"Get those hips forward."
You cannot run fast with just any old style. I have already said that you should take time to practice over and over again running at three steps per second. And to run with fast feet you need to run “on your toes” – landing on the mid-foot rather than the heel. But there are a few other small corrections to your running style you may have to make to get this to work for you.
To be able to run really fast, you must try and minimise the length of time your feet are in contact with the ground. You should already be consciously pushing off with one leg even as its foot is beginning to make contact with the ground.
The style correction you may need to work on is this – you need to be pressing forward from the hips, leading from the hips, with the pelvis tilted upwards not downwards.
Then you will be in the position to be pushing off instantly with almost no pause in the action.
And, leading from the hips will also help the knees come up further, which will result in a naturally longer stride (even when you consciously resist the temptation to over-stride).
The hips and pelvis should not be dropping towards the ground as the foot makes contact with the ground. There should be no tendency to drop into a “sitting” position. This wastes time and lengthens the time the foot touches the ground.
Instead the hips should be thrust forward, and strong muscles in the lower abdomen should come into play balancing the strong lower back muscles to help hold the posture.
There is a sense of being pulled along, up and forward, from the area of the solar plexus or upper abdomen.
Sometimes there is a little backward lean – this is OK if it is not extreme, if it is not putting pressure on the lower back. But when leaning forward, eg when the gradient is uphill, the good posture should be maintained, the pelvis should still tilt upward.
A useful mental exercise is to imagine being towed by a car with a rope attached to your stomach. The car is driving along at a good pace and it is all you can do to get your leg speed high enough to keep up. Drive the arms and legs hard - but lead with the stomach.
Now don’t try this exercise with a real car!
Quite a few people in our training group have mastered the art of running with forward hips and minimal foot contact. Jenny Langton is a good example. You could watch her and copy her style!
Form Principle #4 - get those hips forward.
You cannot run fast with just any old style. I have already said that you should take time to practice over and over again running at three steps per second. And to run with fast feet you need to run “on your toes” – landing on the mid-foot rather than the heel. But there are a few other small corrections to your running style you may have to make to get this to work for you.
To be able to run really fast, you must try and minimise the length of time your feet are in contact with the ground. You should already be consciously pushing off with one leg even as its foot is beginning to make contact with the ground.
The style correction you may need to work on is this – you need to be pressing forward from the hips, leading from the hips, with the pelvis tilted upwards not downwards.
Then you will be in the position to be pushing off instantly with almost no pause in the action.
And, leading from the hips will also help the knees come up further, which will result in a naturally longer stride (even when you consciously resist the temptation to over-stride).
The hips and pelvis should not be dropping towards the ground as the foot makes contact with the ground. There should be no tendency to drop into a “sitting” position. This wastes time and lengthens the time the foot touches the ground.
Instead the hips should be thrust forward, and strong muscles in the lower abdomen should come into play balancing the strong lower back muscles to help hold the posture.
There is a sense of being pulled along, up and forward, from the area of the solar plexus or upper abdomen.
Sometimes there is a little backward lean – this is OK if it is not extreme, if it is not putting pressure on the lower back. But when leaning forward, eg when the gradient is uphill, the good posture should be maintained, the pelvis should still tilt upward.
A useful mental exercise is to imagine being towed by a car with a rope attached to your stomach. The car is driving along at a good pace and it is all you can do to get your leg speed high enough to keep up. Drive the arms and legs hard - but lead with the stomach.
Now don’t try this exercise with a real car!
Quite a few people in our training group have mastered the art of running with forward hips and minimal foot contact. Jenny Langton is a good example. You could watch her and copy her style!
Form Principle #4 - get those hips forward.
