Running Posture – Correct yours

During coaching sessions, my most often used word is “Posture”. Getting running posture correct is so key to all aspects of our sport, regardless of whether you are a sprinter or an endurance athlete. If you get running posture right, it makes everything easier. If you get running posture wrong, you are more at risk of injury and your progress will be restricted. If you are wondering how to run correctly, in this article, we’ll look at:

• What is running posture?
• Why running posture is super important
• How to perform correct running posture (<< press to skip straight there)
• How to keep good running posture when tired

What is running posture?

Running posture is closely linked to running form.

Running form is the way you move your arms and legs while running. Good running form is a skill that needs to be learned, practiced and improved. Find out more about quick ways to improve your running form here.

Running posture is the way you hold your whole body while running. Imagine an overall position of the bits of the body (limbs / head / torso) and how they relate to each other. While running form can be thought of as the study of getting each individual part moving in a way that helps you run better, think of running posture as ensuring they work together in unison, in an easy, relaxed way. Read on for quick tips, or press this link for a complete course on how to improve running posture and form, plus physical and mental approaches to change.

Why better running posture is super important

If your running posture is off, you’ll find it harder to run. Muscles aren’t fully ready to do the running bit, already being engaged elsewhere unnecessarily. The lungs and diaphragm are restricted. Gravity isn’t being fully taken advantage of.

If you use correct running posture, and are able to maintain it throughout your runs, you’ll have more fun. The muscles move more economically. Breathing is easier. You’ll run with a controlled fall forwards, using gravity, instead of fighting gravity by trying to jump off the planet with each step.

Additionally, using proper running posture has safety implications. The position of the head will make you more aware of obstacles you are approaching.

Finally, your risk of injury will be reduced, especially if you hold the core in place correctly, and maintain it throughout the run, rather than putting added strain on the back.

If that all sounds good, read on to find out which areas of your running posture might need work.

How to perform correct running posture

The basics of running posture are quite straightforward. You may find there’s one area that needs more focus than the others, so see if you can identify which aspect you need to work on first to improve your own running. We’ll cover forwards lean, core control, head position and shoulder position.

A quick note on approaching change: I say this a lot, but if you change the way you run to improve running posture, there is an initial risk associated with that change. If your muscles have been used to doing things in a certain way for a while, asking them to do something different will take a bit of getting used to. Therefore introduce any changes gradually. Don’t go out and run 30 minutes in a different way. Try it out for 5 minutes as part of a run to start with and then gradually increase over a couple of months. Longer term, improvements to your running posture should reduce your injury risk, so it will be worth the patience and consistency to practice. If you feel any unusual aches or niggles, consider taking a few more rest days.

Running posture – Forwards lean running angle

Looking at the body’s posture overall, once you reach a steady pace, you want to look like a fairly straight line, with a slight lean forwards from the ankles, not the waist. That line will come from the neck, through the base of the glutes and into the forefoot.

In the image, on the left I’m running pretty fast, and on the right I’m running very slowly. You’ll have noticed that there’s only a small difference between the amount of forward lean running angle between the two speeds. If you want to accelerate, you’ll lean forwards more with a bit more running angle – look at how 100m sprinters out of the blocks are almost horizontal, but they then move back to only a slight forwards lean running angle once they have stopped accelerating.

Why is this? Why isn’t more forward lean better? The answer is simply that if you were to lean any further forward, you’d fall over. You goal is to just lean enough so that you fall forwards using gravity to assist, and taking enough steps to keep you upright.

What happens if you don’t lean forwards at all? If you are too upright, or even leaning backwards, you’ll miss out on the way gravity pulls your body along while you constantly “fall forwards” for your entire thirty minute run. Instead, you’ll have to do more work propelling yourself forwards.

Getting the lean wrong: If you incorrectly lean forwards from the waist instead of the ankles, what’s going to happen? Here’s what it looks like, with a lovely straight running posture when leaning from the ankles on the left and a poor, arched running posture when leaning from the waist:

Your bum will drop back behind you to compensate for the mass transfer and your pelvis will tip slightly. If your pelvis isn’t in a strong, neutral position, the legs can’t piston up and down as easily because the muscles are busy holding the pelvis in place.

Your back muscles will be arched longer, making it harder for the glutes to work to pull the legs purposefully back down to the ground.

Similarly, your lungs and diaphragm won’t have as much room to breathe.

Finally, if you lean forwards at the waist, it’s likely you will continue to curve all the way up your back and neck, so your head will end up looking at the ground, which from a safety aspect isn’t great because you need to be aware of what’s ahead of you while you are running.

Try this:

Before you head off, imagine a helium balloon tied to the top of your head. It’s strong enough to make you stand up straight, but not strong enough to pull you off the ground or prevent that forward lean from the ankles.

Running posture – Core control

To maintain that lovely straight line between the ankles and the neck, you’ll need a controlled core. Engage your tummy and back muscles a little.

Try this:

Sit on a chair and slouch down. Then engage the back and tummy muscles to sit upright. You aren’t straining to sit as tall as possible, but just enough to feel like everything is straight, controlled, engaged and relaxed.

Running posture – Head up, eyes forward

For a good running posture, you need to have your head up normally, not tipped forwards or tilted backwards. If you need to look down at the ground, do it with your eyes. Don’t run with your head tipped forwards to the ground, or tilted back. The latter can sometimes be seen when people try really hard, during a race for example.

Thinking back to the helium balloon, it’s not pulling your head back – you should find it easy to look at the horizon, but it’s strong enough to stop you looking at the floor.

Try to keep the position of your head forward and aft in a relaxed state too. I often stick my head too far forwards when the going gets tough, as if that will help me get to the finish line quicker. It won’t! There’s always something to work on.

Running posture – Relaxed shoulders

Relax your shoulders for a more fun running experience and help keep your posture under control. If you hunch up at the shoulders, it’s likely you’ll start leaning forwards at the waist and neck too.

Running posture – the finer details

Here’s a video that goes into a lot of detail on how each individual part of the body relates to the other parts for great posture. It’s quite a fun routine to try and you may find it quite relaxing too. It’s 14 minutes long, so make sure you are ready to stand up and try it out in a quiet space, which could be at home.

How to keep good running posture when tired

The core muscles, tummy and back are key to retaining a good running posture when tired. If you don’t have strong core muscles, running isn’t going to do much to help, so a bit of strength training for runners will give quick gains. Additionally, cross-training with sports that involve upper body, such as mountain biking, swimming or boxing, will help give a strong core in dynamic movements.

You should now have an excellent understanding of what running posture is, including forwards lean, core control, head position and shoulder position, plus the finer details in the video. So let us know in the comments how you have used the information to improve running posture.

If you want to also learn to improve your running form, in terms of how you move your limbs to run in a balanced, relaxed way that makes you look like a pro runner, take a look HERE. It covers off exactly how to move your arms and legs, how to get the feet to land on the ground underneath you instead of out in front, and lets you send a video of your running form for assessment.