The Mechanics of Efficient 

Running
This is a version of my original post on the Mechanics of efficient Running posted on 29th
December 2007, updated as I have obtained more information from comments, observations or
reading.

This version was updated on 1st January 2008; details of the changes are listed at the end of the
article.

This page has been substantially extended by a series of articles under the tile ‘Running: a dance
with the devil’ posted in March 2008.  That series attempts to cover the main physical, biological
and psychological  aspects of running.

The Mechanics of Efficient Running

This article is a speculative account of how to run with minimal consumption of energy and
minimum risk of injury per kilometre. We will start by addressing the question of how to run at
constant velocity on the flat in the absence of wind resistance, and subsequently consider how to
adapt to wind resistance and hills.

The first principle is that according to Newton’s first law of motion, no propulsive force is
required to maintain a constant velocity on a horizontal surface in the absence of wind resistance.
The practical consequence is that muscular effort to drive the body forwards is likely to waste
energy and increase the risk of injury.

However, it would be misleading to imply that no muscular effort is required. If the feet were
fixed to the ground, forward momentum and gravity would combine to cause the runner to crash
face-down, so it is necessary to move the legs forward alternately in such a way as to arrest the
tendency to fall. In contrast to walking, while one leg is swinging forwards (‘the swing phase’),
the other leg is on the ground (stance phase’) for only a part of the time. Thus, for a substantial
portion of time the runner’s body is airborne. The effort to become airborne and the impact with
the ground at foot strike, create risk of injury. The art of efficient running entails swinging the
leg forward in a way that uses minimum energy with minimal risk of injury.

To understand how this is done requires an understanding of what muscular actions are required
and what muscular actions are to be avoided. Learning how to do it requires acquisition of the
correct sequence of movements, which can be facilitated by use of a specific drill (the swing
drill, described in a separate article), and subsequent practice of this sequence of movement until
it becomes habitual. In my experience, the sequence can be acquired with less than an hour of
practice. Warm-up for each running session should begin with the swing drill and a period of
relaxed running focussing on technique. Once the sequence of actions is habitual, execution of
the procedure does not require conscious planning of each muscle action, but rather, the use of
simple imagery to evoke the learned sequence.
 

General principles

Certain principles of physics and physiology can be invoked to determine the optimum sequence
of actions. The guiding principle is that acceleration or deceleration of the body’s centre of
gravity (COG) relative to the ground should be kept to a minimum, because acceleration and
deceleration require energy and also have potential for injury. Furthermore, acceleration of one
body part relative to another should also be used a sparingly. The following specific principles
follow:

1) To avoid braking action, the foot should have near zero speed relative to the ground at foot-
strike, so the foot should be moving backwards relative to the rest of the body at approximately
the same speed as the COG is moving forwards.

2) Vertical motion of the COG should be minimized as downwards motion increases force on the
ground and upwards motion requires energy. Nonetheless, during the airborne period, the body is
unsupported and must fall. However, because acceleration under the influence of gravity causes
a steady build up a speed, the body will fall less during a series of several short airborne periods
than during a series of fewer longer airborne periods of the same total duration (See the article on
calculations for the mathematical demonstration of this). Therefore, to minimize free fall under
the influence of gravity, the airborne period should be relatively short.

3) Rotation of the body around a horizontal axis (i.e head moving forward and down relative to
feet) should be minimized, as any rotation must be reversed if progressive lean and an eventual
face-down crash is to be avoided. This principle must be set against the fact that a small degree
of destabilization of the body from the stance will evoke automatic swinging forward of leg. The
destabilization from stance is initiated by forward momentum, but when the COG is forward of
the point of support, gravity will also contribute to the destabilization. Once the degree of
destabilization is such that the torque exerted by gravity produces appreciable acceleration of the
rotation, there is greater risk of wasting energy and of injury. Therefore, the body should lean
only very slightly. Furthermore, because the body continues to move forwards over the grounded
foot during stance, destabilization will increase the longer the foot remains on stance. Therefore,
to minimize deleterious gravitational torque, the time on stance should be short.

4) If airborne time must be fairly short to minimize gravitational freefall, and time on stance
must be short to minimize deleterious gravitational torque, then cadence must be high.
Observation of elite runners indicates that it should be at least 180 steps per minutes (i.e. 90 full
cycles of the gait cycle per minute)

5) According to Newton’s third law (action and reaction are equal and opposite) the vertical
component of ground reaction force (GRF) must be equal and opposite to the downwards force
exerted by the foot on the ground. The average value of the vertical component of GRF averaged
over the full gait cycle must equal the body weight. As GRF is only exerted during stance, the
average value during stance is the body weight multiplied by the ratio of total duration of the
cycle to the time on stance. Thus if time on stance is half of the total gait cycle, the average GRF
during stance will be twice the body weight. Peak GRF during stance might be considerably
higher than this, unless the load is distributed as uniformly as possible over the stance period.
This is probably best achieved by landing with the ankle almost neutral (or with a very slight
degree of plantar flexion) so that weight is taken on the mid-foot; then rapidly transferred to the
first metatarsal where the energy can be temporarily absorbed by some flattening of the
longitudinal arch by a slight roll of the foot towards the inside edge (mild pronation). Some of
the energy is stored in the stretched Achilles tendon, whose role includes sustaining the arch.
This stretch can only be maintained if the calf muscle is contracted. Finally, the joints of the foot
are stiffened by a slight roll laterally (supination) to promote recovery of energy by elastic recoil
at lift off. The time on stance must be long enough to allow the transfer of energy between the
structures of the foot, but in view of the fact that calf muscle contraction is required to maintain
the stored energy, too long on stance will lead to exhaustion of the calf. Thus, consideration of
foot dynamics also indicates the need for a relatively short time on stance. (But if airborne time
is much greater than time on stance, GRF during stance will necessarily be high to ensure that
average GRF over the entire cycle is equal to weight)

The components of the gait cycle

As outlined above, during the full gait cycle, each foot is engaged in a stance phase and a swing
phase. During the swing phase, the foot must be lifted, moved forwards and allowed to drop back
to the ground, moving backwards relative to the COG at the point of foot fall. Thus, the foot
follows a quadrilateral path, rounded at the corners as each stage of the cycle grades in to the
next one. The four segments of the path are:

1) Base position
In the base position the foot is on stance: The COG moves forwards over the foot, and the body
is destabilized, initiating a reflex swing of the leg forwards to prevent falling. According to
principles 3) and 5), time on stance should be short. During this time the processes of foot
pronation and supination absorb, store and redistribute some of the energy of impact. Also, in the
latter part of stance the tensed quadriceps recoils releasing some of the energy that had been
stored in that muscle on foot strike, reducing the flexion of the knee and imparting an upwards
drive to the body which helps compensate for the loss of height during free fall in the airborne
period.

2) Ankle lift
The ankle is lifted towards the hip. This action is initiated partly as a reflex response to the
destabilization during late stance, and is assisted by the recoil of Achilles tendon and quadriceps,
but it is also under conscious control. It requires contraction of the hamstrings. However,
because the hamstrings cross both hip and knee joint, unopposed hamstring contraction would
also produce hip extension which would move the leg backwards behind the line from lift-off
point to hip. Observation of elite athletes like Haile Gebrselassie suggests that the ankle should
in fact curve upwards in a path that arches behind the direct line towards the hip, as would be
expected if the main action is hamstring contraction. What image should we use to guide the path
of the ankle? Dr Romanov, who developed the Pose style of running suggests an image of a
piston that moves in a direct up-down action, but I find that for me, this image results in too
much engagement of the hip flexors. I am still experimenting to find the image that works best
for me. Because lifting the ankle requires active work against gravity, this movement (and the
associated backswing of the arm discussed below) are the only actions of the gait cycle that
demand conscious application of effort. This action is the principle driver of the swing.

3) Leg swing
The leg swings forward, largely under the influence of gravity, as the knee extends. The knee
should not extend fully but remain slightly flexed so that it can help absorb impact at foot fall.

4) Foot fall
The foot falls to the ground as the hip swings back towards the neutral position largely under the
action of gravity, with the knee remaining slightly flexed. Although voluntary muscle action is
not required, a strong automatic stabilizing contraction of the quadriceps must occur to prevent
the knee collapsing on impact. Because the hip swings back almost to the neutral position during
the fall, the point of impact is under the COG (or at most slightly in front of it), thereby
minimizing any braking effect. The quadriceps absorbs a large amount of energy at impact, some
of which will be recovered by elastic recoil to assist in raising the body to recover height lost
during freefall, and in lifting the ankle towards the hip in the next swing phase.

The ‘swing drill’ (see separate article) entails practice of the three segments of the swing: ankle
lift, leg swing and foot fall, while the body is stationary, supported by the opposite leg.

Torso
Upper body orientation and movement should be used to facilitate the leg movements. The torso
should be held in an almost upright orientation, with the pelvis dropped down and forwards
producing perceptible feeling of drag in the vicinity of the solar plexus, and the shoulders should
be drawn slightly back and rest downwards in a relaxed state. This orientation of the body
facilitates a relaxed foot fall to the correct position under the COG.

Arm swing
The arms swing in a minimal arc in a reciprocal action to the leg on the same side. As the ankle
is lifted towards the hip the arm moves back moderately forcefully, reflecting the sharp, compact
movement of the ankle towards the hip. Then the arm swings forward largely under the influence
of gravity, but not in a floppy state, while the leg swings forwards and the foot falls to the
ground. If a compact arm movement is practiced during the swing drill, the brain will readily
associate the compact arm swing with a compact leg action. Because proprioceptive feedback
from the upper limb is more strongly represented in the brain than that from the leg, good form
can be monitored more easily if arm and leg are coordinated.

All unnecessary muscle action should be avoided. However in addition to the actions described
above there are several other important actions. Reflex contraction of the hip abductors
minimizes pelvic tilt and dropping of the hip on the unsupported side. Footfall with slightly
flexed knee and the impact absorbing foot action described above would be expected to minimise
abrupt loading of the hip abductors while also protecting the knee joint and ankle joint and
minimising sharp localized forces on the bones of the foot.

It should be emphasized that this description of efficient running is based in observation a few
elite athletes and an attempt to apply the principles of physiology, anatomy and physics as
described above, but has only been tested by the author himself. It has not been subjected to any
form of controlled trial and hence must be regarded as a speculative proposal rather than a
proven method of safe, efficient running.