New Balance Good Form Running Clinic

Morning!

Last Friday I had the pleasure of going to the New Balance Good Form Running Clinic which was marketed through Fleet Feet Sports Savannah. I was excited to see where I could improve my form so I could become a more efficient runner while reducing the numbers of injuries.

We focused on four main areas during the clinic:

Posture, Midfoot, Cadence, and Lean

Let’s take a peek at each point of interest to see where we can become a better runner:

Posture: The main point I got from the posture portion of this clinic is the ‘Posture Reset Drill’, which is basically (while running or standing) bringing your arms straight up above your head for a moment or two then back down with a few long arm swings until your arms naturally begin swinging at 90 degrees. This will reset your hips, your shoulders, make sure your arms aren’t going all crazy and get you relaxed again.

I am excited to try this during a run, because carry some tension in my lower back during long runs so I think resetting will help remind my body of how I need to be running.

Midfoot: Midfoot striking is more efficient and less strain on your body. Heel striking can lead to shin pain and striking on your toes is heavy duty work on your calves. Therefore, it makes sense to midfoot strike to even out the force of bringing your weight down with each step.

Cadence: No, not the songs sung by our Military during PT. But the number of times your foot strikes the ground while running. Next time you are out for a run, count your right foot strikes for one minute then multiply by two! That’s your current cadence. Strive for 180 as your improve your cadence.

But wait? You are saying you’re “not a fast runner”!! It’s ok! Cadence and speed are not correlated. As your form improves and you get comfortable with the process, you will notice your cadence increasing. Want some tunes to help with this? Try jogtunes.com and plug in 180 phm. And don’t worry, I asked the question to make sure it wasn’t some bootleg crazy people singing the songs

Lauren (from Fleet Feet) and Jessica (from New Balance)

Lean: Your mama may have always told you to stand up straight, but for once in your life… you can tell her NO! It’s ok to lean. This is one of the areas I need to work on in my running… use gravity by flexing at your ankle. Try standing in place and leaning AT YOUR ANKLE (not waist) and then take off running. Feel the lean. Use the lean to your benefit.

Fleet Feet will be hosting more of the clinics, BUT feel free to call up to the store and make an appointment with Blake for your free video analysis like mine HERE (yep. That’s a video of me running). They will review what you need to work on and tell you your current cadence too!

Here are the notes from what I need to work on:

“-you ever so slightly heel strike so an increased cadence will help bring that foot in a little closer to your body
-also allow gravity to do some work here and add a slight lean to run, you tend to stay pretty upright through most of your gait”

Not in Savannah, New Balance Reps travel all over for their Good Form clinics. So be on the lookout!!

This post is part of the Fun with Fleet Feet series. You may see my disclosure at the top of here.