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Natural Motion Running
OVERVIEW: Natural Motion Running is a technique that puts your body back in synch with the way you were designed to run. It makes running less stressful and more enjoyable by taking advantage your body’s natural biomechanical strengths. Running correctly and efficiently, it turns out, involves more than just putting one foot in front of the other, and this short document aims to provide you with both the technique and product knowledge needed to be able to practice Natural Motion Running on your own.
One important point to keep in mind is that natural motion running technique is centered around the mechanics of the human foot as it operates on natural surfaces. The human foot was not designed for regular operation on uniformly hard, flat man-made surfaces like pavement and concrete, so footwear selection is still critical and traditional running shoes still have value for most people.
BEST PRACTICES OF NATURAL MOTION RUNNING
Plan to practice the techniques described below for just a handful of minutes at first and then gradually add more of it to your typical workouts. Practicing in bare feet, Vibrams, or other Natural Motion Running shoes is ideal, but you can begin in any pair of shoes.
- Proper upper body posture is critical. Maintain a straight, chest-open upper body, eyes looking forward, torso leaning slightly forward.
- Move elbows slightly back to balance your forward lean.
- Be sure leg and arm swings move only in the plane of direction you are trying to run. In other words, don’t swing side to side.
- Maintain a cadence of 80-90 RPM’s per leg, no matter how fast or slow you are trying to run. (Count how many times one foot lands over a 20 second period of time. Anything close to 30 is ideal.) This will leave you with a shorter, lighter, quicker stride, with each footstep landing squarely under your center of gravity. This cadence will also make it almost impossible to over-stride and will make it likely that your foot lands in a more “full” foot or forefoot position.
- As each foot makes contact with the ground, focus on getting that foot right back up and behind you, letting gravity pull you forward, rather than trying to “propel” yourself forward. To speed up, lean further forward. To ease up on your pace, lean a little less forward.
Natural Motion Running
PRODUCTS THAT AID NATURAL MOTION RUNNING
Light, flexible shoes that have little to no slope from the heel to the toes (minimalistic shoes) are ideal for practicing Natural Motion Running and make it less likely that you’ll land in an overstrided, heavy-heel strike position. The following footwear products will make it a little easier to achieve the form discussed earlier.
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PRODUCT
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COST
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Vibram 5 Finger Shoes
Vibrams (pronounced veebrums) allow your foot to be protected from sharp objects like glass and rocks, while providing a true barefoot-like experience that strengthens your foot and its related musculature.
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$80-$115
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Newton Running Shoes
A safe way to practice true Natural Motion Running on the roads is with Newton running shoes. The built up front lugs give it minimal slope from heel to toe, provide heightened sensation of the ground beneath your sensitive forefoot, and create a midsole that may last up to twice as long as traditional running shoes.
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$150-$175
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Racing Flats & Other Minimalistic Running Shoes
The lower heel, exceptionally light weight and high flexibility of a racing flat allows you to more efficiently practice a lighter, quicker, less heel-heavy strides.
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$50-$120
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