Natural Running Form, Case Closed

The running community is flooded with debates about what constitutes the natural running form.

Heel striking or mid-foot running?

Chi running or Newton running?

Barefoot running or shod running?

Efficient running or strength running?

Pay for this class to learn to run naturally!

Here’s a quick video I took of my daughter Sunny. She’s five, loves the outdoors, and has never had instruction on how to run, why to run, and certainly has never had a gait analysis. She simply runs naturally and doesn’t think about it. Kids running is instinctive.

Her only goal is to beat me to the next trail marker and to have fun.

The debate can go on, but to me, that is natural running.

Question:

What can we do to get back to that point in our running lives? Hypothetically, would amnesia allow us to “start over” and run naturally, or is it something that we’ve programmed into our physical makeup and can never reverse?

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11 Responses to "Natural Running Form, Case Closed"

cb says:

March 11, 2015 at 9:14 am

I think the key is not to spend years of being sedentary and allowing our bodies to atrophy. If one is coming back to running after a long time of inactivity, a strength program along with running is ideal. And once we become middle aged, incorporating maintenance strength work becomes crucial. Running is highly specific and if our ancillary muscles are weak, natural running like kids do becomes difficult. Staying lean also helps.

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Mandy says:

March 11, 2015 at 9:26 am

“I Win.” That’s the best part.

I agree with cb, staying naturally active is the way to go and as we age we add different loads to our bodies, shoes clothes, sitting in the car for 3 hours a day, the list goes on. To many people latch on to a fad because our favorite runner does something (I’m guilty of this for sure) instead of listening to our bodies.

Can we start over, nope and I wouldn’t want to. But yes we can retrain ourselves to be better and more efficient. I think since everyone has had a different route to get where we are now, everyone’s optimal running gate is different.

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francois says:

March 11, 2015 at 9:45 am

she beat you good, while carrying her own bottle!

I read once that the barefoot movement was nonsense because the kenyans and ethiopians were doing their training in regular high heel shoes… I failed to find this convincing: the kenyans, before being given shoes, ran their whole life on their bare feet or in flip-flops.

I guess not giving your kids high heels is the key. A kid would run barefoot without a problem (even on hard ground). that’s how it works.

To me it’s kind of like wearing high heel pointy pumps for 30 years and then wondering why the bunion…

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Chris Halbert says:

March 11, 2015 at 10:35 am

Is there a case to be made for overthinking it? Forget all of the ancillary stuff and just run for the sheer love of running.

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eric schranz says:

March 11, 2015 at 10:55 am

It’s so cool to see! Now she can’t pace herself worth a s#it, but she falls, she slows down, she speeds up, and her balance, reflexes, and enthusiasm seem to handle it all in stride.

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Kirk McMorris says:

March 11, 2015 at 11:26 am

eric, I think you nailed this, as did some of the other comments. The key is to start running and not stop, and don’t over-think it. I took years off and then started up. I got injured and started examining my form. I read chi running and took the parts that suited me. I finally came to a point where my form is (at least what I think) it should be. My kids started to run with me and I was going to teach them all I had learned and then I just stopped and watched. They do it naturally. As adults we develop bad habits and then injure ourselves and start the process of correction and over-correction. I run in shoes that are comfortable and I try to run relaxed. It’s about a child-like sense of fun and wonder.

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Paul B says:

March 11, 2015 at 12:55 pm

Fun video. I’m glad she has fun on the trails and being outside. Also, she’ll be kicking your ass for real in just a few years

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Kim says:

March 11, 2015 at 5:15 pm

Loved it! Thanks for sharing.

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Joseph Rose says:

March 11, 2015 at 9:15 pm

I would totally agree, but…
I did a 5k with my kiddos in February. One is 9, the other 7. I have never really instructed them in form. Just tell them to slow down once in a while if they start to sprint (not even sure if I should do that). My 9 year old just can’t do it. My 7 year old ran it in 28:05. He looks as though it is the most natural thing ever. It took my 9 year old another 12 minutes. I told them both how amazing they did, but I say my 9 year old needs some tweaking.

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Joseph Rose says:

March 11, 2015 at 9:17 pm

I guess I just mean that some come by it naturally while others might need more direction…

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Konrad says:

March 17, 2015 at 5:36 am

First of all you your and your daughter are awesome! I have run a lot with my seven year old daughter. She almost always runs barefoot on any surface. When her feet get a little sore she slips on some minimalist shoes I always carry with me. When she plays outside it could be in any kind of shoe. So here’s the thing about her footstrike; barefoot-midfoot strike, minimalist shoe-barefoot with some heel, regular any kind of shoe-mostly heelstrike. It doesn’t matter to her. And maybe it shouldn’t to us. Personally I tried to mess with it for years and finally settled on what felt most comfortable regardless of what anyone said.

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