Running form : how to run faster and prevent injury

233 Pages·2019·16.03 MB·English

by  Anderson, Owen

RUNNING
FORM
HOW TO RUN FASTER
AND PREVENT INJURY
Owen Anderson, PhD
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Anderson, Owen, 1947– author.
Title: Running form : how to run faster and prevent injury / Owen Anderson, PhD.
Description: Champaign, Illinois : Human Kinetics, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Description based on print version rec ord and CIP data provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017024200 (print) | LCCN 2017031218 (ebook) | ISBN 9781492551409 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781492510383 (print)
Subjects: LCSH: Running— Training. | Physical fitness.
Classification: LCC GV1061 (ebook) | LCC GV1061 .A54 2018 (print) | DDC 796.42— dc23
LC rec ord available at https://lccn .loc .gov /2017024200
ISBN: 978-1-4925-1038-3 (print)
Copyright © 2019 by Owen Anderson
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purchased Running Form: How to Run Faster and Prevent Injury: p. 67. The reproduction of other parts of this
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E6558
RUNNING
FORM
HOW TO RUN FASTER
AND PREVENT INJURY
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: The Importance of Form ix
Part I Why Form Matters 1
Chapter 1 Traditional Views on Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 Comparing Ordinary and Elite Runners . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 3 Ele ments of Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 4 How Form Can Enhance Per for mance and
Prevent Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Part II Assessing and Improving Form 59
Chapter 5 Assessing Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter 6 Improving Foot- Strike Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 7 Upgrading Shank Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter 8 Shortening Stance Time and
Increasing Cadence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 9 Improving Body Lean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Chapter 10 Promoting Positive Posture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Chapter 11 Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Contents | v
Part III Form Factors for Running Success 153
Chapter 12 Running Shoes and Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 13 Form Considerations for Special Groups . . . . . . . . . 169
Chapter 14 Running- Specific Strength Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Chapter 15 Integrating Form Work Into Your
Seasonal Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Index 211
About the Author 215
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Acknowledgments
I owe a debt of gratitude to a large number of very special people who have
assisted with the creation of this book.
Without the assistance of my great friend and colleague Walt Reynolds,
this book would never have been possible. Almost every week for over two
years, Walt and I discussed running form in great detail over lunches of raw
fish, miso soup, noodles, and scalding-hot green tea. It was Walt who intro-
duced me to the unique form terminology used in this volume, including the
all-important SAT (shank angle at touchdown), MSA (maximal shank angle),
ROS (reversal of swing), FAT (foot angle at touchdown), and the incredibly
important golden ratio (ROS/MSA), which determines which runners will
be found on the podium at the ends of elite competitions or—in the case
of non-elite running—which runners are most likely to be injured as they
pursue their running goals. It was Walt who made the amazing discovery
that, with just one exception, world-record holders at distances ranging
from 100 meters to the marathon all shared a common SAT. Walt found
that Usain Bolt (world-record holder for 100 meters) and Dennis Kimetto
(world-record holder for the marathon) land on the ground with their legs
in very similar positions, leading to the discovery that there is an optimal
way of striking the ground. Walt also created an important new definition of
running economy: the velocity a runner can attain in relation to the impact forces
he creates with the ground. Walt is currently coaching Mark Otieno, a sprinter
who holds the Kenyan records for 100 and 200 meters. I consider Walt the
most knowledgeable running form expert in the world, and you will find
his concepts and recommendations throughout this book.
I am also indebted to the elite Kenyan distance runners I am currently
coaching and managing, who utilized both the video-form analysis described
in this book and also the recommended form drills to improve their perfor-
mances significantly. Cynthia Limo (silver medalist in the 2016 IAAF World
Half Marathon Championship and first-ranked road racer in the world as
ranked by ARRS in 2016), Mary Wacera (world silver and bronze medalist
in the 2014 and 2016 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships), Monicah
Ngige (two-time winner of the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K and champion
of the 2017 Monterey Bay Half Marathon), Mary Wangui (victor at the 2017
Tulsa Run 15K), Iveen Chepkemoi (first in the 2017 AK Sotik Cross Country
vii
viii | Acknowledgments
meeting in Kenya), and Gladys Kipsoi (winner of the 2017 Pittsburgh Half
Marathon) all employed the techniques described in this book to improve
their performances and decrease their risk of injury.
A number of sub-elite runners I am currently coaching were also instru-
mental in improving the book. Dr. Larry Kurz, Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen,
Yaakov Nourollah, Dr. David Rosmarin, Charlie Morrow, Meir Kaniel, Paul
Gray, Rabbi Elie Karfunkel, Rifky Karfunkel, Yisroel Gelber, Yosef Weissman,
and Omeed Hakimi have all utilized the techniques described in this book
to run faster while keeping the injury bug at bay. I owe an extra-special debt
to Larry Kurz, Rabbi Kelemen, and Yaakov Nourollah for their incredible
faith, friendship, and unending support.
I am also extremely grateful to my editors at Human Kinetics. Anne Hall,
Caitlin Husted, Michelle Maloney, and Tom Heine worked tirelessly to bring
this book to fruition and have provided perfect guidance and assistance.
They were patient and supportive always, even when the time devoted to
coaching and managing my elite team resulted in long writing droughts.
My editors’ vast skills at improving the writing found in this volume and at
pairing text with essential photos, figures, and illustrations have improved
this book immeasurably.
I have also been helped enormously by the research carried out by other
scientists. Notably, the investigations conducted by Peter Weyand at the
Locomotor Performance Lab at Southern Methodist University, Daniel
Lieberman of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard
University, and Irene Davis at the Harvard Medical School and the Spaulding
National Running Center have provided key insights concerning vertical
and horizontal propulsive forces during gait, the effects of running form on
impact and propulsive forces, and the interactions between various aspects
of running form and both performance and the risk of injury.
Introduction: The
Importance of Form
The inspiration for this book came on a January eve ning when I visited
the track at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco with my friend, Hans Over-
turf. Hans announced earlier in the day that we would go to Kezar for his
weekly speed workout.
It was a Tuesday eve ning, so it was not surprising that Hans was g oing to
conduct his speed training. After all, almost every runner seems to believe
that an up- to- date running program must include speed work on Tuesdays.
What was astonishing was that t here were more than 300 runners on the track
that night— a real shock to a man who had just arrived in the Bay Area from
Lansing, Michigan. Back home, I would have been lucky to find one hardy
soul, draped in at least seven layers of wind- resistant material, shivering and
sliding along the Lansing River Trail in a desperate attempt at a workout.
The throng at Kezar had no such difficulty with the weather (it was a
balmy 57 degrees at the track), and the exercisers w ere quite diverse, as I
had come to expect in San Francisco: T here was a nun walking the track
in her habit, a businessman jogging the oval in his suit and tie, an el derly
man in bedroom slippers, a gray- haired woman pushing a walker, as well
as an array of runners of all ages and ability levels, including some highly
fit participants from several area running clubs.
The eye- opening and highly disturbing shock of the night was the realiza-
tion that almost all the runners were moving around the track with terrible
running form. The slowest runners had bad form, but so did the fastest har-
riers. Their gait patterns were quite similar, despite the wide range of speeds.
Men and women were infected with serious cases of horrible running form.
And yet nothing was being done about it! Coaches ringed the track like
ants at a picnic, calling out splits and instructions to the runners as they
passed by. Among the coaching cohort, there was careful attention to stop
watches and ample information provided about overall workout composi-
tion, work- interval lengths, recovery times, numbers of repetitions, running
velocities, availability of sports drinks, and so on. But not one peep emerged
about how the runners were actually moving.
I noticed one runner in par tic u lar who obviously had a well- trained
machine—the heart and leg muscles that drive his r unning. This individual
ix