Week 2 - Posture and Form

Welcome to Week 2 of the RunSport 14 week Training Program. This week we are still focusing on practicing the good habits that will carry us through the whole program: paying attention to what we are doing, learning about posture and form in order to have a strong foundation to start from, and showing up with a positive mind set.
 
Before some pointers on walking and running form, I am going to reinforce the ‘show up’ mindset again as an introduction to the next week of training:

Preview your weekly training schedule, and look through it with anticipation. This helps you plan logistics for key sessions and to start the mental preparation that is needed to perform sessions for the week.
 
Visualize yourself performing well on training days, see yourself having a successful session and being happy and satisfied during those workouts. The stronger the visualization becomes, the more likely it will be reality.
 
Timing A morning session indicates you have to be ready to get going early in the day, and an afternoon session means you have to plan meals and nutrition, and also take into account personal fatigue that might happen later in the day for you.
 
Logistics Decide when and where the session will take place and be prudent with your energy in the hours leading up to the session. Make sure you plan nutrition for the session. Eat a light meal 2-3 hours before the session and be hydrated. Nothing derails a session like the completely avoidable event of being lightheaded and hungry, or having stomach cramps from eating too close to the session.

Rough Patches Having a bad day? You are not the first person to have a bad day, or an off training session. It happens to us all, and makes us human. An off day is an off day, nothing more and nothing less. What you make of the day – your judgements about it, your self-talk around it, and your behaviour and attitude – is up to you. Life goes up and down. Put the effort in to the best of your ability, don’t expect miracles when your energy is low, and while there is no magic pill, the magic comes from the hard work you put into consistently.
 
Training like You Mean IT
 
Get excited! This means that you come to the session ready, ready to give best effort and having made the decision to have a good day. You are not coming to ‘wait and see what happens’. As a coach, I call this ‘training like you mean it’. It means arriving early, prepared, with positive energy, and standing tall. Not having a great day? Go to Plan B:  Rough Patches. (see above).
 
 Posture and Form
 
Even after 40 years of running, I spend time in every training session paying attention to my form. I do quick scans for tension - working on being relaxed through my neck and shoulders and arms, tall in my trunk and quick and smooth in the way my legs are moving, and thinking about my feet tapping lightly on the ground as I run. In essence, I pay attention to, and give myself feedback for whether I am being my most efficient self, doing the best work I can do in that moment, and because it’s always evolving, training never becomes stale for me.
 
Walking and Running both share posture awareness as the core to improving and maintaining efficiency, but they are different movements, so below are two different sets of bullet points - things to keep in mind as you train. While these may seem like a lot of things to think about, you don’t have to nail everything all at once. Sometimes, just reading information about thinking about your own stride is enough to create a mind body awareness. You can also just pay attention to one part of your body at a time, and then relax. The other tip is to check in every 10-15 minutes, not constantly being vigilant.
 
Walking Posture and Form
 
Good posture will make it easier to go the distance, with less fatigue. Here are some posture pointers for stronger striding during your next walk.
Stand up tall. Imagine that a string (like on a Marionette) is attached to the top of your head and is pulling you upward. This will help you maintain erect, but not tense posture.
Keep your eyes on the horizon or towards the distance. Trust your peripheral vision to sense obstacles below and avoid looking down. This will help you to stand taller and avoid stress on your neck and back.
Lift your chest and tighten your abs. Using muscles in the front of your trunk to straighten up will take pressure off your back.
Bend your arms. Have a relaxed and natural feeling bend to your arms. You’ll be able to swing your arms faster, which helps increase your speed. It also prevents swelling caused from blood pooling in your hands as you walk longer distances.
Relax your shoulders. Your arms will swing more freely, and you’ll avoid upper back and neck tension.
Maintain a neutral pelvis. Don’t tuck your tailbone under or over arch your lower back.
Keep your front leg straight but not locked. As your leg swings through to the front keep it soft, you’ll have a smoother stride and be able to propel yourself forward more easily.
Aim your knees and toes forward, within your own biomechanics, however proper alignment will reduce your chances of injury.
Land on your heel. This facilitates the smooth heel-to-toe walking motion that will carry farther and faster than if your foot slaps down on the ground with each step.
 
Run Form and Posture
 
Stand up tall. Imagine that a string (like on a Marionette) is attached to the top of your head and is pulling you upward. This will help you maintain erect, but not tense posture.
Keep your eyes towards the where you want to go. Trust your peripheral vision to sense obstacles below and avoid looking down. This will help you to run taller and avoid stress on your neck and back.
Lift your chest and tighten your abs. Using muscles in the front of your trunk to straighten up will take pressure off your back.
Bend your arms. Have a relaxed and natural feeling bend of about 90 degrees to your arms. Try to avoid too much cross body swinging. Hands should have no tension (you could hold a feather without crushing it)
Relax your shoulders. Your arms will swing more freely, and you’ll avoid upper back and neck tension.
Look to where you want to go, use strong arms to propel the legs and feel a strong push off from the back toe-off as your foot leaves the ground.
Lean a little - think of your body as being perfectly balanced along a slightly forward leaning central axis.
A midfoot strike creates less ground time, reducing forces of impact on the body, which helps prevent injuries and increases overall speed. A midfoot strike is quiet and quick. Think ‘quiet and quick feet’ as you run. Your base runs, while slower, should also be reinforcing this midfoot technique and good posture gained from drills and shill strides.
 
A Final Note on Paying Attention
 
Good movement requires attention. Not obsessive thinking, but mindfulness of what is happening. In the early days of this program resist training to music, and pay attention to your breathing, a relaxed body and a tall, graceful posture while walking and running. Remind yourself often to check to relaxed face and shoulders, a strong but relaxed arm swing and a feeling that you are moving smoothly in a straight line going forward.
 
Lucy Smith