Master Your Stride: Transforming Common Running Mistakes into Peak Performance Secrets!

1. Maintain a forward gaze and relaxed chin

Many runners tend to raise their chin when they’re tired or crane their necks up and out, which not only wastes energy but also hampers breathing and strains the neck muscles and joints. Misaligning your head and neck adds about 5kg of pressure to these areas, as per sports injury experts.

Maintain a forward gaze and relaxed chin

Looking upward shifts your body's center of mass backward, increasing the risk of overstriding. Instead, keep your gaze level, neither downward nor skyward, ideally focusing straight ahead or 10 to 20 feet in front of you. Maintaining a forward gaze promotes easier breathing and reduces unnecessary neck strain.

2. Keep shoulders down and back

When exercising, it's common to tense and hunch our shoulders, often due to stress or prolonged desk work. This habit strains the respiratory system, hindering oxygen intake, and disrupts proper hip extension by shifting our center of gravity forward.

Keep shoulders down and back

Correcting this posture allows for a neutral spine and proper hip extension, enhancing running efficiency. Keep your shoulders down, back, and relaxed during runs to open up your chest for better breathing. Regularly check your shoulder tension during your run, giving them a periodic shrug to ensure they stay loose.

3. Swing your arms forward to back

Many runners sway their arms side to side, causing a shift in their center of gravity and forcing their torso to rotate for balance. 

Swing your arms forward to back

To avoid this, keep your arms swinging forward and backward with elbows close to your sides. This helps propel you forward efficiently without unnecessary lateral movement. Focus on driving your elbows backward and allow your arms to swing forward naturally, rather than pumping them..

4. Relax your hands

Many runners unknowingly tense up their hands, clenching them into tight fists as they run. It's a natural response to stress and fatigue.

Relax your hands

But here's a trick: consciously keep your hands tension-free. Imagine you're gently holding a delicate piece of paper in each hand—no need to crumple it up! By keeping your hands relaxed, you'll signal to your brain that you're not as tired as you feel, helping you maintain your pace and focus throughout your run.

5. Keep your strides short

Overstriding is a common pitfall that disrupts your form, especially when fatigue sets in. It happens when your leg extends too far, leading to a heavy heel strike. While landing on your heel isn't necessarily wrong, overstriding needlessly magnifies the impact – putting more stress on your body with each step.

Keep your strides short

There's no magic number for cadence, but shorter, quicker steps boost efficiency and ease the strain on your joints. Measuring your running cadence is a good way to check if you're overstriding. Generally, a "good" running cadence is usually between 160 to 190 steps per minute. If your running cadence is lower, you may be overstriding.

6. Have proper hip activation

This is a common but often overlooked habit. When your hips aren't activated, other muscles in your body have to work harder to support you while running. Although the hips may not be directly injured, the issue can develop into tight hip muscles and a range of other problems.

Have proper hip activation

By properly activating your hips through stretching or performing strengthening exercises for your hips, you can stimulate the activity of the hip muscles, preventing them from becoming lazy.

7. Move your knees straight forward

If your knees collapse inward while running, this can lead to a range of unwanted issues such as: pelvic bones rotating outward, hips rotating inward, pelvic bones rotating outward, back of the foot rotating inward, front of the foot rotating outward. Overall, your running form will be incorrect.

Need to keep moving your knees straight forward

Your joints will rest unevenly and twisted, which can lead to knee pain and injury, lower back pain - and even sciatica. To maintain a good running posture, you should ensure that your knees move straight forward steadily, beautifully, and safely.

8. Keep landing by midfoot

Forefoot landing can be effective for sprinting and short-distance running, but it's not recommended for long distances as it can increase the risk of injury. Forefoot running during long-distance running can cause calf pain or other injuries. Midfoot landing is often recommended for athletes participating in long distances.

Keep landing by midfoot

9. Make running steps light 

If you apply strong foot strike when running, you're creating a strong impact on your joints, not only is this an inefficient use of energy but it also increases the risk of injury. Practice making each running step light and reduce the sound when your foot touches the ground.

In conclusion, improving poor running posture is an important responsibility for every runner - especially for beginners, to ensure more effective training and minimize the risk of injury!

Additionally, to make the training and running process more effective and enjoyable, explore Garmin's advanced running watch models and Shokz's bone conduction sports headphones:

Garmin Forerunner Series running watches: Check out Garmin running watch models here

Shokz bone conduction sports headphones: Explore Shokz sports headphones models here

Or message our fanpage for advice:

Công ty du lịch SaffronClub Vietnam - 0967755305 - 028 3925 0050