Many coaches and trainers have a hard time helping their young athletes develop proper running mechanics. They are too concern about making them faster that they forget that mechanics is one of the five components of speed. We have to learn to identify the problem before providing solutions that could delay their progress. Most young athletes have developed poor running mechanics over the years and it will take time and patience to fix this problem. With proper training, cues, feedback and drills we can help our young athletes develop the skill of proper running. Today, I am going to go over the 3 components of running mechanics: POSTURE, ARM CYCLE and LEG CYCLE. I will be describing each component in a very simple detailed way so you can understand and I will give you tips that could be implemented right away. Let’s start with POSTURE.

Posture

We refer to posture to the alignment of the body, particularly the head and trunk. Wherever your head goes, your body will follow because the head weighs about 10lb. If you look down you will lean forward and if you look up you’ll lean back. The 2 extremes are not good, too much leaning to either direction will result on reduction of speed. Same happens when turning the head side to side or cocking it to one side, this will keep from running on a straight line. Having said that, we need to find proper body lean. How do we do that? Body lean comes from the ankle and not the waist. To find it stand tall and shift your weight to your toes until your heels just come up or leave the ground, this is your proper body lean. This should be your right running angle. Tip: Always run the same way you walk, tall and relaxed.

Arm Cycle

The arm cycle is the rate of movement of the arms and hands. Proper arm action will result in an increase on speed. When running make sure your arms are close to your sides, hands relaxed and open, elbows locked at 90 degrees, swinging arms forward and backward where hands go from hip to mouth with palms toward the body and thumbs on top of your hands. Tip: If your stride is short and choppy try to pump your arm cheek to cheek or hip to mouth and watch how your stride length increase. Did you know that the speed is controlled by the arms not the legs!!!!

Leg Cycle

When we talk about leg action we are describing the foot, ankle, knee, and hip. Each is a vital component that pushes you forward, faster. Before taking off, you must load the ankle before you can push back off. Don’t worry about stride length because reaching out causes you to over stride and slows you down. It is important to concentrate on pushing the ground away but not to overcompensate. If overcompensation occurs the first break down is posture. Most athletes will lose their eye focus or stand up straight too soon. Tip: High knees and butt kickers are great drills to feed and help improve the leg cycle.

P.A.L (posture, arm cycle and leg cycle) work together in creating proper running mechanics, if one is off the other two get affected and you will end up compensating one of these 3 components. Follow the following running drills to improve your running mechanics:

1. Eye focus – run at a half speed for 20-30yds keeping your head still and focused on a target.

2. Cheek to cheek – jog for 20-30yds focusing on the hip to mouth action of the arms.

3. Rise, fall, and run – stand with your feet parallel and about shoulder-width apart. With one arm forward and the other back, keep your body straight and rise up on your toes until you have to step forward to catch yourself and then sprint 10-15yds.

4. Seated arm runs – sit on the ground with your legs straight out. Go through the arm cycle where your elbows are locked at 90 degrees (close to your body and your sides). Make sure your hands are opened and relaxed, your palms are faced in and your thumbs are up. Then swing your arms from hip to mouth for 3 sets of 10 secs increasing the arm speed with each set.

5. Leg cycle – leaning against a wall or rail, cycle one leg through in a sprinting action. Keep the leg from extending behind the body and having the foot kick the butt during recovery. Dorsiflex the foot as the leg comes forward. Increase speed as you progress.

7. “A” skip – skip for 20-30yds, alternate each leg skip as you move your arms opposite to your leg movement. Repeat and increase the speed with this rhythm 3 to 5 times.

Start improving your running mechanics today “PAL”! And if you need help with this matter contact me and I will personally help you improve your running mechanics.

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Thanks,
Joel Molina, CPT,CSCC,CSAS
CEO & Founder
1822 Fitness