Overstriding for runners is an extremely common lower body error and could be easily corrected. It usually happens when your leg swings too far forward with each stride. Your foot comes down in front of your body, usually far back and you land on the heel.
Why you should avoid it!
When you extend you lead foot too far in front of the body, it lands in front of your center of gravity, creating a braking effect, and excessive stress on your knees, thus leading to energy waste, fatigue and unwanted injuries.
Does overstriding improve speed?
The tendency to reach forward comes from an attempt to speed up by lengthening your stride. But forcing a long stride length will not improve speed or running efficiency. Just the opposite happens, overstriding will result in reaching out in front of your body with your foot landing heavily on you heel, this will cause the braking action and it is also a common source of knee injuries.
How to prevent overstriding
The most common way to avoid overstriding is to Speed up your stride rate. If you're running with a faster stride rate, you'll pick your feet up and put them down quickly, making it very hard to overstride. Here a few guidelines you should follow in order to increase the efficiency of your running stride:
• You should always land with your forward foot directly under your body. When you reach out too much with your forward foot, you will be landing on your heel, therefore you will create a braking action with each step; this will greatly stress your knees, hips, and back. In addition to slowing you down and causing injury.
• Your running stride should be quick and light, as though you are sneaking up on someone. Your stride is supposed to be like a turning action or a rotating motion with your foot landing in a straight line under your center of gravity at the base of every cycle.
• Do not reach out with your forward foot, so that no braking action is created. And keep in mind that forcing a longer stride will not improve your speed.
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