This week’s guest blog post is by coach Gary Reynolds. He shared these ideas with me over lunch this past spring, and I found them so helpful I asked him to write about them to share with you. I’ll be back to blogging next week, sharing some observations about the runners in the Commonwealth Games. … Read more
It’s not an accident we can run so many different ways, including leaning forward and running upright. Some ways of running are generally better than others, and well-coordinated athletes will find they gravitate towards a fairly consistent set of gait characteristics I call The Balanced Runner Keys. But because truly excellent form is organized by … Read more
There’s no running form “rule” that’s always true and no running form “mistake” that doesn’t serve a purpose in the right situation. So even though leaning forward is virtually always the right thing to do (get the details here), there is one circumstance when a distance runner might spontaneously run upright for a good reason. … Read more
Five Running Form Tips You’ve Never Heard Before:
Last week I wrote about the two different profiles of hip flexor problems. This week we’ll look at a popular solution for tight hip flexors that actually backfires. Watch out that you’re not making this mistake! I’ll tell you exactly what to do instead. The High Cost of Sitting Hip flexor tightness or, more accurately, not … Read more
Your lower back hurts when you run, you land too far up on your forefeet or too far back on your heels, your quads get really sore, you have runners’ knee, you run too upright, you run too slowly, your stride length is too short, your shoulders get tight…the list of running woes that can be … Read more
The hobbling effect of a hamstring injury, the discomfort from sitting, and the frustration of not being able to run as you want can seem to go on and on. And as with many running injuries, the conventional treatment can be time-consuming and sometimes frustratingly ineffective. The first thing you need to know is the … Read more
The back of your ankle is sore to the touch, you hobble in your first few steps after sitting, and maybe your achilles tendon hurts when you run too. Back when I had this problem as a young dancer, I felt like a small mouse had sunk its teeth into each of my achilles and was hanging on there … Read more
Someone recently asked me whether we need a special method for learning how to run. It was a rhetorical question, as the person was making a point that running is natural for our species and the world class distance runners learned “without a special method.” But actually it’s a fair question. I firmly believe there … Read more
One of the questions we hear all the time from runners is, “Am I overstriding? I’m not sure what I’m actually doing when I run.” Reading about running form, watching YouTube videos, and so forth may help you become well-informed about running but it doesn’t improve your ability to feel your own body and know … Read more
Down deep every runner has The Dream, the fantasy in which they run almost without effort, just flowing or flying over the earth. But if you google “running quotes,” most of what you’ll find them talking about is hard work and suffering. That is the painful predicament many runners know all too well. Running doesn’t feel … Read more
You’re running and you’re gasping for air. Is it just because you’re running really hard or is there actually a problem with your breathing? Here’s a quick test: Stand up, take a big breath in, hold it and observe: did you lift your shoulders? did your abdomen expand or pull in? did your back arch … Read more
The misery of an IT band problem can dog a runner for a long time. Since the knee pain often doesn’t kick in till you’ve run a few miles, you go out the door with hope in your heart day after day, only to have your it dashed at mile 5 or 7 or whatever … Read more
A couple of days ago a reader posed a very thoughtful question, one that someone asks me at least a couple of times a year. The question is, essentially: how can I as a Feldenkrais practitioner write about “correct” running form? After all, the Feldenkrais Method uses an organic learning process, allowing people with many … Read more
