Lifting your feet higher costs LESS energy when running ?

It's easier to think of it as lifting your knees higher.

I just watched the video. He is entirely correct. It's good to see someone who actually understands Newtonian physics explain running form.

20 years ago when I was a college athlete my coach used to tell us when he was coaching kicking in the finish of a race that "if you get those knees up I guarantee that they will come back down."

Thinking about your form while running costs more energy than simply running.

You run a bunch and your form will become more efficient.
Different elites have different styles.
You be you.
Don’t think too hard on this.

But he doesn't understand eliptical motion.

Common sense and science are not the same thing - there is some truth here but it is mostly advertising

probably the most cliche and lazy thing i hear repeated by runners

sure you don't want to be thinking during a race, but take a step back and consider how ridiculous the following statements are:

ballerinas don't think about their form, they just dance a lot and get efficient in their own style

golfers don't think about their stroke, they just play golf a lot and get efficient at it

pitchers don't think about their mechanics, they just throw the ball a lot and get efficient

swimmers shouldn't think about their stroke, just swim lots and you'll be efficient

but somehow runners shouldn't think about their mechanics at all, because that just makes you slower

Agreed- there have been a couple of studies that showed that actively thinking about your form in the moment negatively affects your running efficiency. But this has been extrapolated by many to mean that therefore their default running form is optimal.

If you take a hinged broken stick and swing it backwards, as the top half stops the bottom half will swing upwards.

Then if the front half moves forward while the bottom half is higher, it takes less force to move it at the hip joint, because most of the leg mass is closer to the joint. Shorter lever arm.

Is that efficient? Maybe. Virin and Salazar did the opposite. But it definitely makes a faster gait cycle. Any good short sprinter will be just about kicking their own behind with every stride.

Correct. The most experienced runners have run tens of millions of strides. Inexperienced runners are looking for the secret.

So your post gets upvotes and downvotes to reflect this difference.

The guy in the video runs at 5min/km which is 12kph.

However, typically shuffling happens at 9-10kph and the force of the backward swing of the lower leg is lower compared to 12kph.

So this video is no prove for lower paces.

Also a VO2 measurement would reveal the cost of running.

The sports you mentioned are more reliant on skills.
Running competitively is not a skill. It’s a level of fitness.

I do believe in practicing running drills. Work on your range of motion and foot strike.

But really, fitness corrects form. Your stride and foot strike will improve as you get fitter.

And to your point, golfers use different grips. Baseball pitchers throw at different angles, hold the ball do differently and take different strides off the mound.

Watch the 2016 1500m final 100m.
Centro has the lowest knee lift of the group and holds everyone off.
But Kiprop and Makhloufi also have Gold medals with higher knee lift.

What he has analyzed are the forces and moments required to make a jointed meat puppet run in different ways, and energy required to do that. And he also talks about relaxation. The point is that our muscles do not fire with perfect timing so they end up somewhat pulling against each other. Some people also have limitations based on injury or shortness of muscle. Trying to correct these factors is generally a long process. The nervous system likes to stick with what it has been doing. But it is worthwhile to keep in mind. And of course the higher the running speed, the higher the back foot should come. And the lower the speed, the lower the foot.

Running competitively IS a skill AND a level of fitness.

I also want to add that I don’t disagree with the video at all. In fact, I think he’s right.

I’m only saying that you don’t need to think about this and a volume of training will get you to this point and a beginning runner only needs to run and not think about foot height.

And going back to the Centro 1500;

While he doesn’t lift his knees high, his back kick still comes up to his rear and then drives forward, but with lower knee lift on the forward motion than others.
So he is lifting his feet high behind him. Not his knees in front of him.

And I guarantee you he is not thinking about it while racing or training.

That Scandinavian bloke knows what he is talking about! Worth seeing.

Not to mention his sense of humour. Because he's sarcastic sometimes, isn't he? I am referring in particular to his "British accent"....Not his competence in running technique.

See his takedown of 'lean from the feet', it's awesome. 'Lean from the feet' means someone took a picture at the moment when there is close to zero force on the ground, and draws a line.

Let’s see, lifting your feet higher also results in longer strides, and all else being equal, longer strides is faster pace, so running faster costs less energy. QED.