In my previous posts on The Balanced Runner Keys I started with the feet and worked my way up through the legs, torso, and arms. Today we reach the head, which may seem remote from the main business of running. But how you hold your head when you run in fact determines your ability to … Read more
How you should swing your arms tends to be an afterthought when running. You probably think of things like footstrike, core, posture, cadence, and so forth instead. That’s a mistake, since your running form is a whole-body cycle of events driven by your relationship to gravity. And in gravity, the higher up in your body … Read more
If you’ve given even a moment’s thought to your running form in the past two decades, it was probably either to your footstrike or to your core. My previous two posts in this series on The Balanced Runner Keys addressed the issue of footstrike; now it’s time to talk about core stability and running. The … Read more
In my previous post in this series I explained how our footstrike obsession interferes with developing better running form and why we must move beyond it. The Balanced Runner Key #2, land with a supple leg, which was the focus of that post, is one alternative sensation that will lead you towards optimizing your footstrike … Read more
For years – since roughly 2004, in fact – I’ve been telling people to avoid heelstriking and overstriding, and instead to aim for a midfoot/forefoot footstrike underneath you. In many quarters this is considered to be the very heart of good running form, especially since Daniel Lieberman’s well-known research supports it. For a quick overview … Read more
In an earlier post I explained some of the basics about why and how to lean forward when you run. Now it’s time to go more into depth on this lean – how to do it, when a “bad lean” is actually a good lean, and why I now recommend you actually don’t lean forward … Read more
When I was a dancer trying to learn how to run, my first great breakthrough was when I suddenly discovered how to lean forward from my ankles. That was when I went from bounding along uncomfortably to feeling smooth and enjoying myself. My second great breakthrough was when I suddenly learned how to lean even … Read more
Would you like a simple set of guidelines to good running form that would help you feel healthier, faster, more efficient, more joyful, and more naturally connected to the world around you? Although human movement is complex and each person’s body, history, and learning process is different, I’ve been working on formulating the basic keys … Read more
Once my clients feel happy with their running it sometimes dawns on them that they don’t know how to walk properly. Trying to apply what they’ve learned about running to walking just confuses them as what felt so right in running ends up feeling strange and wrong for walking. That’s because there are some significant … Read more
Here are The Keys to Becoming a Balanced Runner, the 10 interrelating elements of healthy, flowing, free running. I wrote one or two blog posts about each of them over the past year, but here they are all in one place for you to read through and experiment with during the holidays. Over the next few weeks I’ll be … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. A while back I wrote about how to reduce asymmetries in your gait and improve your endurance by alternating which foot you breathe out on. I teach this to my clients and in my online running camp, and some runners tell me they absolutely love … Read more
The magazines, your coach or physio, a multitude of books and, yes, even bloggers are telling you your problems will be solved by improving your running technique. You’ll be faster, you won’t be injured as much, and you’ll become the runner you dream of being. Maybe you feel yourself moving in the right direction, slow … Read more
One of the generally accepted elements of good running technique these days is cultivating a stride rate of 180 or above (meaning your feet touch the ground 180 or more times per minute). For a number of years I have recommended this as well. However a few clues have recently begun to suggest something different to me, and this month … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. One of the first questions I ask a client before seeing them run is this: “Is there anything you’ve been trying to do with your running form?” About half say yes, and maybe mention something about their arms or not slouching or picking up … Read more
