How did you change your running form?

I was also wondering the same thing. I heelstrike in training shoes (not usually spikes or barefoot) and I'm trying to change my form. I do barefoot strides of 60-100m and occasional 200-400m track intervals in spikes or barefoot on the infield. This has been somewhat effective, but it's been a slow process.

Practice

Xfit_guy_the_real_1 wrote:

Inb4 all the joggers claiming they changed to a forefoot kinda strike pattern by looking it up from the Kenyans when in reality they "borrowed" POSE style running style that CrossFit Elite Training revolutionized.

But oh well...I am used to it.

Observations of Kenyan running style predate CF by about 50 years.

Get your hips in position... foot strike will come from there. Focus on not letting your hips sit back, but have them up and forward. Shoulder position, trunk lean, arm swing etc will all affect hip position as well. Once your hips are in the right place your leg swing back and forth will come naturally and "clean up" your foot strike.

I studied at the ministry of silly walks

DaCloner wrote:

Focus on not letting your hips sit back, but have them up and forward.

What do you mean by letting them "sit back"?

tracknoob wrote:

DaCloner wrote:

Focus on not letting your hips sit back, but have them up and forward.

What do you mean by letting them "sit back"?

The opposite of up and forward.

You can also try standing tall while squatting.

I hate how people say "focus on getting your hips back" like what does that even mean. This is what pisses me off about teachers and instruction-- No ones knows how to give simple tangible terms.

How did i change my running form? I went from running on my heels to the balls of my feet. It took one conscious decision to switch and I was then injury free forever.

It's not rocket science. Just change. Just do it. Run on your the balls of your feet or your forefoot, same thing. Don't put this process to a pedestal, it is not difficult if you don't listen to the mainstream bafflegab. Don't think about arm swing or hips or knees or feet. Just run on the balls of of your feet.

I don't think you should consciously try changing your running form.

Thanks for letting us know what you don't think.

form guy wrote:

How did i change my running form? I went from running on my heels to the balls of my feet. It took one conscious decision to switch and I was then injury free forever.

It's not rocket science. Just change. Just do it. Run on your the balls of your feet or your forefoot, same thing. Don't put this process to a pedestal, it is not difficult if you don't listen to the mainstream bafflegab. Don't think about arm swing or hips or knees or feet. Just run on the balls of of your feet.

I have tried this and it slows me down when I do it. Landing on my forefoot and then letting the heel come down, which is what I eventually want to change to, feels very awkward with or without shoes. It feels like I'm stubbing my toes into the ground and slowing down because of that. Running like that screws up my stride so that it no longer feels smooth and cyclical; it feels choppy, almost like a shuffle. I think I'll stick with midfoot striking since it doesn't feel strange.

Alexander Technique.

You don't just change your running form. You have to change the entire way you move. What feels "natural" to you looks like crap to most observers. It takes a lot of feeling crooked, unsymmetrical, unnatural, etc. to change movement patterns that have been ingrained for many years.

form guy wrote:

I hate how people say "focus on getting your hips back" like what does that even mean. This is what pisses me off about teachers and instruction-- No ones knows how to give simple tangible terms.

How did i change my running form? I went from running on my heels to the balls of my feet. It took one conscious decision to switch and I was then injury free forever.

It's not rocket science. Just change. Just do it. Run on your the balls of your feet or your forefoot, same thing. Don't put this process to a pedestal, it is not difficult if you don't listen to the mainstream bafflegab. Don't think about arm swing or hips or knees or feet. Just run on the balls of of your feet.

Lean forward, but not at the waist. Keep your head up. It's not easy, but it's not complicated.

flip flops and shoe laces. No Joke. made some running sandals. ran all summer senior year of high school until i was on the precipice of having a stress fracture. Then I wore some XC streaks and Adidas rockets and did the whole minimalist thing. Now Im back in vomeros and have a kick ass mid-foot /forefoot strike. Efficient. I think yes.

Through all my years I have heard many people give advice on running form. This gets interpreted as many different things, and 90% of the time the athlete does the wrong thing and ends up worse. The best thing you can do if trying to change form is to watch your shadow while running. If you have a treadmill and mirror, that works too. Watch videos of bekele, el g. Notice how their hips look like they are locked in space.

The synopsis of your experience with running mid foot is like so many others and is precisely why the model of 99% of coaches is wrong.

What your doing right now is your simply self conscious of your stride. Your are "trying" to run and not letting your body run.

I'm not sure if you've realized this but self consciousness is the reason why learning something is often so hard. For example, I am currently "learning" how to shoot a basketball properly. And learning something(kinaesthetically at least) is simply about becoming comfortable with something.What I have found is that now that I understand the concept of throwing a basketball (one handed versus the boyish two handed waist throw) there is a fear of doing it wrong that makes me become self conscious of my technique. When I shoot the ball it feels awkward and uncomfortable because I am "trying" to shoot a certain way. I know what I am trying to achieve but because of this fear of doing it wrong/checking on my form there is constantly errant misses. When I relax and let it flow the shot feels perfect. I kid you not. It feels smooth as if I were shooting like Steph C.

My tips for you:

Running on your mid foot(Forefoot/balls of feet are no different than midfoot. They all mean the same thing) is NOT hard. The reason why people make it hard on themselves is they listen to all kinds of descriptions of coaches that talk about posture, arm swing, hips, and foot landing. I have heard Galen Rupp say "its important to try and land your foot right underneath your body". Of course then people go home keen to try out this star runners advice and "try" to get their foot to land underneath their bodies. But, and I've been saying this for quite some time to the dismay of many, we don't directly control our bodies. We dont control our stride rate, we dont control our breathing, and we dont control how our our legs move. We can control the style in which we run.

So I leave you with this. Let go of the effort to run midfoot. Just relax and let your body run midfoot. Simply being aware of running midfoot is all you need to change your stride. You don't need to "try" and run midfoot you just need to relax and let your body flow. If your still struggling with technique based thinking then I suggest you go to a field and take your shoes off and just run. Naturally you will be running properly. There is nothing novel about running this way. It will keep you remarkably healthy tho.

Link wrote:

Lean forward, but not at the waist. Keep your head up. It's not easy, but it's not complicated.

This. You can't fix footstrike by focusing on your feet - it's a system issue. focusing on getting relaxed and easy in your stride, with a smooth, quick turnover is the first step. Being upright helps that a lot.

autoxfil wrote:

This. You can't fix footstrike by focusing on your feet - it's a system issue. focusing on getting relaxed and easy in your stride, with a smooth, quick turnover is the first step. Being upright helps that a lot.

Check what you just said:

You can't change foot strike by changing your feet? What kind of BS is this. If your a heel striker you run on your heels. Everything else will follow THIS strike. Your stride turnover will be slower, your arms will chicken wing and you will overstride. This is the CONSEQUENCE of running on your heels. If you start running on the balls of your feet(or mid foot or forefoot) then stride rate will increase, your ams will fall by your side(most of the time. Depends of on you carry your arms- Wilson Kipsang) and your feet will land under your body. This is the CONSEQUENCE of running on the balls of your feet. Anyone who says its not about foot strike is ignorant. STOP OVERCOMPLICATING THINGS PEOPLE!

form guy wrote:

I hate how people say "focus on getting your hips back" like what does that even mean. This is what pisses me off about teachers and instruction-- No ones knows how to give simple tangible terms.

form guy I know you meant get your hips forward.

Anyways stand up tall. Clench your butt cheeks like your trying to quickly make it to the bathroom. Notice how your pelvis will move forward? Now we want to take that feeling of having the pelvis forward and move it to the track

Now when you're out for a run try to think about this feeling. Focus on running with the pelvis forward like that (but without clenching the cheeks). Do a minute on and a minute off during your warm up. Eventually your body will learn.

Now when your pelvis is more forward and your torso is erect you won't land on the heels and you also won't overstride. You will find that happy medium.

Also for you young coaches out there that can't figure out shin splints this is your prevention.

Best,

Ghost of Wilbur Ross