Whether you’re a new runner or you’ve been running for ages, it’s always good to find running tips that reduce the chance of injury and reduce wasted energy. As anyone who runs for exercise and good training, there’s more to running than simply speeding up a walking pace. Runners can maximize their exercise by adjusting the body to proper running form, and form is very important. Runners without proper form are more likely to injure themselves, and we don’t want a shin splint or plantar fasciitis or knee injury to affect us. Poor form, often in the form of muscles, also wastes energy, which means we may not be able to go as far as we could or we hit the wall earlier without a better running form.
To follow new running tips into our routine, we should be patient with ourself. It can take time to adjust form so that it becomes a regular habit. One of the most helpful tips to improve running form is to ask an experienced runner to observe us while we run. He or she may be able to identify bad habits we weren’t even aware we had. If we run on the road or on the trail, or participate in marathons, improving form will make us a better, more efficient runner.
9 Tips to Improve Running
1. Hold The Head Up
Just as your brain directs the body, your head directs the posture. Instead of gazing downward toward your feet or the road, shift the gaze upward as though you’re scanning the horizon. This pulls your back into a straighter position. Be especially aware of gaze while running uphill, many runners tend to look up, throwing the back out of alignment. Running on the trail, you have to gaze downward to focus on the technical ground, rocky, muddy terrain. But to look more forward to see the ground ahead will support the brain, head and back.
2. Relax The Jaw
If you’ve ever taken a yoga class, you may already be familiar with this concept. Tight jaw muscles tend to cause tightening in the back. Pay attention to how much tension you’re holding in the jaw.
3. Relax The Shoulders
Holding your shoulders up toward the ears is a bad way to waste energy and strain muscles. Keep the shoulders loose and make sure that they’re aligned over the hips. Shoulders that are bent forward will throw alignment off and increase the chance of fatigue and injury.
4. Let Arms Wing Naturally
When you’re walking, the arms normally move and rotate between the hip and the center line of the body. Improve running by following a similar natural motion for arms, but when running, the difference is that the arms bend at the elbow instead of hanging straight.
5. Loosen The Fists And Hands
It takes energy to tighten muscles, so don’t fritter away what energy you have by clenching fists tightly. A fist that is super tight like it’s ready for a fight, tightens muscles in the arms and shoulders. One of the simplest tips to improve running is to relax the hands as though you’re holding a breakable object.
6. Engage Abs And Core
One of the biggest causes for lower back pain in runners is that the ab muscles and core are not strong enough to support the back. Build those ab and core muscles by engaging them as you run. Imagine pulling your belly button in toward the spine, and activating your glutes.
7. Place Feet Properly
With each stride, land about mid-foot and roll forward toward the toes. This produces a lighter stride that mimics running over the ground rather than driving into it. Landing on the heels means the stride is probably too long, and landing on the toes often triggers shin pain.
8. Relax The Toes
Keeping toes clenched as you run is one way to waste energy and put undue stress on the foot. Roll each foot smoothly off the ground to help release tight toes, and to improve running.
9. Check Form Mid-Run
Minimize the chance of injury and maximize energy levels by doing an inventory of your form at least once or twice during each run. You might find that you start out with proper form, but close to the end of a run the body tires, making it easier to tense muscles or fall into bad alignment and not proper running form.
Running with proper form will sustain our energy and gain better results.
Focus On Proper Running Form, Good Muscle Strength, Positivity And Happiness, Appreciate Great And Better Runs!
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