If running is so natural then why do we keep getting injured?
History
The popularity of running has been on the increase over the last 25 years. A social trend drifting from traditional team sports towards a more efficient, convenient and more independent way of getting fit. Unsurprisingly, sport injuries associated with this activity also increased. Achilles tendonitis, ITB syndrome, low back pain, shin splints and the list goes on. Coaches, therapists, trainers all agree that technique can make or break the winnings in sports such as golf, tennis, rowing, swimming, etc. The time spent on technique can be months, even years. Yet when it comes to running and ways to improve it, then it’s usually the shoes that are the first criteria to be changed. Running is often mistakenly seen as an extension of walking with the focus on running faster and or further but never on technique. Runners tend to practice running than being taught how to run.So how do you enable a runner to achieve great results whilst minimising injury? Well, technique of course! Regardless of whether you are a sprinter or a long distance runner, correct technique is transferable and applicable to all speeds. Meaning you can use the same technique when doing long slower runs or shorter sprints. Haile Gebrselassie and the US sprint legend Michael Johnson are great examples of this. Both naturally applying incredibly good technique resulted in these athletes looking nothing less than majestic in their day.
Variables
Two elements and of course a few others, were responsible for their near super human performance. Gravitational torque and hamstrings. Both of which are in our control. Gravitational torque is the force generated about an axis. Your grounded foot acts as your axis and pivot point. Your body is the object moving about the axis. The angle and speed at which you do so has a direct correlation to your speed. You got it! That means the greater your lean angle about your axis the great your speed. It’s no surprise Usain Bolt has one of the highest lean angles ever recorded. A whopping 22%. His ability to translate angular velocity into horizontal movement is part of his secret sauce.
Elements
Simply put in a well-known equation of relations between linear and angular velocities in rotational movement of the body: v=ωr, where v = horizontal velocity of GCM (ground contact time), r = radius of rotation of GCM, ω = angular velocity of rotation of GCM. Bolt uses his advantage in height (radius of rotation) and maintains his body in a position ready for the action of gravitational torque, relatively longer and better, than other sprinters. Therefore, Bolt effectively combines the use of forward moving body factors to get across that line in under 10s.
The hamstrings on the other hand are the muscles with the greatest workload when running. Surprised? You probably thought it was the quads but don’t worry. You are not alone on this one. Ever seen a sprinter run down the track only to reach back and grab his hamstrings like someone just shot him in the arse? That’s because the hamstrings have reached their threshold and the result is now injury. Your hamstrings should be your hardest working muscle group when running. They are part of your only actionable element. Meaning you should be focusing primarily on engaging the hamstrings when running.
The running technique is simple enough to conceptualise yet difficult to master.
Principles
What are the first words that come to mind when asked about running? If you’re thinking words like painful, tiring, slow and injuries rather than effortless, smooth, enjoyable, flowing, efficient, etc. then you are probably running like a car drives with a flat tyre. Listen to your feet landing the next time you go running on the treadmill. Are you light and quick or are you stomping like a sledge hammer? The idea is to be light and have a high cadence. This directly translates into the amount of time you are spending on the ground. Quicker cadence means less time on the ground. In turn this means less injuries. Injuries by the way usually happen as a result of being in contact with the ground.
Technique
Ground contact force is translated up the body. As we are only as strong as our weakest link, this means it’s only a mater of time until one of our links possibly break. This is usually in the form of an injury to our joints, smaller muscles groups and or other vulnerable and weak links in our mechanical chain.
With high cadence (+180) your oscillation should also be in sync. Meaning you should not be bouncing up and down and wasting energy and adding additional stress to your body. Your hip line should also experience very little oscillation, whilst your legs are transferring your body weight from one leg to the other.
Maximising the use of gravity, you should be falling forward and have a quick change in leg action accompanied by rapid hamstrings engagement. This prevents the trailing leg from being left behind. In turn this reduces the likelihood of over-striding. Consequently landing on your heels. This translates into unnecessary stress being transferred throughout the body. The leading foot should not be landing in front of the headline if a vertical line were to be drawn from the head to the ground. Similarly, the back leg should maintain a natural ‘S-like’ shape. Something like that of a cheetah when running and not fully extended. Nice to be compared to a cheetah, right?
Strength and propriception (joint stability and balance) training are paramount in technique training and not just running technique. Reducing the physical displacement of limbs, the downward displacement force and strengthening of the kinetic chain, all help in reducing unnecessary stress in the body. At the same time, this contributes to a more efficient and effective run – helping you run further and faster.
Now go and work on that technique!
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