How to understand your own personal running style – and become a better runner

If you listen to what your biomechanics are telling you, you can improve your form, reduce injuries and run faster. And who doesn’t want that? Here's how to make it a reality...

"Running performance of any individual heavily depends on a combination of different anatomical, physiological and biomechanical factors," says sports scientist and footwear specialist Anna Kosciuk.

“A common misconception is that all runners move in the same way. This is untrue, as running is a relatively free form of movement. Yes, it comprises of certain phases and sequences of movements that all runners must complete to achieve forward motion during each gait cycle (from when the foot hits the ground on initial contact through a full contact of the foot with the ground to when it leaves the ground) but to do so, every runner displays a slightly different running style.

"Styles can vary depending on a variety of form factors, such as footstrike pattern, frequency of steps (cadence) being generated , and step length, which has been found to further affect the position of the foot on initial contact (overstride) and play a key role in running pace development.

"Therefore, understanding your unique and individual biomechanics is key for achieving peak performance , ensuring constant progress in training and maximising injury prevention. By knowing exactly how the body moves and when, with tools such as wearable technology, a runner can successfully identify any weaknesses and asymmetries between the two sides of the body and apply effective interventions to ‘fix’ those issues."

Related: 10 mistakes every beginner trail runner makes

Footstrike

This describes which part of a runner’s foot – rearfoot, midfoot or forefoot – makes initial contact with the ground. Everyone has a natural footstrike pattern but it can be altered by changes in technique, gradient, surface, speed and footwear.

Paying attention to your footstrike may help some runners with injuries. Forefoot striking reduces loads at the knee and possibly hip joints but will likely increase loads in the calf/Achilles.

Rearfoot striking is likely to transmit loads further up the body to the knee and hips. So, runners with knee pain may benefit from a move to forefoot striking, while runners with calf issues may wish to stick with midfoot or rearfoot striking.

To help a footstrike transition, introduce running drills, perform intervals where you focus on experimenting with a different pattern and spend time working on ankle mobility and improving range of motion in the lower leg via static stretches and foam rolling.

Cadence

Good cadence (leg turnover) for runners is all-important, as it has not only been found to improve running performance (pace), but also to increase running economy and manage risk of running-related injuries. Typically, runners have a slightly lower than optimum cadence, especially at the end of a run, when they experience greater fatigue.

According to research, running cadence of between 5-10% higher than the cadence naturally selected by a runner has a positive effect on number of biomechanical loading factors. These include reduced peak ground contact forces, reduced joint loading throughout the lower limb joints, more favourable joint angles at initial ground contact, and decreased vertical oscillation of the hips.

Runners have various options available to them to try to develop their cadence further, including running drills (such as ‘high knees’, ‘fast feet’, ‘heel to butt’), interval training, pace-based workouts and even running to music.

Pronation

Pronation is the inward rolling motion of the foot from when it makes initial contact with the ground and progresses to a full foot ground contact during a single step. It is an essential part of how the body absorbs running impacts, so it’s not something we should aim to eliminate.

Different runners will go through different ranges of motion, and we separate these into ‘neutral pronation’, ‘under pronation’, and ‘over pronation’ categories. If running pain-free, there is no need to change your running technique to modify your pronation.

However, if you keep getting niggles and foot pain and wish to explore whether the problems occur due to an inefficient foot movement, start introducing foot mobility exercises, ankle strengthening and work on single leg balance.

Related: How to transition from road running to trail running

Step length

Step length refers to the distance covered from the point of ground contact of one foot to the point of ground contact of the other foot. Two steps equal one stride. For runners, achieving a good step length is essential, but it requires a balancing act between producing sufficient distance with each step to generate speed but avoiding overstriding.

Runners have various options available to them to try to develop their step length further. Most of these strategies need to be viewed as long-term projects and be introduced for an extended period of time, including: running drills (such as ‘straight leg bounds’, ‘power skip for heights’), strength and conditioning (single leg exercises, plyometrics) as well as ensuring a good range of motion around the hips and the lower leg via appropriate stretching.

5 simple ways to alter your technique

1. Track your running metrics

Monitor and analyse information on cadence, step length, footstrike and other running-related metrics across a number of different runs, ideally performed in different conditions using smart tech such as running watches.

Understanding what your form is in those different scenarios will help you to establish what your typical running gait is, how it changes across different runs and identify form factors which might need improving.

2. Mix up your training

Start mixing your sessions up rather than just sticking to what you know. Familiarise yourself with different types of workouts and try to understand associated benefits – performing a variety of sessions will challenge your body in different ways!

Why not try out an interval workout or running a fartlek instead of another easy run? Or maybe it's time to start utilising power as a performance metric or use heart rate as part of your training?

Related: 10 different types of running explained

3. Perform drills to activate muscles

After a warm-up, dedicate 20-30 minutes exclusively for running drills and muscular activation. Drills are a game-changer for a lot of runners, as they keep the body warm and allow us to maximise muscular activation while working on speed, strength, balance and coordination during short, intense yet specific movements.

4. Focus on getting stronger

Doing strength and resistance training is important for runners due to its ability to make tendons stiffer, springier as well as improve joint stability. Greater leg strength and stiffness often goes in line with improvements in endurance capability.

5: Work on calf and hip flexibility

Without a good range of motion in the lower and upper leg muscles, your body develops compensatory pathways to enable forward motion and shifts load from certain muscles and tendons to others that might not be able to handle it effectively.

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