What about Running Technique?

Technique, as defined in the Oxford dictionary is: "A way of carrying out a particular task, especially the execution or performance of an artistic work or a scientific procedure."

Running technique is then a way of carrying out running.

Running technique is the most important when we are running. Running is a fundamental/functional movement that we all did/have done/still do today. Whatever the situation we find ourselves in, we should be able to move faster than a walking pace at a moment's notice. Depending on how long we need to be moving for, that means we might have to run longer and farther. Running technique is the beginning, middle, and end of being able to do that. How we run is innately programmed into our physiology from when we were first learning how to move as babies and toddlers. Running technique then for us was automatic. We just moved in whatever direction we wanted to, and our bodies reacted and executed a symphony of combined and coordinated actions of our individual body parts to help us get to where we wanted to go. Throughout time, we have lost the ability to execute movement (especially running) technique through our societal pressures of adopting shoes to wear and chairs to sit in. Our goal is to unlearn improper movement (and running) technique and relearn proper technique in order to truly function as human beings. Just like teaching and learning how to do a push-up or squat the right way, we can teach and learn how to run the right way, according to the laws of nature, and based on our human anatomy. There is a standard we follow in order to teach and learn movement/running technique, and any deviation from that standard prevents us from our goals of running longer, faster, and pain-free.

Why do we care so much about it?
We care so much about running technique because it is the question and answer to so much of the issues our society is dealing with, including running injuries. For example, why do so many runners hurt their knees? The first question to ask would be, "how are they running," or "what's their running technique like?" The answer to that would be "let's look at their running technique." It is most of the time, if not, all the time, the issue with how they are moving and running that is contributing to the cause of pain and injury. Because of how as a society we have adapted to thick-cushioned soles as well as molded our bodies to the shapes of chairs, we have limited our originally full-functioning joints and tissues. We have changed and shifted our perceptions of how bodies are supposed to function. We have also changed and shifted our perceptions of how we are supposed to be moving our bodies. More time spent in shoes and in chairs have muffled the signals we create and receive from the ground and other surfaces in order to make better movement decisions or execute technique for even the simplest tasks. Running is no different. Running in thick soles have limited our bodies' ability to perceive what is going on when our bodies are in contact with the ground. We have lost the ability to sense the connection to the ground in order to execute proper technique. With this, then we create braking forces, as well as leverage when we run, which is causing the pain and injury we are experiencing as a society. We need to as a society over time move back away from the thick soles and chairs to claim back our natural state(s) of running with our feet as close to the ground as possible, in order to create and receive as many signals from ground contact as possible through our feet to our brains. From there we can make those micro-decisions to correct, or maintain running technique, in order to run longer, faster, and pain-free.

What kind of Running does it apply to?
It does not matter whether we are running on asphalt pavement, cement, dirt, grass, in mud, snow, uphill, downhill or running short distance sprints, medium distance 5- or 10K's, or long distance half-marathons, marathons, or ultramarathons. Any activity involving running, like triathlons and duathlons, CrossFit, Spartan Race and other obstacle course races, in addition to all (team) ball sports, and even running to our cars, requires us to run with proper running technique, so we can do those to our highest and best abilities, and without pain and injury. Any and all situations where we are tasked with running, we are always going to achieve (the running) Pose, Fall (from support), and Pull (to change support). Running is just one of a myriad of examples of movement that requires us to find that specific Pose for that activity, Fall (displace our bodyweight), and Pull [execute the actionable task(s) that is pertinent to the activity].

We can teach and learn running through a systematic way. A method of teaching and learning this takes time and requires a great deal of patience and focus. Both the teacher and student need to have both patience and focus, just like for any other skill we learn. 

We are here to teach and learn and we are here to stay, to help others run longer, faster, and pain-free.

If you have been dealing with pain and injury, or are looking to break through seemingly unbreakable plateaus in training and racing, then reach out and help us help you improve so that you can indeed run longer, faster, and pain-free. 

Check out Idahome Running Academy and schedule a Running Technique Assessment with us today!