Postures, How It Can Effect Your Run

SO, HOW DO YOU RUN?

Re-watch the video of yourself running, evaluate and improve. Here are some running-form tips you can benefit from today:

1. Shorten and Soften Your stride
   It’s reasonable that runners have always assumed a longer stride is equivalent to a faster finishing time as stride length and stride rate determine speed. Frequent mistake such as over striding happens, when a runner increases stride length by reaching the foot too far out in front of the body, it can lead to decreased efficiency and increased risk of injury. The expert recommends short and light steps, incurring lower impact forces every time your feet hit the ground. According to a recommendation in Running Strong by Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician, he suggested this effective way of tracking your strides. When you run, look at your watch and count how many times your left foot hits the ground in one minute. Optimally, 80 strikes per minute would be a safe number. If you’re getting ~60 to 65 strikes per minute, that means your stride is too long.
2. Run ‘Tall’
   Keep the gaze forward, don’t stare at the ground or at your shoes. Good posture is an important component of your form, so stay upright, with a slight lean forward to help propel the body forward. Be watchful! No curling in on your shoulders! Make sure you check on your posture throughout a run, as I always find it’s the first thing runners do when they feel sluggish or fatigued.
3. Engage your glutes
   I know we haven’t known each other for too long, but there’s time when we have an important discussion about your butt cheeks. So, engaging your glutes is one of the keys to have a good running form, but the rule is not to clench. Make sure you relax your hips and allow your glutes to stay together. Keep the tailbone low towards the ground and engage your core, you may feel your spine straighten. This running form can prevent over-swaying of the hips, pelvic and lower back problems.
4. Stay relaxed
   Runners are advised to “do what feels natural” – just so that they are going forward, not side to side. It is advisable to swing your arms forward and back, keep the shoulders relaxed and hands loose. Imagine you have a fragile egg in each hand, without clenching your fists.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE INJURED AND IT STOPS YOU FROM RUNNING?

Do you sulk, get angry and frustrated, feel sorry or give up?! Runners have their strengths: power, endurance, tenacity. However those strengths lie the potential for weakness, qualities within, that could lead to problems:

• Quads that overpower our hamstrings
• Neglected upper bodies
• Poor flexibility

Back strengthening and stretching programs are a mainstay of treatment for most back problems. Flexibility of the hamstrings and pelvis are also very important for runners. These exercises should be utilised with precaution following injury, and must be incorporated into the athlete’s normal training schedule in order to prevent recurrence of back pain.

PLANKS

1. Get yourself up on your elbows (shoulder width apart, shoulder directly above elbows), with your feet slightly apart.
2. Make sure your body is aligned, engaged with your abdominal muscles. Make sure your hips are not dropping down and your upper back is down and back, not hunched up.
3. Hold for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Repeat 3 times.

MUSCLE WORKED: core, lower back, shoulders

KETTLEBELL SQUATS WITH OVERHEAD PRESS

1. Hold the kettlebell/weights with both hands, in front of your chest.
2. Stand with your feet hip width apart. Brace yourself in a squat position.
3. Make sure you push your hip back, lowering your tailbone towards the floor, until your
   thighs are parallel to the floor.
4. As you squat, lift the kettlebell above your head. As you stand back up, return the kettlebell back to your chest, to the original position.

MUSCLE WORKED: glutes, quads, hamstrings, lower back, upper back, shoulders

ALTERNATING DUMBBELL ROW

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells/a barbell, arm’s length in front of you, palm faces your thighs.
2. Keep your back naturally arched, bend at the hips and lower your torso until it’s nearly parallel to the floor.
3. Keep your arms straight as you bend your hips so that the dumbbells hang straight down.
4. Draw the weights towards your torso, aim towards the middle of your ribcage, then let it hang back to its original position.

MUSCLE WORKED: middle back, biceps, core

As long as you take a healthy approach, cross-training can help you achieve overall health!