Many runners believe their natural stride could be improved. Here’s what to know before trying to change yours.
Want to get better at tennis? Fine-tune your serve. Swimming? Perfect your stroke. But what about running? If you improve your form — from your posture to the way your foot hits the ground — will that make you faster and more efficient?
On TikTok and Instagram, plenty of videos promise that the secret to faster running lies in refining your technique. And gait retraining services, which help people change their stride, have expanded beyond university biomechanics labs and into physical therapy clinics.
All of this can be confusing. “It reinforces the idea that running form is important and that most people are doing it wrong,” said Matt Fitzgerald, author of “80/20 Running” and creator of Dream Run Camp, who has coached runners from ranging from beginners to Olympians.
But according to experts, there isn’t one ideal way to run. A recent review analyzed 51 studies related to running biomechanics and running economy (a measure of how much oxygen you burn to maintain a certain pace, which is often used as a proxy for running performance) and found that characteristics of a runner’s form, like their stride length or whether they landed on their heel, didn’t make much difference.
When it comes to performance, “running technique does matter to some extent, but certainly not as much as many people try to make you believe,” said Bas Van Hooren, a sport science researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and a semiprofessional runner.
Let your body find its natural gait.
Your running form can be influenced by a number of factors, including your height, weight, muscle mass, body proportions and even the type of sports bra you wear. When left alone, “your body will self-optimize,” said Dr. Van Hooren. As you run more regularly, your body adjusts and learns how to move more efficiently.