NEED ideas to help fix my form... video included!!

do sprinting drills.

Increase range of motion specifically in hip region. Drills, some generally leg strengthening too. Squats catch a lot, especially 1-leg no weight squats.

Your not letting yourself run freely, locking your elbows and keeping you heel recovery too low!

Try doing some general fast strides (faster than race pae in your vid) just to help loosen you up and bring a bit better muscle memory in, let your arms open up as they come down (like your hitting a nail with a hammer)

With your legs focus on bringing the heel up directly underneath you so it brushes your bum as it passes under you (under, not behind like heal flicks) (essentially if you freeze framed a pic you want to look like a stalk!! Lol with a high knee and the heel hitting your bum under you)

Hope that helps you a bit

I don't think you need to worry too much about strengthening IMO

Good luck

Work on increasing your turnover, and on easy runs focus on hitting the ground lightly, not slapping the ground loudly. When you run faster, don't try to increase your stride length by taking bigger steps, instead increase your turnover, focus on powering off the ground, and bring your knees out in front of you. This gives you a longer stride length when running fast without making you land in front of your center of gravity.

Also consider the strides, drills, and strengthening. You can try short hill sprints up a steep hill for ~10 seconds to improve your form and strengthen your legs.

Already mentioned, but sprinting and hurdling drills, as well as squats. Hill sprints. Doesn't look that bad to me, either.

core work, glute strength and flexibility.

http://www.ssmac.com/programs/HipRotator_extensor_stretch.pdf

http://www.drbackman.com/piriformis-muscle-stretch.htm

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/167

re: glute strength

body squats, squats with broom handle or bar.

instead of doing more weight, do more sets and reps.

your knees aren't getting up there because your hips/glutes are too tight.

strength, core work and flexibility.

also google psoas stretch.

You need to strengthen hips and develop range of motion.

Do these routines each once or twice a week.

Myrtl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLrKr54yA0

K-State Routine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqtERE1oR1s

Hurdle Drills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGA-myGjMUc

thanks everyone, i have been doing many of these things for a year already...

i have been doing hurdle drills 3 times a week, we do body weight squats with a broom handle, single leg body weight squats, many lunges daily(over head, too), i have done the k-state routine in that video, i have done many types of sprint drills, including various skips and sprinting over cones or sticks...

i have decent speed for a distance runner... split mid-56 in the 4x4 and ran mid-26 in the 200 last year. however i feel almost that my form has gotten worse this year.

is there something more tangible... something to consciously be thinking about besides driving my knees higher? i do that and it looks awkward. i then tend to sit back farther and it throws me off.

i have been told i have incredibly tight hip flexors, which i have been working on. is that contributing to my form too?

i used to do nothing "extra" besides core and some circuit lifting. this year i do a lot more, including many of the suggestions given, and i know my form looks even worse. is there something i could be doing that contributes to that or do i just need to do more of everything i listed above? will it take more than a year to show improvement?

bump

doesnt look to bad

just drive them knees

MyFormSucks wrote:

i have been told i have incredibly tight hip flexors, which i have been working on. is that contributing to my form too?

Definitely. First thing I thought.

You're heel striking in a race. Seriously try to make forefoot contact on training runs. Your form isn't bad for a high schooler, but if you're in college then read born to run and focus on keeping your foot strike directly underneath you. You're making contact way out in front of you which is breaking up your rhythm. What these people are saying about sprint drills is dead on, and if you are doing them properly they might show in your form eventually but some people do things outside of actual running that never translate into helping their stride. I think the advice on doing strides at faster than race pace is a really good idea because that is where you will see naturally good form. Take a video of yourself sprinting and then look at the difference. The other girls in the video are running in that manner, that is: foot strike directly below torso, sweeping leg motion back with the glute, and a snap with the hamstring to pull the foot tight underneath bum as your knee rises to parallel with the ground. The other two girls do that in the video, watch them. Your form isn't bad because of a lack of strength so don't worry about strengthening one specific area with hope that it will fix your problem. That being said, continue with your strength training and speed drills.

MyFormSucks wrote:

i have decent speed for a distance runner... split mid-56 in the 4x4 and ran mid-26 in the 200 last year.

What are your distance times?

train in minimalist shoes. New Balance minimus are probably the best if you don't want to look dumb running in five fingers. You have to introduce these gradually or you'll get hurt, but anyone who has ever run a 10 miler on concrete in minimalist shoes (or barefoot), knows that there is no way to sustain a long inefficient stride where you heel strike-it just hurts way too much! This forces you to run with a quicker lighter stride with a better foot strike.

2:15 800, 4:44 1500, 18:24 xc 5k... 22:18 xc 6k

would minimalist shoes really be that helpful? i also have a leg discrepancy... right leg is slightly longer than my left. i was told minimalist shoes would never be the way to go for me, due to this.

MyFormSucks wrote:

2:15 800, 4:44 1500, 18:24 xc 5k... 22:18 xc 6k

would minimalist shoes really be that helpful? i also have a leg discrepancy... right leg is slightly longer than my left. i was told minimalist shoes would never be the way to go for me, due to this.

Leg length discrepancy can be due to tightening of muscles(or strength imbalance) on one side usually in the hips pulling up one leg higher than the other. This is the most commom cause. A true bone length discrepancy is rare but does happen. If it's a muscle imbalance, it can be corrected by strengthening the weaker side. Orthotics may help initially, but often mask the real problem which is the muscle imbalance.

i think it might be bone... or at least most of it. unknown officially though. my problem was when i lay on a table, my left leg looks longer than my right and measures longer than my right, but when im standing it appears to be the opposite. i guess measuring my leg shows that my right leg is longer ( my femur is, at least) but when i stand it's all backwards in my hips so that baffled the orthopedic for awhile until they came up with something... honestly after running in the wrong orthodics for a year and having more issues, i just run with nothing in my shoes and i was fine this past track season.

there are a multitude of things that make running difficult for me apparently, maybe things can only get so great.

but if my form is fixable... i want to fix it!