FORM OVER FUNCTION? Is changing your running form worth it?

[@eric-running-to-chamonix]

👣 Best cue for me was "lead with your knees". Instantly improved uphill, downhill, and flat running. And improved the joy I felt because it brought out my inner Jim Walmsley and David Roche. Part of the reason I train and race in super shoes is that they improve my form regardless of the pace. Finding the sweet spot of cadence improves running form and encourages a forward lean and momentum.Interestingly, my "natural" cadence -- without running to music BPMs or monitoring with a watch -- is quite low and makes me a shuffle runner. I watched several start time groups coming off the Queensboro bridge at this years NYC Marathon and the change in form of the groups as time went by was pretty striking.

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@eric-running-to-chamonix I hadn’t heard the cue “lead with your knees” but you better believe I’ll be thinking about it moving forward! Interesting take on super shoes improving form on every run. While I don’t disagree with the idea and can understand how it can happen, my form (cadence and foot strike) changes depending on my pace. I won’t enjoy my easy runs of if I try to run how I run at HM pace. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@MyFatAdaptedLife]

I love it how race photographers capture me when my form is not at its best. 👣

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@MyFatAdaptedLife That’s their only job and they’re very good at it.

[@MyFatAdaptedLife]

@@its_Matt_B_ Ugh. So true.

[@ATREU850]

Changing my form to forefoot was the best thing i ever done as it made me ALOT faster and lead to me hitting sub 3 in the marathon

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@ATREU850 Nice! How many many marathons did you run before you switched to forefoot striking? How much did your time improve by?

[@JanHerriger]

Hey Matt, keep this kind of content going, it's always highly appreciated! 👍 One thing that helped me to keep a proper posture was to change my sleeping posture a couple of years ago. I'm always sleeping in supine position now, without any pillow, just entirely flat. It took a few weeks to get used to that, but it was worth the change. Being a tall guy as well, that and certain stretching exercises massively helped me to improve my overall posture. Merry Christmas to you and your family! 🎅🎄🎁👣

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@JanHerriger Thanks so much, Jan! Merry Christmas to you and the fam too! I’m impressed you sleep supine without a pillow, although I would rather sleep with no pillow than one that is too high. I sleep prone with a fairly low pillow.

[@JanHerriger]

@its_Matt_B_ Thanks, Matt! Yeah, too high pillows are most likely the biggest issue. Some people say sleeping supine is not made for them. I said the same first, but have changed my opinion on that. In the past I had many back problems such as thoracic spine and sacroiliac joint issues, I also had a hunched posture. After changing to supine sleeping, these problems were gone and my body felt far more relaxed in the morning. It took some time to adapt, but it was worth it. 👍 Also daily hip and core mobility helped to become a fast runner with a good posture. Tall people like us suffer alot from shortened muscles, so we have to stretch even more.

[@JaymeMonteiro-es3xb]

👣 Thank you!

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@JaymeMonteiro-es3xb 🙌🏽

[@avifrunner]

Hey Matt, excellent topic. Love your non-shoes videos … 😅 Regarding running form, as to how I look on the photos - I really can’t care less. I do care however on running efficiency and avoiding injuries. More than anything I find that speed work, even just quick short moderate strides, just do magic to my running form and general feeling in the run. Just this morning I did an easy 12 k as part of my marathon tapering (in 11 days!). I did a 3 km warm up, 20x100m strides (60 secs rests) and went on with the run. Those quick short strides makes me more efficient and feel in control of the movement. Another important issue is to avoid tense. Always try to let the run “roll” and flow naturally, trying not to move sideways too much or waist energy. A good tool for that I think is the cadence. I find 180 a bit not natural for me in MP, but for shorter and quicker runs it’s perfect. Oh… almost forgot : 👣!

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@avifrunner Short quick strides really are a secret sauce for running well! They make us more efficient and make the whole run feel better! Enjoy the holidays and your taper! Do you have a goal for your upcoming marathon?

[@avifrunner]

@@its_Matt_B_ Thanks!!! Sure, my training indicate a ~3:45 time, and my pacing for the race is all planned around it. The main issue with this race (Tiberias Marathon) every year is the weather - we had years with torrential rain and others with a heat wave; almost always one of the extremes which make it a rather difficult race. X my fingers for a cool and calm day, but that's NEVER the case!

[@its_Matt_B_]

@ I just read all about it and it looks like a fun one! It’s funny because all the photos on the website show beautiful weather with no rain! 🤣 Good luck! My fingers are also 🤞that you get the best possible weather! 👊🏽

[@avifrunner]

@@its_Matt_B_ Thanks Matt! Recent year's climate's change brought some challenges... A few years ago the race was postponed from friday to sunday due to the very heavy rain - not something easy to do considering it's an international event with many runners from abroad. The following year (or the one after), a strong easterly wind brought large amounts of dust and sand in the air, making it very uncomfortable to run, to say the least... well, soon we'll see what this year's version look like 😄

[@leedockerty4531]

Interesting topic!merry Christmas to you and the family matt!🌲

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@leedockerty4531 Cheers, Lee! Merry Christmas to you and the fam too!

[@christinedurand9080]

Thank you for another great video! 👣

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@christinedurand9080 cheers, Christine! Thanks for always watching!! 🙌🏽

[@ianbarcia9276]

Thank you for this!

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@ianbarcia9276 Cheers, Ian! 👊🏽

[@vanessamartinez4917]

I sing the children’s rhyme to myself. Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Knees and toes. 😂 Cadence is hard for me. I can run in place at 180, but as soon as I move forward it drops. Will keep practicing! 👣🏃🏻‍♀️👟

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@vanessamartinez4917 180 spm has been found to be the mid-point of what’s “ideal,” but it’s not ideal for everyone. Don’t worry too much about trying to hit a specific number, although most runners will benefit from increasing their cadence. As far as “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” goes, I’m getting messed up because of the pause after “head!” 🤣

[@pearsbears]

Thanks for this. I feel like I supinate quite heavily and I don’t know if I need to change that. Goal is def not to get injured

[@its_Matt_B_]

Yes! The ultimate goal is to stay injury free! Do you run in shoes with any kind of motion control?

[@pearsbears]

@ no stability shoes. Just got the Adidas Evo SL. Hope it won’t make it worse.

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@pearsbears Nice! Enjoy the Svo SLs! I hope they work for you!

[@IRunThings]

And I am a shuffle runner too

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@IRunThings shuffle runners FTW!

[@IRunThings]

I don't think changing the form is worth it. Haha

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@IRunThings 😂 Most of us are out there to have fun. Why make it feel even more like work? 🤣

[@lajournsantanadolphin4895]

I stole my running form from Tirunesh Dibaba. Now people compliment me on how beautiful and efficient my running form is. They told me that my running form has no wasted motion.

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@lajournsantanadolphin4895 You sure picked a good form to steal! She runs beautifully!

[@lajournsantanadolphin4895]

@its_Matt_B_ This is the video that I used to drill her form every day so it would become second nature to me.kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3vGlauJhauKpqcsi=bj_ViI72p-oW-TSl

[@jefflessenberry6632]

OMG ... My wife tells me the same thing when we are taking pictures. I bend down also so our faces are closer but reminds me to stop bending over. I am 6'3" and she is 5'3" so I don't think we are as different in height as you and your wife.

[@its_Matt_B_]

@@jefflessenberry6632 I guess it’s a battle tall men (and women) everywhere face with their shorter partners. 😁 There’s an 11” difference between my wife and me.

[@allanahmet]

👣

[@its_Matt_B_]

Cheers, Allan!

[@Joe_Souza]

🦶

[@its_Matt_B_]

Cheers, Joe! 👊🏽