form. Over the course of several months, I’ve studied my own running form by looking at nearby window mirrors to check my form. Although I must admit I look like an idiot while looking at building’s reflective images here at the Fort, it actually gave me a glimpse of my own form while running. I know my running form is still a work in progress as I still commit newbie mistakes especially when fatigue comes in. However, I try to improve this by doing some drills and strengthening my core.

Follow these tips and start improving your form.

Head Movement
When I started running, I have this habit of tilting my head downward to check my feet or my cadence. I realize that this is actually bad in two ways. First, by looking downward you become too conscious of your stride and in doing so you won’t notice your breathing pattern changes immediately- making it harder for you to breathe deeply. So you switch to “shallow” breathing (taking in a small volume of air with each breath, using only a small portion of the total lung capacity) causing side stitch. I understand that there are several causes of side stitch when running and this is just one of the causes. Secondly, you are also using a negative posture, which can have an effect on your running ability as well as your general mood. To correct this, simply hold your head high while looking straight ahead. Elongate the back of the neck so you don’t slouch.

Shoulders
I remember many weeks before my Milo Marathon when I met Coach Ige and commented when he saw me run “you need to improve your form, para kang kuba kung tumakbo eh ”. Since then, I studied, researched and practiced correct running form to improve my running economy. In a nutshell, your shoulders should be relaxed, away from your ears, square or facing forward and not curved over. Rounding the shoulders too far forward tends to tighten the chest and restrict breathing. If you check elite runners during their run in race mode, you will notice that their shoulders show almost no apparent extraneous movement and both always remains parallel to the running surface. I know this because I always observe the running form of fellow townmates and elite runners Cris Sabal and Tolentino sisters at the Oval.

Arms
If you saw Cristine Reyes during Globe Run, you would have noticed how she sway her arms across her chest and sometimes in her belly button. This is bad and you should not follow it (you can still watch her movies though) because it waste a lot of energy as it creates a superfluous lateral movement that rides against your primary objective of moving forward. To correct this, try running with your thumbs out and pointed up for a few runs. This will give you a visual indicator of your hand movements. Personally, I like to run in such a way that my thumbs lightly brush the threaded side-seams of my running shorts. This will ensure that my arms are not moving across my chest. Additionally, keep your arms at 90 degree angle.

Hands
During my newbie days, I love to run in such a way my hand is positioned like its ready to punch unmanageable runners. The main idea here is don’t clench your fists, because it can lead to tightness in the arms, shoulders, and neck. Run with your hands as relaxed as possible. If you want to improve yours, you may want to run while holding a glass or better yet, run as if you are holding an egg (not a hard-boiled egg) and you try not to break it.

Land Midfoot
It still mystifies me when I hear some experienced runners running down hills on their heels. I tried asking heel-strikers why they do it and they gave me several reasons such as “so that I have control when I run downhills, so I don’t fall over, etc”. But in reality, if you heel-strike, you are stopping your forward momentum and causing undue stress on your joints and knees (plus: your ankle is not a shock absorber!). You also tend to over-stride when you heel-strike so avoid this especially for newbie runners. Furthermore, if you land on your toes, you are causing your calves to do too much work, which can lead to shin splints. If possible, try to land on the middle (ball) of your foot, and away from your toes.

Posture
Runners tend to slouch over a bit especially when exhausted. They’ll often look down to a point just a few feet ahead of them causing changes in their breathing pattern. This will increase contact time with the ground and put more impact on your joints. I must admit this is something I’m still working on. Try to develop strong core muscles and try to engage your deep abdominals when running to prevent slouching towards the end of long runs.  The latter is something I always hear from Coach Ige even during drills and stretching. You can also try core work-out exercise from renowned hurdler Lolo Jones below:

Lolo Jones Core work-out from Runner’s World Website
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263–13030-3-1X2X3X4-5,00.html

I hope post helps. Let’s keep on running and improve!