We all know how to run, right? Not necessarily. Go to your local park and watch people running and you’ll see a million different styles. There’s the shuffler, barely picking up their feet. There’s the twister, their whole upper body twisting with each step. The list goes on. Now watch a 7-year-old run. They’ve probably got it about right because they haven’t learned any bad habits yet.

But so what if you run like a Shetland pony with a heavy load? Where's the harm? For some, there's no harm. For others, poor form can result in repetitive injuries that refuse to go away. For everyone, the beauty of improving your running form is that it makes you more efficient, less prone to injury, and often quite a bit faster. Go in to a running shop and they'll point a camera at your feet and prescribe some trainers that aim to fix your problem. But quite a few of those problems are fairly simple to correct with an improvement in form.

Here are a few tips to think about…

1. CORE

People talk about core strength a lot in fitness. In running, your posture is very important. The aim is to have your spine in a ‘neutral’ position, your pelvis level and your core muscles engaged. Your posture and core stability affects everything else you do - from the way you use your arms to how heavily you land.

2. LEG CYCLE

Your leg cycle should go like this: foot strikes ground roughly underneath hips, leg pulls back, heel picks up to around knee height, knee drives through to begin the cycle again. Your gluts and hamstrings should do most of the work, while your feet and lower legs should remain relaxed. A common problem is over-striding where your foot lands too far in front of you. This essentially puts the break on every time you land, slowing you down and causing you to take the shock of landing through your heel. If you’re an over-strider, focus on picking your heels up behind you and do some glut strengthening exercises to make sure your quads aren’t over compensating for a weak bottom.

3. ARMS

You might be surprised to hear that your arms are responsible for quite a bit of the power when you’re running. They should be bent to 90 degrees at the elbow, and your thumbs should be pointing upwards. They should pull back until your fist is at your ribs and then forward so your elbow is at your ribs. You often see people who don’t move their arms much when they run. They tend to twist their whole upper body as a result. That has a knock on effect all the way down the body, even changing how you land. The answer is to make sure your arms are moving.

For that little bit of extra oomph…

• Get a gym buddy to film you running from the side so you can see your style
• Have a chat with one of our trainers to get some suggestions for core strengthening and glut strengthening exercises
• Make corrections in small doses, focusing on your form for just a few minutes at a time during your runs to get it right.

And for a bit of inspiration, watch the perfect form of some of the world’s elite distance runners like Haile Gebrselassie.

Happy running, folks.