Improving Running Technique: The Complete Guide

Why running technique matters

Three concrete reasons to get serious about your technique:

You use less energy. An efficient technique means that you can run the same pace with less effort. Or go faster with the same effort. Running technique is a free performance boost.

You breathe better. An upright, open posture gives your lungs room to fully expand. Anyone who slumps or pulls their shoulders forward inevitably breathes more shallowly. More oxygen = being able to run longer and faster.

You are less likely to get injured. When walking 5 kilometers you take about 4,000 steps. With every step you absorb forces of two à three times your own body weight. So you make a small mistake in your technique 4,000 times in a row. In the long run that adds up.

The golden rule: improve one thing at a time

Before you get started: always focus on one aspect per training. Anyone who tries to correct their head, shoulders, arms, hips and foot landing at the same time will walk more cramped, not more fluidly.

Choose one point. Walk consciously in it. And during technical work, always walk a little slower than normal. You can only adjust what you can feel.

Posture: from head to hips

Head and gaze

Aim your gaze 20 à 30 meters in front of you. Not on your feet, not on the road surface two meters away. Your head follows your eyes. If you look down, lower your head and bring your shoulders forward. That squeezes your chest and immediately makes breathing more difficult.

Keep your neck long and relaxed. Your ears remain in the same line as your shoulders.

Shoulders

Actively relax your shoulders down and back. Imagine that you are holding a pen between your shoulder blades. Do the shoulder check regularly while walking: consciously pull them down if they have crept up. Something that certainly happens when you're tired.

Tense shoulders block smooth arm movement and waste unnecessary energy.

Arms

Your arms are not passengers: they actively steer. With each step the opposite arm moves forward. This way you stay balanced and avoid rotation of your torso.

Two rules for your arms:

• Elbows at 90 degrees. No more, no less. Do not let them drop to 120-130 degrees. You will then miss the force of the recoil.
• Next to your body, not in front of it. Crossing your arms in front of your chest imparts a rotation to your hips and legs. That takes extra energy and increases the risk of injury.

Practical exercise: walk 20 meters with your arms stretched out in front of your body and try to keep them as still as possible by tensing your abdominal muscles. You immediately feel how much your torso moves normally.

Special attention to fatigue: this is the first thing to deteriorate. Shoulders rise, arms beat less forcefully. Keep a conscious eye on that in the last kilometers.

Trunk and hips

Lean slightly forward. Not from the hips, but with your entire body as one line. A straight line from ankle to shoulder, slightly tilting in the direction of walking. Anyone who collapses at the hips creates a 'sitting' position that makes walking more difficult and overloads the hip flexors.

Tighten your core, but not convulsively. A stable torso prevents excessive rotation and conserves energy that would otherwise be lost with each step.

Foot placement: Land below your hips

One of the most common mistakes is taking too long steps: the foot lands far in front of the body, the knee extends almost completely, and the heel hits the ground hard. This is called overstriding, and it works like a brake.

Your foot may touch the ground in front of your body's center of gravity, but not far in front of it. Make sure your foot is more or less below your knee when you land. Not half a meter in front of you.

The foot landing debate: heel, midfoot, or forefoot?

This is one of the most discussed topics in the running world, and the conclusion is more nuanced than many coaches would lead you to believe.

Heel landing: By far the most common technique among recreational runners. Studies estimate that 75 to 90% of all recreational runners run with a heel landing. This used to be labeled as wrong, but the picture is more nuanced: a well-executed heel landing (where the foot does not land too far in front of the body) is not necessarily bad. Heel landing puts more strain on the knees and shins; Excessive overstriding increases the risk of injury.

Midfoot/forefoot landing: Places more strain on the calf, Achilles tendon and ankles. Adjusts automatically at higher speeds: whoever goes faster automatically lands further forward on the foot. Never force this transition suddenly: the calf and Achilles tendon need to get used to it and can become overloaded with an abrupt switch.

The advice from sports medicine doctors is consistent: don't just change your foot landing. If you want to do that, always do it under good guidance from your trainer or coach. The most practical approach is to focus on your cadence (see below): whoever takes more steps per minute will naturally land better under the body, regardless of the exact landing shape.

Cadence: the most underestimated part of your running technique

Cadence is the number of steps you take per minute (SPM = strides per minute). It is perhaps the most direct and measurable part of your running technique.

What is a good cadence?

The number 180 SPM pops up everywhere. It became popular after track and field coach Jack Daniels observed during the 1984 Olympics that the fastest runners in the world took at least 180 steps per minute. But don't get hung up on that number 180. Use cadence as a tool, not as a holy grail.

In practice, a functional cadence for recreational runners is between 160 and 185 SPM, depending on your height, pace and running style. Larger runners naturally have a lower cadence. At higher speeds the cadence automatically increases.

As a rule of thumb: if you are below 160 SPM, there is room for improvement. If you are above it, the urgency is a lot less.

Why cadence is so important

A higher cadence has three concrete advantages:

Less impact per step. Shorter strides mean less vertical movement and softer ground contact. Your joints (knees, hips and ankles) absorb fewer blows.

Less overstriding. Anyone who takes more steps automatically lands closer to the body. The chance of the injury-prone far heel landing decreases significantly.

Better energy efficiency. You can better reuse the energy of your running stride with a shorter stride by making optimal use of the elasticity of your muscles and tendons.

How do you measure your cadence?

The easiest way: count for 30 seconds how many times your right foot touches the ground and multiply by 4. Most GPS watches (Garmin, Polar, COROS) measure cadence automatically and in real time.

How do you increase your cadence?

Never increase more than 5 à 10% each time. Your tendons and muscles have to get used to the new movement pattern.

Three practical methods:

Music at BPM. Search Spotify for "180 BPM running" or "175 BPM running" (a bpm that is 5% higher than your normal cadence). Walk to the rhythm of the beat, your cadence will adjust automatically. After a few weeks you repeat this process until you reach about 170+.

Heeled buttocks as a reset. For a new interval pace, put heeled buttocks in place. The high frequency activates your neuromuscular system and you automatically walk lighter afterwards.

Strides. Add every 10 à 15 minutes an acceleration of 20 à Add 30 seconds to your endurance run. Your technique gets a little reset and you then walk more lightly.

Core: the forgotten engine

Knowing technology is one thing. Maintaining technique when you're tired is another. This is precisely where core training plays a decisive role.

A strong core (abdomen, back and hips) stabilizes your torso so that the energy you generate also moves forward instead of draining away through unnecessary rotations. And when you're tired, in the last kilometers of a 10km or the final sprint of an endurance run, a strong core keeps your technique up to standard.

Effective core exercises for runners:

• Plank (and side plank): static stability
• Dead bug: anti-rotation with moving limbs
• Glute bridge: hip stability and powerful push-off
• Walking lunges: dynamic stability in the walking cycle
• Bird dog: coordination and trunk stabilization

Two à three short sessions of 10 à 15 minutes a week is enough.

Common technique mistakes at a glance

How do you integrate technique work into your training?

You don't have to schedule separate technique training (although it helps). You can build small adjustments into your existing barrels:

Start each endurance run with 5 minutes of conscious walking. Choose one element (shoulders, cadence or foot placement) and focus entirely on it for the first 5 minutes. Then you continue by feeling.

Use technique blocks for interval training. Do a technical check after each interval: are my shoulders low? Are my arms at 90 degrees? Am I moving in a straight line?

Incorporate running training exercises. Heel kicks, knee lifts, skipping, side steps: short and regular (2× per week, 5à 10 minutes) make a clear difference in the long term.

Film yourself. Put your phone down on a tripod or support, walk by, and watch the footage. What you see is almost always surprising. It's the fastest way to understand where your technique is faltering.

Frequently asked questions

Would you like to delve deeper into specific parts of your running technique? Check out our guides on cadence, foot landing and step length. Are you just starting to walk? Then our start-to-run guide is the best next step. And if you want to know how your running technique is used differently with a Hyrox, read about compromised running.