Should you "fix" your running form?
Scrolling through Instagram, you'll find plenty of "running experts" with tips and tricks to fix your terrible running mechanics. Research suggests, however, that consciously changing your running mechanics may make you worse at running.
A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science examined the stride lengths of experienced and inexperienced runners. It found that inexperienced runners "are equally capable of optimizing stride length for minimal oxygen uptake as experienced runners." In other words, inexperienced runners naturally select their optimal stride length. According to the study, forcing them to mimic the style of more experienced runners made them less efficient.
That is not to say that experienced runners do not run differently than inexperienced runners. As runners gain experience, their stride length changes to reflect changes in "body weight, body composition, muscle strength, and muscle power." The study found that you cannot cheat this process with a quick fix. The key to running more efficiently is running more.
Running coach and author, Matt Fitzgerald offers another reason why making conscious changes to your running form could be counterproductive. The key limiting factor for runners (and all endurance athletes) is the perception of effort. You stop or slow down, not when your body literally cannot continue to move, but when the effort feels too difficult to continue. Changing running from a natural motion to something you are consciously thinking about makes running feel more difficult. So, even if you could identify changes that would technically make your running more efficient, you would probably perform worse because thinking about the change would make running feel harder.
The human body is very good at instinctively making changes to improve running efficiency. When there is a headwind, for example, most runners instinctively hunch forward to reduce the surface area of their body. These are the kinds of changes that runners are constantly making subconsciously. The end result for each runner looks a bit different because every runner's body is different. Many top runners are midfoot strikers, but "Meb Keflezighi won the 2009 New York City Marathon as a heel striker." That was probably the best approach for Keflezighi's body. If someone had forced him to become a mid-foot striker, he would have become less efficient and probably would not have won that prestigious race.
Workout of the Week: 5, 4, 3, 2, Run
This week's workout comes from Tom Hogan, a former member of the Hyrox Elite 15 and a coach to some of the sport's top competitors. The repetitions of each exercise decrease as the workout progresses, a common tactic that allows athletes to maintain their intensity. But there is a twist: as the exercise repetitions decrease, the lengths of the runs increase.
Hybrid Athlete of the Week: William Allen
Name: William Allen
Age: 32
Hometown: Farmingdale NY
How did you get into hybrid racing? I grew up racing Motocross and raced into my early 20s as a professional. I battled with a lot of injuries and I moved on to racing triathlons around 23. I ended up racing Off-Road Triathlon professionally for a few years. In June 2023, I decided to try Hyrox NYC on a whim. Ever since then, I decided to give Hyrox my full attention.
Favorite race to date and why: Hyrox DC. I raced the Miami Hyrox the weekend before. It was the first Hyrox I really trained for. I underestimated how sore I would be the following week. In DC, I had a very slow start and thought my race was done by the row. After that, I rallied to run some of my fastest run splits. I beat my time from the week before by more than a minute.
Do you have a race goal? I want to go sub 1-hour and then try to race in the pro division. I also really want to try a European event this coming year!
Favorite station? Does the run count? Apart from that, I would say lunges.
Least favorite station? The SkiErg. It just always makes you hurt, and it’s early on, so that can mess with your mind.
Something you wish you knew when you started racing? Practice wall balls with a high heart rate. Wall balls feel vastly different at the end of a race than in most training sessions!
