Practicing Movements: As Important in Running As Any Sport

Running is movement, and practicing the proper technique for how you run is just as important as practicing the right technique for sports such as golf, basketball, and football. For example, in golf, the four key movements for a good golf swing are rotation, tilt, shift, and extend. In running, the key movements are pose, fall, and pull.

To miss any of the key movements in golf, or to do them incorrectly can result in a poor swing. To make matters worse, when you swing without using the proper technique you can injure yourself. It’s the same with running. If you don’t pose, fall and pull in response to the fall you can end up with injuries such as:

• Shin Splints
• Stress Fractures
• HIp pain
• Sprained Ankles
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Runner’s Knee and 
• Inflammation
• IT band issues

An athlete playing football or basketball wouldn’t just walk onto the field or court and throw the ball, and expect to be a pro. They would learn the technique, master it, and then practice it daily. Not only will this help the athlete perform better in the sport, but it will also make them less prone to injury.

Practicing Movements with Skill Drills

A football player might do single-leg hops, left to right jumps, fast feet drills, kicking and catching drills, and the like. A basketball player might do things like dribbling drills, shooting drills, and passing drills. Believe it or not, runners can do drills too!

A running drill is a dynamic exercise that is meant to ingrain the proper movement patterns into your muscle memory. One example is “catch your ankle” drills. In this drill, you will stand with your shoulders in line with your hips facing forward. Then pull your foot up into the running pose to catch your ankle, and then place it back down on the ground. Repeat the movement of catching your ankle to feel how easily your foot should pull up off the ground. You can watch this video to see how the “catch your ankle” drill looks.

Another great running drill is the “banded pulls” drill. With an elastic band placed around the hips, you’ll hold your shoulders over your hips, knees bent, and your body weight will be on the ball of your foot. Press into the band with your core to simulate fall as you pull ankle up under hip to running pose effectively running in place. See how that drill looks here.

There are dozens of drills you can do to be a better runner. These drills do more than help you with muscle memory ensuring you’re always using the right technique. They also strengthen your body, build muscle elasticity, and help you increase your endurance so that you can run any speed, any distance  pain free.

A Coach Will Help You With Practicing Movements 

If you want to run pain free, you must learn the running standard of movement which is pose, fall, and pull, and learn it  correctly, and then practice it regularly. How do you know if you’re doing it correctly? Like any sports athlete, you hire a coach and work with a team. At RunRX we’ve created the RunRxStrong Membership that allows you to work with Coach Valerie and be around other runners that have been through or are going through the same struggles you are going through..