A Balanced Approach to Running Success
The science of running involves complex bio-mechanics, the fundamentals of physics and the psychology of goal setting. Here are 4 key areas to be aware of if you want to make your running more efficient and enjoyable.
The key dos and don’ts of good running technique is seemingly simple to many, given running is such a natural human action. We run every day, and from young as children. We run naturally, un-coached and often never coached. By the time we may want to become more self-aware of our innate running technique, it may be after years of already running. How can we then deal with transitioning from sub-optimal technique to better technique?
Running through complexity:
It is easy to find access to so called ‘best practice’ and running plans that get you in shape for a 10km run or marathon. Sign up to a distance run in Singapore, and chances are there will also be a free clinic or two to attend, which will get you motivated, committed and practiced for the target event.
Once you take an interest in exploring your own running technique, and how to improve it, where can we start? What seems such a natural and human action can quickly become a technical mountain, where we need to balance gait, foot placement, stride length, hip rotation, arm carriage, head movement, knee lift…etc. This is whilst trying to also decide on distance targets, terrain, pacing strategies, introducing speedwork and intervals, hills, trails, track ….another seemingly endless list.
Focus-Focus:
Short of a scientifically based comprehensive review of running studies, the task of designing and prescribing a fool-proof program for improvement is impossible. And even if one bothered with reviewing all the science of running studies, the focus of studies is predictably isolated to at most, one or two variables, performed in laboratory conditions. There are too many factors in the quest for running improvement, and of equal importance is the need to acknowledge that a personalised approach to planning must be the preferred approach versus a “one-program-suits many” attitude.
So in the vast body of scientifically driven research, coaching methods, IAAF best practice manuals, running blogs and across the many schools of running approach, including: Chi running, Alexander technique, Pose method, the Kenyan ‘style’ etc what are the best tips for a busy runner? Obtaining a list of key dos and don’ts for running technique is easy, but always confusing. What is lacking is a simple and evidence based approach to technique that considers the need for personalisation and acknowledges a need for adjustment as we continue along our running journey. Here is my top four tips, combining science and common sense.
1. Managing Your Centre of Mass:
By understanding that your ‘centre of mass’ is a unique point in your body whist in running mode that defines a net nil weight balance, you accept the idea that weight distribution whilst moving is fundamental in running effort. Although RUN Singapore is not a science magazine, the physics of running underpin the scientific principles that determine your running experience and speed.
The centre of mass (“CoM”) is dynamic (ie: changes with each step) as you move forwards when running. It adjusts according to the coming together of your (i) forward propulsion and (ii) gravitation influence. The combination of the forward propulsion (due to a combination of gravity’s effect on your mass as you lean forward, and the effort of your muscles and tendons to push and then pull, along with natural recoiling) and the downwards effect of gravity on your body mass results in your forward momentum.
The various forces at play in running announce themselves in how you ‘feel’ during and after a run. It is impossible to seek to consciously control the many micro factors that are dynamically at play as you run. Furthermore, these factors change as you tire, or become stronger and more able to maintain a consistent pace as you train. The alternative is to experiment with forward lean, balance and stride length & rapidity.
The legendary 1950’s coach Percy Cerutty emphasized the notion that runners should “lift his weight out of his pelvis” meaning the hips should not be dragging and be instead forward leaning. This is a clear reference to the importance of finding and felling one’s centre of mass when running. The Pose method suggests 22.5% forward lean is the maximum permissible, after which you need to put a leg forward to maintain upright balance. The percentage of lean is however variable amongst runners, contingent on flexibility, overall strength of legs, speed and weight balance, and thus must less than the 22.5% which is just illustrating for an assumed running subject, there is a centre of mass tipping point.
The following diagram (Romanov and Fletcher, 2007) is an attempt to illustrate simply the complex physics concept f centre of mass, applied to runners[i]. It is a static diagram, and one needs to visualise the movement in the CoM at each stride, which is varied according to terrain and as fatigue sets in.
One area to focus on in the diagram includes the extent of the rise in the CoM, being the vertical distance marked as “A”. This distance of rise and fall ideally would be minimised to improve efficiency, and is achieved by seeking less outright vertical movement (ie: less bouncing or bounding). A further way to maintain a more even Centre of Mass is to minimise sideways movement. So aside from the horizontal rise and fall, there is also the lateral (or sideways) movement, which is affected by arm swing and how straight your feet are. Arm swing for a distance runner should be different from a sprinters arm-pumping action, and the wrists should not rise above the shoulder or below the hip. From a forward view, the knuckles should not cross your torso’s centre line nor stray excessively from your side.
2. Quiet Feet, Straight Feet: Your footfall should be quite — the less noise from your shoes then the more efficient your effort. Less noise indicates better CoM distribution and thus your shoes contacting the running surface with less friction. The less pounding, the smoother your pace and so the less vertical impact on your legs.
By targeting a focus on horizontal momentum, you harness what forward momentum you have built up in your prior strides. A misconception is you can only “glide” if you are fast. You CAN glide at ANY pace. Focus on running an imaginary straight line, with less pace variation when you push off your rear leg, and pull through with your front foot. Pace consistency is more possible with less over-striding. It’s better to shorten your strides and attain pace consistency, whilst minimising vertical leg bounce. Whilst there will be inevitable vertical movement, visualise minimising the variation in the maximum and minimum height range of your shoulder (or hip) line from a sideways view. Running styles that can be heard from a distance usually indicate excessive vertical pounding and/or excessive and pro-longed contact with the ground (due to scuffing from tiredness and thus excess friction with the ground).
The benefits of being aware of lessening your tendency to bounce is to reduce the gravitational forces on your legs and back and thus your tendency to experience lower back and knee pains. Similarly, if your feel lower back pain or sort shins or knees, consider if these are symptoms of too much vertical pressure and so too much rise and fall in your CoM.
3. Weight ‘management’:
Weight distribution and the reality that our weight changes (sometimes materially) over time is factual, but not often broached in running literature. The changing nature of our weight is indisputable, especially when we factor in pregnancies, illness, weight training, seasonalities like Lunar New Year eating and ageing, which impacts all of the preceding. Our weight, and how it is distributed, changes our Centre of Mass and if that change is material, then our running experience is impacted. If the change and distribution is for the long term, then our technique (and training) will likely need adjusting. If your aim is to reach your potential, then realise your potential changes as your Centre of Mass abilities and realities change.
Our expectations around our running ability, expressed through any number of measures, including endurance, speed, recovery ability and consistency of form and speed maintenance. If the main aim is to be a confident and injury free 4+ km runner every second day, then as a committed runner, improvement if likely an understandable and serious pursuit.
Weight management is thus also understanding how weight distribution affects your Centre of Mass, and so the amount of forward leaning impacts your running style. Finding the optimal angle of leaning forward is of course inter-related with your ability to maintain a leg turnover rate that ‘catches’ your gravitational force of your weight fall and converts some of that momentum, whilst also imparting the projecting ground force that comes from a combination of your combined leg, angle and feet muscles, hamstrings and tendons which provides forwards and upwards thrust and pull. The natural combination of these two broad effects per Romavov & Fletcher are termed ‘gravitational force’ and encompasses the idea of running being a pursuit that is optimized by less emphasis on pushing off the ground, and instead an action which is ideally about balancing weight distribution and your speed of travelling.
4. Harness Verbal Optimism: Tell yourself (and others with your interest at heart) what your running goal is. This may be a distance goal, a time goal or a commitment goal for a particular (say) week. This fourth tip is perhaps the most powerful as it recognises the power of goal setting and our mental capacities to dictate our actions. As long as our metal attitude is based on true belief and clear and measurable goals within a time context, then the above physical factors can be better absorbed and targeted.
Concrete goals help us focus on relevant activities and help us think longer term about strategies for achieving or gaining improvement to achieve worthwhile targets. The recent field experiment by the (management) academics Sackett, Wu, White and Markle (2014)[ii] involved the monitoring of 1,758 marathoners and the effect of self-set goal targets for an upcoming marathon. Of the experienced marathoners who were a part of the sample, it was shown that those who were asked about their goal target prior to their run ran 6.75 minutes quicker than the experienced runners that were not asked to state their goal time.
The survey respondents in this novel study had an average finishing time of 4.36.01 and consistent of 58% in female participants (as females are statistically more likely to participate in surveys than men). They were runners in the 15 main marathons across the US, including Boston (2008), Chicago (2007–2009) and New York (2009).
By sharing openly your goal in a specific and quantified manner, the power of commitment and its effects on actions is thus clear from this study. What is unexplored, but more than likely implicit in the finding is that committed runners will consciously and sub-consciously look to run efficiently to meet or better their targets. These conscious and sub-conscious actions will involve with certainty a focus on Centre of Mass, Footfall Management and Weight Management in the training period and during an event.
Footnotes
[i] Nicholas Romanov , Graham Fletcher Runners do not push off the ground but fall forwards via a gravitational torque Sports Biomechanics Vol. 6, Iss. 3, (2007)
[ii] Sackett A, Wu G, White R, Markle A Harnessing Optimism: How Eliciting Goals Improves Performance http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/george.wu/research/marathon_paper/data.html. Working paper (2014)
[iii] This article was initially published in the August/September 2015 edition of RUN Singapore, BoldInk Media Pte Ltd.
