Form Question wrote:
When I run, I tend to step over myself; that is my right foot lands to the left of where it would if I were simply standing (that is in the middle of my body) and and my left foot does the same. I essentially run on a tight rope of sorts.
it's called crossover gait and whether it is a problem depends on what you are doing. if you are jogging 23 miles a week in training for a 4-hour marathon then forget it and concentrate on the basics. if you are wearing the wrong running shoes or you do track sessions it can be a problem because crossover gait encourages landing on the outside of your fore foot which develops painful bunions which discourage training or racing in spikes so your times suffer and you give up because putting your shoes on is painful.
the problem is caused by bad posture, weak core, and weak ITB.
assuming you have had no posture damaging injuries like a broken leg or broken collar bone or shoulder, to fix the issue you need to do three things.
1) foam roll the entire upper leg on a regular basis. every day after training if possible. front, back, and all down the outside. if you've not done this before it will hurt at first but persevere and it gets better.
2) work on your core. the ITB is anchored in your core but if this is like sponge cake then when the ITB yanks on it nothing happens. you need a solid core to anchor the top end of your ITB.
3) work on your posture. on a treadmill, at a moderate pace, something faster than easy but not as fast as Tempo. look in the mirror and make sure your head is up and your shoulders are level. hold your hips forward. imagine your hip girdle is a bucket of water. you don't want to tip it forward and have water flop out the front, and you don't want to tip it back and water slop out the back, but hold it level so the water stays in the bucket. concentrate on holding this good position for a few minutes at a time and over time work on extending the run to around 3 or 4 miles if you can bear to run on a treadmill that long. do not think about foot placement. think about hip control and posture and let foot placement take care of itself. this will activate your glutes and your lower core muscles, which then pull on your ITB which yanks your knees out and solves your problem.
there is not a quick fix for this, it will take time, but it can be done.
Cheers.