Here are some concrete tips to improve your running technique by the three means I've just described:
Hastening the Process
How should you train to hasten the natural process of running more efficiently as your fitness improves? Include a small amount of maximum-intensity sprinting in your training every week (something very few distance runners do). Testing the limits of your capacity to produce pure speed is a great way to stimulate neuromuscular changes that increase your speed, and by definition any stride change that increases your speed represents a technique improvement. Just six to eight sprints of 10 seconds apiece will do the trick.
More: Run Faster With Fartlek Workouts
Next to running fast, running in a fatigued state is the best way to naturally stimulate stride refinements. Try to do three workouts every week than leave you moderately to severely fatigued. Two of these workouts should involve faster running (perhaps a tempo run and a session of intervals on the track) and one should be a long endurance run.I believe you can further hasten the process of running technique improvement by simply paying close attention to how you run and making little adjustments in search of greater efficiency and power. A while back there was an interesting study done in which researchers determined that runners who scored higher on a general psychological measure of self-awareness were more economical.
They speculated that more inward-looking individuals may also be more aware of their bodies when they run and thereby make more subconscious adjustments to their form that reduce energy waste. So get in the habit of really feeling your body as you run and experimenting with little adjustments. This habit alone may improve your running technique more than anything else.
More: A Lesson in Feel-Good Training
Undoing Your Shoes
Roughly 80 percent of runners overstride when wearing running shoes, meaning their foot touches the ground ahead of the hips, usually on the very back of the heel. Roughly zero percent of runners overstride when running barefoot (because doing so would bruise the heel). The fact that so many of us automatically begin to overstride as soon as we lace up our sneaks is a problem because overstriding reduces running economy and increases injury risk.
More: Should You Change Your Running Form?
Undoing Muscle Imbalances
In our society particular muscles are commonly very weak due to all of the sitting we do, while other muscles are abnormally tight for the same reason. These muscle imbalances cause stride irregularities in many runners. Those who totally dismiss the notion that better running technique can be learned overlook this correctible source of stride irregularities.Tight hip flexors (the hip flexors are the muscles that lift the thigh) are very common in our society. When the hip flexors are too tight, the hip cannot extend sufficiently during the push-off phase of the stride. Consequently, the hips and lower spine must rotate in the direction of the push-off leg so that the foot can stay on the ground long enough for a proper push-off. But this compensatory rotational movement is less effective--it uses more energy to generate less thrust—than the correct motion in which the hips and spine stay neutral and the hip extends fully.
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Correcting such imbalances will give you a better foundation to run with better technique. It requires that you regularly perform well-selected functional strengthening exercises and joint mobility exercises.Below is an example of a hip mobilization exercise that will open up your hip flexors so you can achieve better hip extension during the push-off phase of running:
Walking Spiderman
From a standing position, take a long stride forward into a deep lunge position and lower the same-side elbow to the heel on the forward leg. From this position, drive off the forward foot, return to the upright position, and pull your trailing leg even with your forward leg. Repeat the movement with the opposite arm and leg. Continue lunging forward in a walking manner. Keep your chest up and try not to let the lower back round as you lunge.
You Can Run Better
While there is no single method of running that everyone can learn and practice effectively, every runner can improve his or her technique. Training correctly, learning to run "barefoot," and correcting common muscle imbalances are the surest means to a more efficient, powerful and injury-resistant stride.
More: Is Barefoot the Perfect Running Shoe?
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