If the running form tips in this article help one person improve their running form, then job done. I’ll lay out the most common form and posture mistakes that runners make. I will focus only on the fundamentals and provide simple ways to improve.
What it won’t do is go into every detail, because for that I have created a course that includes video tutorials and guides to every facet of improving running form, so if you are looking for something that covers everything, press here to check out the comprehensive guide on how to improve your running form. For everyone else that wants the quick fixes for the technique issues that I see most often with Runningversity students, read on.
For runners that need to improve their running form, here are the two most critical running form issues that need to be sorted.
- Shuffling feet close to the ground. Fix: Increase “Knee Drive” (with Hip Flexors)
- Waiting for gravity to get the feet back down to the ground. Fix: “Whip” leg down (with Glutes and Hamstring)
Stay with me while I explain how to implement these two fixes without needing to know about the muscles involved!
What is Knee Drive for Runners and how do you do it?
The most critical mistake runners with poor running form make is not getting their feet high enough off the floor. The feet float along a few centimetres above the ground. To solve this, we need to focus on the knees, not the feet.
Lift the knees a couple of inches higher and forwards with each step. This is called “Knee Drive”. Job done. The feet will automatically come up behind you towards the buttocks more, so you’ve solved the shuffling feet.
If you don’t know if you are getting it right, here’s the easy way to be sure! Find some grass that’s 5-10 centimetres long, or some fallen leaves on a path. When you run on this terrain, do you hear your feet kicking through the grass with a swoosh (or kicking the leaves along)? If so, lift the knees a tiny bit higher until the only noise you hear is your feet coming out of the grass and being placed back in (or the feet crunching into the leaves).
This is one of the running form tips that will improve running form for a vast amount of runners who have built up bad habits probably since they started running.
What is Whip for Runners and how do you do it?
Runners that shuffle with no Knee Drive also normally wait for the feet to land back down with gravity, so the feet end up landing too far out in front with a low “Cadence” (number of steps per minute). This slows them down and isn’t great for the knees. To solve this, we need to focus on our ability to “Whip” the whole leg back down more quickly.
In the Run Like a Pro course, I go into a lot of detail on how to get this exactly right, using Glute and Hamstring engagement, but for this article, let’s keep the second of the running form tips simple: Take steps more often and with shorter strides. Try not to run any faster along the path while you speed up your legs though! Stay nice and slow while your legs piston up and down.
If you find this hard while running at your normal easy pace, try it on the spot first. How fast can you lift your knees up and pull them down again?
Making changes to your running gradually
If you are a beginner runner, you can probably make the changes above without issues.
If you have been running for a while using poor running form, changes to improve your running form need to be made gradually. This is to allow the muscles time to adapt to you the new motions and range of movement. Try just a couple of minutes each run to start with, before going back to the previous style. Increase the time using improved running form gradually each week as you get used to it.
The detailed course to improve your running form
If you’d prefer to see videos and listen to someone demonstrating how to improve all aspects of your running form, take a look at our course on improving running form, improving running posture and improving running technique.
