Can you translate this running-speak for me?

September 11, 2014 11:51 PM

A colleague who is a very serious runner and would like to get into training people as a side gig has offered free coaching to me and a couple of others from work, in order to build up some experience, which is awesome. We've done a few runs so far, and I'm enjoying it. But there's a couple of tips he's given me on improving my form which I don't understand, and I'm hoping you can help me interpret them.

The main one is that he says I need to keep my hips "higher". I pointed out this is physically impossible. My hips are at the height they have to be at for my feet to touch the ground. I asked if he meant I should bend my knees less, and he said he didn't think so, but that I should think of my hips as "floating" levelly above the ground. I tried visualising this while I ran, but it didn't seem to make a difference to my actual gait.

The second thing I need help interpreting is that he says all of us need to work on running "more lightly". Again, I can't really tell what actual physical changes this corresponds to. I have a forefoot strike already (which he says is good), and I don't know what else to do to try to run "lightly". He said to concentrate on not making much noise when my foot hits the ground and I THINK taking shorter strides achieves this somewhat. Is there anything else I can change that will make me run more "lightly"?

I watched him demonstrate what he considers good running form, and he exaggerated it to make it easier to understand. I think what he is doing differently from me is mostly that he keeps his shoulders back, chest out, and that he lifts his knees more when he runs. I tend to hunch a bit more, and hardly lift my knees at all. Might either of those things correspond to what he is describing as "running lightly and keeping your hips high?"

To be clear, none of this is a big deal. He says not to worry too much about these things and that they will probably come naturally as we progress, so the fact he can't describe what I should be doing in more concrete terms is not a dealbreaker for the otherwise excellent coaching. I just thought that you guys might be able to help me understand a little better.

posted by lollusc to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

I can't help with the hips, (perhaps he means squarer, as in, engaging your core?) but for running "lighter" -

Walk up and down a hallway normally. Now walk up and down stomping on the ground. See the difference? That's essentially the same thing being discussed here, just from the opposite side. As you run along, try and land with a lighter touch on the ground, rather than stomping.

He's right to say you can hear it, just go out for a run and listen while trying to "run lighter" you could be surprised how easy it is. You shouldn't need to shorten your stride I don't believe.

Source: I sporadically run with some people who run almost silently compared to me. When I concentrate I can change _something_ and I quieten down for awhile until my concentration slips or I get tired
posted by Suspicious Ninja at 12:05 AM on September 12, 2014

Best answer: I'm a semi serious runner of many years and have never heard that terminology about hips, it sounds frankly bizarre to me. Maybe he means a sought lean forward from the hips, not the waist?

Running lightly, however is about taking lots of little steps, quickly, as opposed to fewer, longer steps. Keeping your feet under your body not in front of it. Foot should be landing underneath you or just a little in front.

Don't lift your knees too high, that is a recipe for injury. Think more of lifting your heels up and back rather than anything about your knees. So your heel is almost flicking backwards, but don't exaggerate it go with what feels natural.

This is for long distance btw, I have no idea about sprints!
posted by smoke at 12:15 AM on September 12, 2014

Best answer: I think the combination of the two pieces of advice means that he thinks you are kind of plodding along. Your hips are 'low' because your legs are always bent at the knees, which forces you to bend at the waist (think very slightly squatting) and your hips are now lower. This goes along with running lightly, because you expend more energy this way and are striking the ground hard since for each stride you are pushing down with a lot of force and the bent leg causes you to push through the ground.

Instead, imagine that running is a sort of controlled fall where your legs are constantly moving to keep you from crashing to the ground. Stand up straight, keep your legs fully extended, lean forward a little bit (without bending at the waist) and as you feel yourself losing your balance and falling foward (slowly, don't lean too far!) you start putting one foot in front of the other to keep yourself upright. if your legs are fully extended when touching the ground, your hips will be up, and you will be running 'lighter' because your feet won't be pushing through the ground, but will just be touching the ground as they fully extend.

Sorry, it is hard to put it into words, but the good news is you just had me practicing running around my living room while my family looked at me like I am a lunatic.
posted by Literaryhero at 12:46 AM on September 12, 2014 [11 favorites]

Serious runner. The bit about hips makes no sense to me. Striking lightly would mean, if anything, forefoot striking. But it's not at all clear that forefoot striking is best for everyone. I mean, obviously you want to do it if you're sprinting. But a ton of us don't do it at distances longer than 200m.

I've run xc with people who strike so hard they sound like they're running in clown shoes. But most people aren't that way. My advice to you: run the way that feels most natural to you. Your body most likely knows what it's doing.

Do this: watch a track meet or road race on tv. Look at all the different forms people have. There is no "right" way to run for everyone.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:53 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I don't get the hips thing either. If there's one thing you--and every runner--should do and be in the habit of is lowering your shoulders. I'll forget and realize my shoulders are hunched and I'm leaning forward--not good. I think good form all flows from having shoulders down and your back straight. Hitting the ground with a flat foot is pretty much a given if you do those things.
posted by zardoz at 2:02 AM on September 12, 2014

Not a runner, but could he mean your hips are tilted forward? If so, ask a physical therapist for some advice to rotate them more horizontal. The 'higher' means the front of your hips will be higher.
posted by Eltulipan at 2:28 AM on September 12, 2014

Best answer: Can he take video of you running, and of him running, and point out on the video specifically what he means?

There are apps (Coach's Eye is one) that make it quick and easy to take a video and then slow it down or look at it frame by frame and draw arrows and circles and things on it.
posted by emilyw at 2:58 AM on September 12, 2014

I can tell you what I know from a runners info night at Balmain Sports Med three weeks ago..... When you run..imagine your pony tail. If it bounces a lot, you're doing it wrong. You want it to hardly bounce at all. Get mollusc to film you running and have a look at yourself. Then if you're still not sure, take it on a tablet and show it to your friend and get him to show you the areas he's talking about. Film it for about 2-3 minutes.
posted by taff at 3:21 AM on September 12, 2014

If he wants to actually coach people, he needs to figure out how to communicate with them. This means giving people (a) just enough information, (b) relevant information, and (c) clearly describing what to do. In this case, his cue "keep hips higher" doesn't help you out because it fails part (c), and it's edging towards too much information so you have nothing to focus on. So this answer needs to come from him. The conversation should go something like this:

coach: "Keep hips higher."
athlete: "I don't know what that means."
coach: "Okay, first I want you to run for 30 s, and I'll snap a video of you." (videos) "Now, do this postural change X* and also this other change Y." (videos) "Now, let's look at these two videos. See in the first one you look like this," (points out something), "and in the second one this is what's different?" (points out the change) "So when I say 'keep hips higher', that's the feeling I want you to aim for."
athlete: "Okay, now I get it! Thanks coach, here's a big pile of money and some cocaine and hookers! Your the best!"

*Useful things are "run with your feet just on either side of this line", "feel like your hands are going right by your pockets", "lean from your ankles, not your waist", "drop your shoulders", "time your footstrikes with this metronome set at 170-180 bpm", etc.

The same is true for "run lightly". That's the result you're looking for, not necessarily a cue. You get to running lightly by increasing cadence and being light on your feet, both of which are biomechanically harder, so it will take time to get there. But again, this needs to come from your coach.
posted by disconnect at 6:43 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

I read an article recently that seems to address this directly, but maybe not :-)
http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-prevention-recovery/its-all-in-the-hips
posted by doozer_ex_machina at 7:04 AM on September 12, 2014

I think the hips higher thing means he wants you to engage your core more and work your psoas more effectively to use more of your body to lift your legs for each stride, instead of focusing on your hip flexors and quads. This is something my PT had me doing for hip rehab, although he described it differently (he just said "you need to engage your psoas more to even out your gait"). The shoulders back, chest out position you describe also helps work the psoas.

Whatever it does, it also helped lighten my steps, which was your second point. My normal walking footfalls are barely audible and my running is also pretty quiet. It's the difference between just letting your foot hit the ground and lifting it back up again vs using your leg/core strength to lift you off the ground with every stride.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:30 AM on September 12, 2014

Lifelong runner here (10 marathons, lots of half marathons, etc.).

I believe he is trying to get you to think of yourself as very graceful, that running is effortless, that you can go on forever. This happening in your mind is going to improve your form (i.e., you will remain strong for the whole run).

This concept is described very well in The Nonrunner's Marathon Trainer.

If you like music, think of when you are listening to an okay song. Compare this to how you are suddenly energized by a song you really LOVE - something that lifts your spirits, makes you feel light, gives you energy. This is the goal here. Describing hips being higher and level and floating and stuff is all a visual to help you feel this at will, rather than relying on an outside stimulus like music.

If you can accomplish this mindset, you will be able to run in all weather under all kinds of unpleasant conditions and smile cheerfully as you go, encouraging others.

If this is not what he means and he wants to change your running form, be careful. Changing someone's natural running form can sometimes do more harm than good. If at any time you feel pain or discomfort while doing this new or different form, return to your old form that felt better. When I did XC in high school, I completely ignored all comments about my form. I'd already been running for years with no pain and no injury, and I sure wasn't going to change what was working.
posted by AllieTessKipp at 8:56 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

I've had a running class from someone who was a serious Pilates trainer, and what you quoted your friend as saying reminds me of something I learned there, that you are supporting your stride with your entire core, trunk, spine, etc., so it has to do with paying attention to supporting your spine with your core, so your legs just fall like pendulums from your core as you run (it has a lot to do with your psoas, which start in your core and go all the way down to your pelvis). It's kind of impossible to explain verbally, though. I would press him to help you understand more about what should be going on with your core in able to achieve that lightness - you can't really "get" it until you do some exercises to really feel what it feels like to be that way.
posted by matildaben at 10:11 AM on September 12, 2014

Wow, a lot of comments already. I'll just add that if your friend wants to become a better coach, you can help him more by having him explain the instructions better, and teach you how to do them, rather than asking about them here.
posted by JimN2TAW at 10:54 AM on September 12, 2014

I agree that it would be good to take these questions back to him, since he needs to learn how to communicate more effectively if he's going to be a good coach. That said, everything you described reminded me of the New Balance talk on good running form. Video. And website with diagrams.
posted by purple_bird at 2:56 PM on September 12, 2014

What Literaryhero said about the hips was what I was imagining too, i.e. your knees are a little more bent than they need to be. My sense is that this is inefficient, because the greater the angle at the knee, the more force your quads need to exert to hold that angle through your stride.

A light step would seem to come from experience and speed. Experience because over time you - or rather your body - will naturally minimize up and down motion, which is wasted. Speed, because you need to exert a certain amount of upward force per unit time to counteract gravity, but the faster you are running, the greater the ratio of forward movement to upward force, which will make your running appear "lighter." In a way, maybe it would be lighter, since if you cover 5k in 30 minutes at one pace, and 25 minutes at another, you will have expended less upward energy over the course at the faster pace.
posted by MrBobinski at 5:52 PM on September 12, 2014

One thing that is important is running relaxed. Butch Reynolds used to run intervals with a potato chip between his fingers. But what one looks like while running in a relaxed fashion really depends on the person.
posted by persona au gratin at 4:07 AM on September 13, 2014