Simple drills to improve running economy
By Matt Russ
For Active.com
September 19, 2005

Run economy is an often overlooked aspect of a proper training
program, mainly due to lack of technical knowledge. Along with VO2max
and lactate threshold, economy is one of the three pillars of running.

Utilizing your energy in the most efficient manner possible is the key
part of speed progression. Simply put; the more fluid and graceful you
are, the less oxygen you'll be using as you run.

As fitness improves and speed increases an inefficient run stride will
become a major limiter. You may reach a point where progress plateaus
until your form issues are addressed. Economy isn't something that can
be perfected in a single workout. It takes time and thousands of
proper strides before the form will become automatic. You should work
on your form every time you run, or at least be aware of it to ensure
you're not going back to old (bad) habits.

If you're a novice runner, the sooner you work on your form the
better. It's much more difficult to change form that has been
reinforced by years of bad habit.

Having good form doesn't just improve speed, it can help prevent
injury. When you run, you land with a force three times your body
weight. By reducing vertical oscillation and braking forces, you
lessen the stress and impact on your body.

Stride rate

Improving stride rate is a good place to begin. If you have a low
stride rate, you're probably producing more vertical oscillation. This
means you're projecting energy and motion upwards instead of forward,
which produces greater impact. Running should be akin to flying with
your feet briefly touching the ground.

An elite runner's feet touch the ground for as little as one tenth of
a second per stride. The more time your feet spend on the ground, the
more energy you're wasting. You want to aspire to a stride rate of
180-190 strides per minute.

If you're a beginner, in all likelihood your stride rate is closer to
170 strides per minute, or lower. Don't worry about your stride
length; your stride will naturally lengthen as your stride rate
increases. Count your left or right foot strides for 20 seconds. You
should be in the 30-32 stride per minute range. Increasing stride rate
will initially feel awkward, and may seem like you are taking "baby
steps" while running, but this is a good sign. Plan on taking several
months and a lot of practice before increasing your stride rate. Be
patient.

Stride rate drills

Turn overs: Turn overs train your neuromuscular system to move your
legs faster than they're used to. You will use a short stride and fast
stride rate. This may feel a bit awkward initially. Visualize a
sandpiper running on the beach and move your legs as quickly as you
can while keeping a short stride. Be sure to lengthen your stride at
the end of the drill and don't stop abruptly as it will be hard on
your body. You can do four to six turn overs of 50 meters after your
run strides.

Walk/run progression: Start by walking with a fast turn over and
proceed to your walk/run threshold. Move your feet as fast as you can
while maintaining a walk. Now slowly and seamlessly progress into a
slow run with a fast turn over. Your stride rate should be about the
same. You'll find that your stride is smooth and that there's little
vertical movement.

Metronome running: A metronome is a timing device used by musicians.
It can be purchased at your local music store for around $25. Be sure
to get a small, portable, battery operated unit. Dial in 180 beats per
minute on your metronome and match your footfalls to the beat. Once
you get your rhythm down get on a treadmill and practice maintaining
180 s.p.m. at a variety of speeds and grades. You can also download a
digital metronome and save it to your MP3 or CD player. Go to
http://www.milsoftware.com/crystalmetronome/ for details.

Foot strike

Your foot should strike forcefully directly under your center of
gravity or hip. Visualize a line from your belly button to the ball of
your foot. If your foot lands before or after this point, there are
braking forces that will decelerate you. I recommend a mid-foot strike
just aft of the ball of the foot. A mid-foot strike limits the amount
of time your foot spends "rolling" along the ground when compared to a
heal strike. The less contact time your foot has with the ground the
better. Use a quick contraction of the muscles in your lower legs
during push off, or a "pawing" motion.

Foot strike drills

Barefoot Running: Running in thickly padded shoes on even surfaces
does not make the muscles of the foot and lower leg work very hard.
You also transfer more of your energy to your shoes and less to the
ground. When you run barefoot you naturally use a forefoot strike and
strengthen the foot and lower leg muscles. Not only does this give you
a better foot strike feel, it helps prevent injury. Start by spending
as much time as possible walking in bare feet. Add barefoot running
very gradually into your training, starting with just one session per
week. Make sure the surface you're running on is well tended and clean
of debris, such as a golf course or athletic field.

Marching: Begin by walking slowly forward on the balls of your feet,
making sure your heels don't touch the ground. Use small steps, about
12 inches in length. Then raise your right knee to hip level (so that
your thigh is parallel to the ground) on each stride. Draw your heel
along your inseam as you raise your leg. Your right ankle should be
directly under or slightly behind your right knee, and your right foot
should be 'cocked' (toes pointing upwards). This will form a "Z"
formation with your foot, lower leg and thigh.

Rise on the toes of your left foot as you bring your right knee to hip
level. Hold your chin and trunk upright. As you get acclimated to the
leg mechanics start swinging your arms slowly in rhythm with the
marching stride. Use proper arm motion (see below), and don't lean
backwards.

Repeat this action with the opposite leg, raising the knee to hip
level and moving through a normal walking stride for 50 meters.

Posture

When running, picture yourself as a puppet controlled by marionette
with a string attached to your head. The string holds your posture
vertical and perpendicular to the ground. Keep your chest out, eyes on
a point about 30 feet in front of you, and head fixed. A slumped
posture restricts your breathing. Keep your hips and back erect,
creating an overall "tall" posture. Keep all your motion projected
into the forward plane and avoid any lateral or vertical motion.

It's hard to correct your form if you can't see it. To get some visual
feedback, position a mirror at various positions around your
treadmill, or better yet, use a video camera equipped with slow motion
to video yourself running.

Posture drill

Hips tall position: Stand with feet at a comfortable distance apart
and slowly rise, supporting your body high on the balls of your feet,
while squeezing your abdominals.

Arm motion

Your arm motion acts as a counterbalance to your hips. If you have a
stiff upper body while running, your shoulders will rotate causing an
opposing movement of the hips; again, wasted energy. Try keeping your
shoulders loose and your arms swinging like pendulums from your
shoulders. Your arms should work in the same rhythm as your legs. Keep
your hands relaxed and thumbs up.

Maintain a fixed 90-degree angle at the elbow and make sure your arms
don't drop below your waist. There should be no movement at the elbow
when running. Your arms should work freely forward to back and should
not cross the midline of your body; remember all energy forward. Keep
your hands loose, thumbs up, and don't clench your fists.

Arm motion drills

Side Brush: Gently brush the side of your ribcage with the palms of
your hands as your run. If you have a fixed angle at the elbow you
can't "reach" with your hands.

Pendulum: Concentrate on relaxing your shoulders, especially the
trapezius muscles, by performing a few shoulder shrugs. Now swing your
arms loosely front to back, keeping a fixed 90-degree angle at the
elbow. Make sure you're not rotating your shoulders. Slowly speed up
the movement while maintaining a relaxed swing. Are your shoulders
relaxed?

Strides

Simply put, strides are running with perfect form. I recommend you
perform strides at the beginning of your workout before you're
fatigued. Work on your key limiter. Start off slowly running 100
meters concentrating on your form. Walk back to your starting point
and gradually increase speed and distance as you maintain perfect
running form. Strides are a great warm-up activity and should be an
integral part of weekly training.

As you can see, there's a lot more to running than just moving your
body faster. If you're reinforcing bad form you're working against
yourself. A lot of economy problems are just bad habit, but some are
caused by an injury, biomechanical problem, or flexibility issue.

The best course of action is to get some professional eyes on you and
identify your individual issues. I video my runners on a treadmill and
play different shots of their stride back in slow motion. This gives
very precise visual feedback on what they're doing right and wrong.
Don't try to change everything at once, or overnight. Your pace may
actually slow slightly as you adapt to new form, so be patient.

Work on the most glaring problem with your economy and perfect it,
then move onto the next. I never attempt to work on more than one or
two things per session. Work on flat terrain, since it's easier to
focus on form. Finally, realize that even if you are an experienced
runner with great form, it's still a good idea to check your economy
regularly. Old habits do die hard.

Matt Russ has coached and trained athletes for over 10 years around
the country and internationally. He currently holds licenses by USAT,
USATF, and is an Expert level USAC coach. Matt has coached athletes
for CTS (Carmichael Training Systems), and is an Ultrafit Associate.
Visit www.thesportfactory.com for more information.