― Jarod Kintz
In addition to hearing the wonder and inspiring Matt Long speak Wednesday evening, I also learned a great deal about proper running, biking, and swimming form.
One of the most debated topics in running is whether or not a heel strike (landing on the heel of your forward moving foot as opposed to the middle or ball of your foot) is bad. According to the experts that spoke Wednesday this shouldn't be the focus of running form. Running is one of the most natural things we can do and everyone has their own innate running form.
Instead the experts recommend that you pay attention to two factors to improve your speed; stride rate and stride length.
Stride Rate: otherwise known as stride cadence; basically how many steps you take in a minute; the optimal running cadence is 90 steps per minute. Try periodically timing yourself for a minute during your runs and counting your cadence (if it's too hard to count both feet try counting each time the left foot hits and then multiply by 2).
Stride Length: More important than focusing on what part of your foot is striking, you should focus on where your foot is striking. One of the most common problems among runners that are developing problems from heel striking is the fact you're actually over-striding. Ideally you want your foot to land as close to right underneath your body as possible. When you overstride, like the first runner in the picture below, you experience a force when your foot hits the ground that pushes you upward and backwards. This slows the runner down. The second runner also experiences a force but does not experience the push backwards like the first runner.
Another important concept each of the speakers talked about what training with purpose. Every speaker, no matter which sport they coached, talked about the importance of having a specific training goal in mind everytime you go to workout. One of the speakers said the first thing he teaches all of his clients is how to be "uncomfortably comfortable." Basically what this means is you need to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable because once you are feeling comfortable with your running, you are no longer making improvements. This doesn't mean pain. This means picking something in each of your workouts--whether it be speed, form, drills, distance--that you want to improve (and therefore change) during your workouts. Below are some running drills listed with what they are designed to work. You can start incorporating these into your workouts or during your warmups for your runs. My apologies again for no pictures :( feel free to email or comment with questions! Important strength training moves for runners to come soon!
Butt Kicks: Engages hamstrings and improves running cadence
High Knees: Focuses on glutes and hamstring POWER (speed + strength); improves the efficiency of your speed
Grapevines: loosens hip flexors and glutes; increases hip, leg, and gluteal mobility, improves lateral (sideways) strength
Hamstring Extensions (kick your leg straight in front and touch with the opposite hand; try to avoid bending your spine {spinal flexion} as much as possible): increases mobility of hamstrings and glutes; enhances forward hip extension necessary for speed
Backwards Running: Strengthens glutes and upper hamstrings; engages the core (abdominals and lower back)
Question: What is your training goal for today's workout?
No comments:
Post a Comment