By: Fusion Cross Trainning, Have you gotten shin splints when you run?, Do you think zero lift shoes will give you better form? , Does running feel like a huge labor?, Do your running shoes wear a lot in the heel? Don't worry most of us would say yes to some of these questions and really how many of us are confident that we run properly? How could we be, nobody ever really taught us to run. It is as if society were telling us that running is as natural as swallowing or breathing and doesn't need instruction. The underlying belief that holds many people back from running is that some people are just built to run and some aren't. While some bodies and current conditions lend themselves to much faster running, this assumption is simply not the case. This article and accompanying detailed video is going to quickly and easily show you how you can diagnose inefficient or harmful running form and transform yourself into a lifelong, efficient, safe, effortless runner. You will only need to remember the following 4 words: (1) LENGTH: The length here does not mean stride length, in fact it is more efficient and safe to have a shorter, more relaxed stride length. We mean finding length in your posture so that your body is in its strongest alignment throughout to both take the impact properly and focus muscular energies on the running movement. (2) LEAN: Lean from the ankle point like a ski jumper, not from the hips, and you will automatically move forward via gravity. This is using gravity to our advantage vs having to push our heavy body forward. Think of it as rolling down the road, very efficient, you just need to get it moving by leaning. (3) LIFT & LOWER: Often times we shuffle along low to the road, pushing our body forward or reaching our legs out in front of us, essentially catching ourselves. If we have length and lean, then we just need to give enough lift with our strong hip flexor muscles and lower them back down directly underneath of us, like marching, and we will be running with less impact and effort. (4) RELAX: For any sport we don't want our body and mind to be under strong tension, it is wasting energy and restricting our natural flow. If you relax your face then most of your body will relax particularly the shoulders and arms so smile. Other specific areas to remember to relax are our ankles/calves, which you can shake out from time to time.Below is a training video breaking down the 4 keys, showing poor and good form and some simple practice movements to experience this style of running. For a more detailed book and audio recordings on this method of running I highly recommend Chi Running., Source; Fusion Cross Trainning
