Have you ever wondered if your form is the correct form? Form plays a big part in how well you will run a race. If your form is tight, you will not run your best race, and your chances of winning are slim. But if your form is loose and comfortable, you will run a great race, and your chances of winning are at a high. My coach always told my team before every race, “Stay loose, a runner who stays loose the longest is going to win the race, but a runner who tightens up will not win the race.” A good runner’s form is to have a loose face, loose hands, and loose arms. The reason behind this is if your arms are up tight you will not be able to swing them as fast as if they were loose and hanging loosely, your hands can be a little bent but you don’t want to make a fist; your face should be loose. All of these are needed because if you are tight, you are straining, which only wears you out faster.
No one’s form is perfect, and even some of the best runners still work on their form. Some examples of runners form are: a high knee lift, low knee lift, some lean back, others lean forward.
There are many elements that need to be corrected to get the perfect form.
· Foot Plant
· Posture
· Stride Length
· Arms
The way your foot should plant is, when your foot strikes the ground your foot should hit toes first, the ball of your foot first, flat footed , or heal first. The way you land depends on how you run for example most distance runners hit the ground first on their heal or flat footed, but every once in a while you will find a distance runner who is more of a sprinter who will hit the ground with their toes first or the ball of their foot first. I know that I run mainly on my toes because I am more of a middle distance runner and sprinter than a longer distance runner. Some of these forms though cause injuries. The heal hitting first when running will cause your hips to become messed up it will also mess with your knees , and ankle. This plant will also cause you to get shin splints. Shin splints are a pain in the front of your leg which you will get from over use; they can also be felt along the shin bone. The best running from for your feet is to run on the ball of your foot or flat footed because you are less inclined to get injuries, however when you run this way you need to watch your ankles because your foot may slide in ward or roll the ankle because they are week in this case you can get arch supports that will help you but you also have to work to try and strengthen them.
The correct running form is to have a slight lean forward, when your run it will feel a little like you are going to fall on your face but you won’t your legs will catch you want to keep your body balanced over your hips, another example is your hips pressed forward. Don’t run with your hips pushed back like you are trying to sit. Things that you need to make sure are relaxed when running are face, arms, muscles, legs. If you think about going slow or are tight and not loose when running you will be fighting yourself the entire time and will not run as successful of a race as you should.
The length of your stride is also important you can over stride and mess your self-up, you don’t want to bounce or hop either when you run you are wasting energy when you do this. The stride should be one that is quick and light, if you land heavy you will mess up your hips and if you bounce you will injure your hips as well as cause other injuries. When running your knee lift is also important to high a knee lift will cause you to use a lot of energy.
What your arms should look like when running is they should be lose and swinging constantly your hands should be loose and not clenched to look like a fist that causes the use of needed energy if you don’t like your hands flat like a sprinter you can curl your fingers. Try not to let your wrist flop. The way your arms should swing is north and south not east and west. Just think of it this way the faster your arms go the faster your legs go. Also when running your arms should not be up closer to your shoulders they should be down near your hips, when running a way to make sure your arms are not tight is to swing your arms so that your thumb touches the top of your hip or belt line every time you swing your arms then you will have the correct arm swing.
However when trying to fix your form don’t think dwell on it, this will just cause you to mess up when running, and then you may not get your form right, I find that when I think about my form constantly I am more likely to mess up than I am when I don’t think about it.
Some things I do to stay lose are to think positive, to say a saying in my head, such as when I am going up a hill and think I am dyeing I find that saying “I love hills” helps trick my brain and then you go faster and forget about how bad the hill sucks. Or when running on the track I’ll say “fast hands fast feet” to keep my arms and hands going fast; positive thinking always helps you stay loose. Also if you find in a race your arms are tiring a quick shake of them out will help your be able to get rid of any tired ness for a while.
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