How Can I Run Faster with Less Effort?

Question

What modifications should I incorporate to my form so that I can increase my overall speed while running with less effort and risk of sustaining injuries?

Answer 1

To achieve more speed while using less effort and preventing injuries, there is one common fundamental error which most of the runners commit and that is overstriding. Overstriding is when as your heel makes contact with the ground, it is ahead of your knee, which is less advantageous and may add stress to the shin and knee joints. The cure for this involves focusing on particular running mechanics such as the running cadence and the stride length which includes sucking in your limbs higher off the ground to decrease the length of the swing leg lever making it easier for the hip flexors to pull the leg forward. It is this adjustment which enables one to appreciate landing his or her foot beneath a flexed knee, making the foot strike softer and allowing faster and more efficient running motion.

Comments

WATCH NEXT - Here's great content to help you master your running form across different paces.

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The content summarized: lift your feet higher

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Thank you James.Just getting back into jogging (6th day of 4 mile runs) and was doing the old plodding shuffle at 160 spm 12:30 minute miles and today picked my heels up, ran more upright and automatically engaged abs,glutes,and hammies a bit and ran 11:15 minute miles at 168 spm and my stride length increased from .81 to .89 meters.I'm excited to get back to my normal 10:00 mile soon.Free energy baby!!!

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Linda would benefit from counterbalance her leg movement by changing her upper body movement. More spine rotation and less arm movement. By doing that she can keep moving her legs the way she does.

Good luck Linda! Don't let all the hate get to you

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Sir, let the haters fuel you. I found this content very helpful. If someone said raise your feet higher I would not have known what they meant. I immediately went from a 14 minute pace to 13 minute following this technique. Been following for about 2 weeks and I thank you

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An interesting and well explained content. I assume someone has done very detailed research on this. Presumably there is a point where the small amount of extra energy required to lift the lower leg is exceeded by the saving in energy required by the (now shorter) leg pendulum swing. So horizontal progress is gained for less energy expenditure. Would that represent the "sweet spot" you mention?

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Fun fact: The secret to running with less effort is to run more and run harder sometimes. Those are the the biggest factors. The more you run, the better your form will get without you even thinking about it. And, faster running will make you more efficient as you're forced to be more efficient when you run faster.

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This is helpful James. I followed you for years and really enjoy your content, I always appreciate your knowledge . I started running again after years and it felt foreign to me. I never had this issue before. I’m definitely going to try these techniques in order to improve Thanks again✨

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James, as always your content makes a lot of sense. Pendulum analogy is so easy to understand. I found your link in my email. One area I struggle with is when I’m trying to run in Zone 3 or Zone 2, I find myself forcing to drag my feet to keep that HR low. How can I keep a low heart rate when trying to pick my feet higher.

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Great content. I think the problem is people like the Lynda example also always told you don’t want any vertical oscillation as well so they end up sucked to the ground and can’t make use of their elastic system to spring them up AND forward effortlessly with longer stride length as a natural consequence. So only option is that long pendulum to drag them forward and get the stride length which as you say, ends up massively overworking the big muscles.

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My personal „simple“ change would be loosing 50lbs

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Never done an IronMan have you?

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The faster the more harmful!✨✨✨✨