THE MYTH
THERE'S AN IDEAL RUNNING FORM THAT WILL SOLVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS
Fact: Your form improves with experience.
"There is no 'ideal' way to run and no evidence that suggests telling age-group runners to run one way or another," says Isabel S. Moore, PhD, a sport and exercise medicine researcher at Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales. That's because bodies are different in how they're built, how they stride, and how they break down.
"Our running mechanics are probably a result of a combination of our anatomy, injury history, and running history," says Rich Willy, PhD, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Montana in Missoula. And logging miles day after day will gradually optimize your gait, says Moore. She conducted a study with novice female runners engaging in a 10-week running program. After the 10 weeks were up, the runners had significantly improved their running economy without instruction on how to do so.
Be wary of any expert who swears they can upgrade your form. Most coaches can't spot efficient form-even veterans-according to a 2020 study in the European Journal of Sports Science. Researchers at Middle Tennessee State University determined the efficiency of five runners and sent videos of them to 121 coaches, from the high school level up to international program managers. Overwhelmingly, the coaches could not tell which runner was the most efficient.
THE MYTH
GOTTA STRETCH!
Fact: Static stretching doesn't reduce injury risk.
This story is from the Issue 03, 2022 edition of Runner's World.
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This story is from the Issue 03, 2022 edition of Runner's World.
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TO RUN 26.2 IS TO FEEL ALIVE
THE SUN IS rising from the east, and the waves of the Pacific crash below to the west.
LEAVE IT UP TO A PIECE OF PAPER TO TEACH YOU TO RUN EASY
BEFORE I FELL for running, I thought the hardest thing about the sport was the fast stuff: the speedwork, the sprints, and the intervals.
WHY-AND HOW-YOU SHOULD RUN DOUBLES
Those are just a few of the titles entered into my training log for the second run of a day.
FIND YOUR RUNNING COMMUNITY, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
I SIGNED UP for my first marathon while sobbing in the back of a rideshare, on my way to the airport to fly to my uncle's funeral.
FUEL WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT
AS AN ULTRARUNNER, I'm all too familiar with the saying that long-distance running is an \"eating contest with a running component.\"
AT THE FERTILITY CLINIC, MY PAST CAUGHT UP WITH ME
I SAT IN the fertility doctor's office white walls, bare wooden desk, opaque window-alone.
THIS IS NOT AN ESCAPE STORY
AT 15, DARLENE STUBBS WALKED AWAY FROM A POLYGAMOUS CULT-THEN DISCOVERED A NEW LIFE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH RUNNING.
RUNNING WITH HANK
How my daughter's rambunctious mutt saved my sanity while she was lost to the darkness.
WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD MS.I THOUGHT I'D NEVER RUN AGAIN.
I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist.
A RUNNER'S GUIDE to sleep
Nike rocked the running world in 2018 when it released the Vaporfly 4%, claiming that the shoe could boost a runner's efficiency by that amount.
