Contrary to many viewpoints, we, as human beings, are designed to run and if trained in a progressive manner, is the best way of burning calories and keeping lean.

But be smart.

Considering the multi-directional movements involved in locomotion together with almost three times your body weight crashing through your body on each stride, it’s essential that your body is conditioned to cope with the demands.

The muscles around the foot, ankle and lower leg are the epicentre of this activity so it’s important to strengthen these in conjunction with any running program.

Try these foot and calf raises (3 x 12 on each) after a warm-up and before your run to strengthen your body’s natural shock absorbers; the plantarfascia, achilles tendon, calf muscles and tibialis anterior or shin muscle.

I now, after turning the ripe old age of 40, have found a new lease of energy with my running, beating a personal best in the marathon two weeks ago that I’ve found agonisingly difficult to come close to over the last 5 years and its partly due to a gradual change in my running technique.

In this offering, I’ll be looking at three main focus points to think about with regard to your running technique; foot strike, rhythm and posture, together with some simple drills to help make you a more efficient, injury-free runner.

1. Foot Strike

There has been extensive research on this area carried out at Harvard University by Daniel Lieberman.

The study’s suggest that at least 30% of runners get injured every year, and many of these injuries stem from problems that arise in the foot or lower leg.

Interesting. So what’s the main cause?

The majority of people who run heel strike – the collision of the heel with the ground has been found to generate a significant impact force, about 1.5 to 3 times your body weight (depending on speed) within 50 milliseconds of ground contact. This force sends a shock wave up through the body via the skeletal system putting stress on the knees, hips and back.

Research suggests that approximately 75% of shod runners heel strike.

Many running shoes make heel strikes comfortable and less injurious because they slow the rate of loading considerably, reduce the force by about 10% and spread this force out over a greater area of the foot. But they do not eliminate the impact force.

However, if shod runners are asked to run barefoot in laboratory conditions (a treadmill), a switch occurs to a fore- or mid-foot strike.

Fore-foot striking has been shown to elicit a very slow rise in force with no distinct impact transient. There is essentially no impact transient in a fore-foot strike . The same is true of some (but not all) mid-foot strikes.

It has been shown that forefoot or midfoot striking can help avoid and/or mitigate repetitive stress injuries, especially stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, and runner’s knee.

What’s the mechanism behind this?

Fore- or mid-foot landing engages the ‘spring mechanism’ in our feet and ankles, using the elastic recoil of the plantarfascia and achilles tendon to dissipate the impact force and provide an efficient, low-energy propulsion forward.

You can see this in perfect motion in ‘running specialist’ animals like horses and dogs.

Heel strikers, on the other hand, do not engage this mechanism and so in order to propel themselves forward, rely on the large muscle groups in the legs and hips, hence giving rise to the notion of ‘jogging’.

This can lead to high impact forces and injury, even in well cushioned trainers, and also cause muscles to fatigue quickly and impair performance.

Changing your striking pattern overnight is unrealistic and may cause injury in itself.

Try implementing a gradual progression from heel-striking to mid-foot at first, with an intermittent focus during your runs.

The main focus should also be on strengthening the ‘spring mechanism’ of the plantar fascia and achilles tendon in addition to increasing cadence or rhythm during your run.

2. Rhythm

For optimum cadence or rhythm to harness the elastic recoil of the foot, your strike rate to the ground should aim to be an efficient range of 160-180bpm, reflected in a bouncy running style with shorter strides.

If you can gradually build this rhythm into your technique, there will be no chance of heel striking and although it may seem harder work at first, it will preserve energy stores in the long run.

3. Posture

Keep your head and chest upright with arms in the T-rex position. Hands should be unclenched, fingers should ‘shake-out’ as you run and shoulders should be as relaxed as possible.

The key sign for correct running form is illustrated by feet landing directly under your body as opposed to in front, with a rapid uptake of the foot as the mid-foot or heel kisses the ground.

Practice Drills

If you really want to see results, devote at least one session per week to running technique drill training and proper form should be adhered to during your routine runs whenever possible. Remember running technique will not change overnight but gradually overtime.

Technique intervals

400m intervals – focus on the three elements of foot strike, rhythm and posture during 10 x 400m bouts of running with 200m walk recoveries.

Jumping drills

Focus on using the balls of your feet with the heel just kissing the floor lightly but don’t use tiptoes.

Keep bounces small and light, maintain good posture, aiming to reach an optimum rhythm of 180bpm.

Two-legged jump – start with 5 x 30 seconds at close to 180bpm and increase gradually to 5 x 120 seconds.

One-legged jump/hopping – running is essentially a series of one-legged jumps. Try to maintain a cadence of 90bpm, start with 3 x 30 seconds on each and increase gradually to 5 x 60 seconds.

Skipping – an excellent warm-up before a run to prime your foot strike, rhythm and  posture or integrate into a technical session.  Start with 15 second bouts over a 5- minute period, extending the time skipping until you can skip continuously.

I hope these adjustments to your running regime will benefit your performance as they have mine.

Happy Running!

There are plenty of people out there, health professionals included, ready to sway you away from ‘pounding the pavements’ but the vast majority of these opinions are unjustified.

It’s often thought that years of long distance running causes havoc with your joints later in life.

After all, according to the Arthritis Foundation, osteoarthritis is the world’s most common joint disease which occurs when the cartilage on the ends of the bones diminishes over time, causing your bones to rub against each other.

So does running increase the risk of osteoarthritis?

It appears not.

A study published in July 2013 by ‘Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise’ found runners actually had a lower incidence of both osteoarthritis and hip replacements than habitual walkers of the same demographics.

Research suggests that the joints harden and adapt to the forces placed upon them over time so long as the running program is gradual.

Findings in general lend support to the theory that osteoarthritis is caused mainly by genes and risk factors like obesity (obese men and women are at least four times as likely to become arthritic as their thinner peers), rather than daily exercise or wear and tear of joints.

People who are overweight by as much as 20lbs or more or have pre-existing conditions, it is suggested, should take a cautious approach to running.

But don’t rule it out.

Start slowly with walking, gradually introducing short running intervals and you’ll be running 5k in no time.

The title of this weeks blog has certainly resonated throughout my life and personal training career, much down to the fact that my parents never handed me anything on a plate.

I always had to work hard and put myself in challenging situations, often outside my comfort zone, to achieve my dreams.

Make this year, your year.

Set yourself a challenge that pushes you, challenges you and once you’ve achieved it, you’ll never look back!

Whether it be a 5k run, marathon, tough mudder, trek across the Himalayas or swim across the channel, the training leading up to your goal will make you a better, stronger, more confident person.

http://www.timeoutdoors.com/challenges/UK-challenges

If you’re in need of inspiration to achieve your goals in 2015, then look no further than a man who’s certainly achieved, Richard Branson!

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/my-top-10-quotes-on-failure

Failure indeed breeds success. Embrace it and you will never fear.

I give you the heart rate monitor.

So why don’t you?

You wouldn’t drive your car without a speedometer or cook without a temperature gauge so why not monitor your body while training in the same way?

I’ve used and trained clients incorporating heart rate technology for over ten years and have found monitors an invaluable training tool for progress.

So if you’re in two minds whether to use heart rate technology or stick to plain old guess work, here are a few reasons to adopt a strategy that you’ll never regret using;

1. You’ll be able to establish your maximum heart rate.

This is how to do it….

A combination of short interval runs will give you the best maximum heart rate reading. Run as fast as you can evenly for three minutes (ideally on a treadmill), rest with two or three minutes gentle running, and then repeat your three-minute maximal run. During the second run you should get a higher value though use your monitor to take readings throughout it, as your heart rate may peak before the end.

This reading will open up a realm of training possibilities to establish different training zones to improve different areas of performance.

2. Heart rate training sets a tangible training goal for each workout.

For weight loss, you can give yourself a target calorie expenditure per workout.

For example, I always set clients with a weight loss goal of at least 500 calories per day which over seven days will equate to a loss of the equivalent of 1 lb. of body fat. In conjunction with dietary intervention, this fat loss will be substantially more.

The FIT1000 boot camp record is an astounding 1259 calories in a 60 minute boot camp session and members of the FIT1000 team regularly achieve counts of 1000 calories or more without as much effort as you think!

3. You’ll get tangible reinforcement that your training is actually working and you’ll get to know your body.

With training, the cardiovascular system becomes more efficient therefore reducing resting and exercising heart rate relative to what you are performing which is clearly visible with a monitor.

4. For runners especially, it’s an essential training aid to to establish your target zones.

You’ll be able to set heart rate targets for interval training enabling accurate improvement zones and train your lactate threshold to be more efficient at running at higher intensities.

This all adds up to improved performance, goal orientated training and real results.