Running Drills

Running drills are a great way to refine your technique and improve efficiency—but they’re often overlooked. Whether it’s feeling awkward, not knowing how to do them, or missing the “why” behind them, most runners skip this part of training. Whenever I work with someone on their running form, we always include a few key drills and encourage regular practice to sharpen the skill over time.

High knees:

Focus on staying light on your foot and feel the mid foot land softly and the heel kiss the floor. Keep your shoulders over your hips and don’t lean back! This teaches you to open your hips and not over extend from your back.

Butt kicks:

Don’t bend at the waist, stay tall and lean from your belt buckle. Keep those elbows tight and hands back. This reinforces a good fall or lean forward and promotes pulling with the hamstrings. The single leg version of this is another favorite.

Skipping:

Find a nice rhythm and move those arms. Skipping is a great coordination and low level plyometric that will help with springiness—an important running quality — and timing and coordination.

Give these a shot on your next run. You can do them as a dedicated warm up, or sometimes, I’ll mix them into a my to keep running efficiently on my mind.

If you want to some help improving your running technique, reach out to set up a running technique session with me!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain