Probably the single most important running form tip you can focus on is to Run Tall!!

I’m guilty of slouching myself and as someone that has spent the majority of the last 15 years sat round shouldered at my office desk, it’s evident that my posture has been effected when I run.

On our LIRF course, the first of 3 qualifications I gained via England Athletics, we were taken into a sports hall and split into 2 groups.

The first group were simply asked to run around the outside of the court nice and easy whilst my group observed.

The runners then regrouped with the coaches, had a brief chat and navigated the court perimeter for a 2nd time. The transformation in their running form was striking.

They had been told to imagine there was a piece of string attached to the top of their head with a helium balloon pulling them upwards.

This single piece of advice made a huge difference with the group running much taller and with a significantly better posture.

Later in my studies I discovered the notion of elasticity and how up to 50% of the energy we require for running can be generated free. This is due to the elastic qualities, in particular in our tendons, that can act like springs.

But to utilise this we need to run with a tall posture. Shane Benzie the movement specialist talks a lot about this is his videos, blogs and his running book. Once you understand the importance of running tall and with a good posture it’s something you should constantly work on.

Poor posture is usually more prominent towards the end of a race, when you start to fatigue, or going uphill where our body is unable to generate any free energy.

So at those moments in particular really focus on running with a tall posture and imagine that helium balloon attached to the top of your head pulling your whole body upwards. It really does work.