Run Form

You’ve heard it said that ‘the hips don’t lie’ — which I’m sure is true in it’s context! But today we’re talking about the movement of your arms when running. In order to run efficiently, we use our arms to help drive our legs forward and properly engage our core muscles.

Essentially, our arms counter-balance our legs, and because of this, any bad habits we have in our feet, hips, core, etc, will often show up as poor movement of our arms. So, if you’re suspicious that your arm swing could be more of an asset to you, first try to address any weakness of your bottom half. There are plenty of videos on runphys.com that can help with that!

But the cool thing, is that we can use our arms to help fix bad habits in our hips and core as well! Check out today’s video for simple suggestions on how to gain better efficiency using the zombie drills mentioned.

As always, fire away any questions you have and please share this with a friend!

Do you need balance to be a good runner? Even though you don’t need as much as a gymnast, it’s still an area of improvement for most runners. Essentially, how well you can balance on one leg, goes a long way to having an efficient transition from loading to push-off. Improving efficiency with your foot strike, will absolutely make you a faster runner and help you avoid injuries.

So, how do we improve balance? Glad you asked! There are so many subtle movements that take place while running throughout your foot extending all the way up to your arms and head. Because of this, we need to practice balancing along with a variety of different movements.

In this video, we highlight 10 of my favorite exercises to work on balance. With special guest cameos from my helpful daughters!

As always, please share this with someone who will find it helpful and practice these until you can do them with your eyes closed! Also, subscribe to the blog if you haven’t already and check out the live videos on the Facebook page for more in-depth explanations of these exercises and other topics.

Running Cadence seems to be getting a lot of press these days, and rightfully so! It’s very easy to measure and it’s an excellent gauge for how efficiently you are running. A big part of running well is minimizing how long your foot is on the ground with each step. An ideal cadence (approximately 90 steps/minute) will directly impact your ground time with each stride. Most runners naturally run with a cadence that’s too low, which is usually a function of hip and foot weakness. In order to cut down on injuries and improve your performance, working to get your cadence right will be extremely helpful.

Does each person need to run with exactly 90 steps/minute? Some experts say yes, but I question whether that’s truly sound. My advice is to be in the 85-95 neighborhood and you’ll be sitting pretty. Since there is quite a variability to runners’ bodies, there certainly ought to be variability to what’s considered ‘ideal’ as well. So rather than try to fit too neatly into an arbitrary box, consider your running cadence to be your body’s natural running rhythm. This will depend on how quickly it takes your entire body to land (with all the moving parts!), gather itself, and push off again. As you develop your strength and running skill, it’s highly likely that your ideal cadence could shift around as well. So please don’t get too fixed on any given number, rather focus on a range, and more importantly, how effectively and efficiently your body is going through all the motions.

As always, please let me know any feedback you have and please share with a friend who may find this useful. Run fast friends!