8 Ways to step up your running game

The key to being a better runner is not just putting one foot in front of the other and hoping for the best – here’s what Puma shoe specialist Rae Trew-Browne suggests paying attention to if you’re looking to improve your swift-striding prowess.

It’s all in the hips

The foot will always follow what the rest of the body is doing. If a runner’s hips are out of alignment, their body will always try to compensate for the imbalance. To check how balanced you are, stand with your hands on your hips and your back against a wall. Slide your right hand down your leg while keeping your back against the wall. Get a friend to mark how far you can go. Do the same on the other side and compare.

Analyse those ankles

Get a friend to film your feet from behind (ideally in slow-mo) as you run on a treadmill. If your ankles stay straight your form would be classed as neutral. If they collapse inward you would need to look at a shoe with added support. This doesn’t always fix the problem though, as the ankle is collapsing because of weak supporting muscles and ligaments. A stability shoe will just give the runner a temporary fix whereas the ideal approach would be to train and strengthen the ankles and supporting muscles in the calf and shin area with targeted exercises.

Pace your lace

With a shoe like Puma’s Netfit, you can adjust the lacing to help support the ankles, while still doing the strengthening exercises in conjunction with your running. As the muscles strengthen, the runner can then transition to a more neutral or standard lacing system. By providing minimal support it forces the foot to become stronger over time, yet with the various lacing options it can still provide some support where needed.

Build your core

The goal of any runner should be to be as balanced and strong as possible in their core and hips, since this is where the actual running motion is stabilised and controlled. The more balanced the muscles in these areas, the more neutral the runner will be, resulting in fewer form-related injuries. It’s thus imperative to train your core and hips, focusing on the weaker side to minimise any discrepancy.

Strong before long

If your hips and ankles are balanced it will be much easier to run in an efficient and economical way. Far too many runners try to change the way they run before making their bodies strong and flexible enough to handle it long-term. Once the smaller supporting muscles are strong the general rule of thumb is to aim for 180 steps per minute. Start on the treadmill and count the steps on your right foot for 15 seconds; you should be hitting about 23 steps on the right foot in those 15 seconds.

One step at a time

Focusing on the step turnover automatically fixes other posture issues as your foot will naturally land closer to your centre of mass, as this is the easiest point from which to take another step. The treadmill is a great way to practise this because it keeps you at a consistent pace. More steps doesn’t necessarily have to mean more speed, it just means your feet are on the ground for less time during each step, which also means less force going back up through the body.

Watch your landing

The number of steps a runner takes per minute will usually determine where they land on their foot. It is quite difficult to land with a heel strike if you’re running at more than 180 steps per minute. A runner who sees themselves as a jogger who likes to stick to slow speeds can still have a high step count. Though debated, a mid-foot strike is best for fitness and weight-loss. Sprinters will tend to be more forefoot strikers and heel striking is mostly down to the types of shoes runners choose to run in.

Puma Ignite Netfit running shoes R2 799