My 3 Favorite Running Form Drills

Running economy is defined as the physiological and biomechanical factors that contribute to running performance. It is measured to quantify energy utilization while running at an aerobic intensity. (Wikipedia)

There are many ways to improve your running economy, one of which is to improve your running FORM. I often do a running gait analysis for my athletes where I video them from the front, back and both sides as they run around the track. In this video I look for things like arm swing, head position, foot strike, forward lean, just to name a few. Once I've gone through their videos frame by frame in slow motion, I often recommend some running form drills that they can use to help make their running more efficient. There are literally dozens of drills and strength moves, but in this video I share my top 3 favorites.

High Skip: This is a great way to mimic the arm motion of running and the push off from the ground with the high knee. I use these often for a dynamic warm up to get the body moving in a way similar to running. I usually do three to four 50 yard efforts of these for a good warm up.

Exaggerated Lunge: This is a traveling lunge and at the end of the move I bring my knee up high and extend the leg before hitting the ground. This warms up the quads, glutes, and hamstrings nicely. This is good practice for lengthening your stride.

Butt Kicks. I like these because they force the runner to strike under the center of gravity which is the hips. They also help with striking on the mid foot to forefoot instead of the heel. These serve as a great warm up as they ease the HR up slowly before a workout.

So check out this short video and if you'd like me to do your RUNNING GAIT ANALYSIS either in person or remotely, them email me HERE.