4 key points for good run form.
1. Posture. Overall you should be erect and upright. You should not stoop forward or have sway in your lower back. Imagine there is a hook on the top of your head and a string is pulling you tall. Also squeeze tight the muscles in your middle: stomach, sides, and low back.
2. Short, quick steps. "Cadence is the golden thread of running." This concept means that you want to improve your run form by taking quicker steps, but make sure you are putting your foot down directly under or behind your sternum. Put your feet down on the ground quickly, and pick them back up quickly. If you were ever told the advice to "stride out," it was incorrect. Take faster steps.
You can run with a higher cadence irrespective of your overall speed: slow, medium, or fast. In fact, a high cadence moderate paced run is the best training.
3. Arms. They should have an acute angle at the elbow and swing straight front to back. Arm-swing should be short and quick in order to establish the tempo for your foot-cadence. Arm-swing direction should be almost perfectly front-to-back, with no bobbing or weaving of the forearms. Keep your wrists straight.
4. Relaxation. Although this may seem like a lot to think about, don't concentrate so hard that you tense up. In fact, scan the body and let go of any unnecessary tension. The best way to do this is to take a few deep breaths and exhale fully after each one.
At the I Run for the Party Training Group we did a sequence of walking and running drills to warm-up. They are as follows:
- Walking high knees
- Knee up-out-in
- Majorette front kicks
- Booty kicks knees down
- Calf walk...springy
- Heel walk, pull toes up
- Front swimmers
- Backstroke swimmers
- Side-glide
- Grapevine side-glide
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