Exercises can help you get up and running in good form

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 9, 2004 by MILO BRYANT Fitness columnist

A few weeks ago, I talked about the need to help Leah Grissom correct her running form so she could run more efficiently.

The number of e-mails and phone calls I received about running form suggest that Grissom, one of the Fitness Challenge 2004 winners, is not the only one out there who could use a little tutoring.

We'll go over two exercises today to help improve your running form. In two weeks, I'll write about several more.

Charmas Lee, a fitness professional who heads a local track club, provided great insight on good running form. Lee enlisted the help of one of his most technically sound runners, 15-year-old Krista Wiltberger. Wiltberger is a Doherty High School sprinter and longand triple-jumper. She demonstrated the exercises.

When Wiltberger runs, her plant foot (the one that lands on the ground) is in a vertical line with her knee, hip, torso and shoulder. She's not leaning forward. She's not leaning backward.

Wiltberger swings her arms so neither hand crosses her body, i.e., she doesn't waddle. That side-to-side swinging motion forces the body to move from side to side, too. That's wasted energy. It slows us, making us less efficient.

Wiltberger runs with the form of someone who has spent hours on these drills.

- A-Skip

An A-skip is like marching with an added bounce to it. It takes a little rhythm to do this correctly.

Think of an energetic college marching band, each member strutting, knees high, heels high, toes up and opposite hand up. Each time a foot hits directly under the body, it looks as if the band member is trying to push the foot through the ground.

While you do this motion, make sure to bend your arms at the elbow in a 90-degree angle. Your hands follow in a pendulum motion -- as Lee says, "Hips to lips! Hips to lips!" When one knee is up, so is the opposite hand. Start out walking, then add a skip between steps.

- B-skip

"It's very difficult to do a B-skip, but it's one of the basics of the running motion," Lee said. "Maybe 5 percent of people can go out and address each of these skills in one setting."

In other words, it's going to take time to master each.

The B-skip is similar to the A-skip but with one added kick. After raising the knee, when your hamstring is parallel to the ground, extend the foreleg forward, then thrust the foot into the ground directly under your body as you do the A-skip.

Perform these drills over a 25- to 30-yard span for several repetitions. They can be exercises on their own; they can be workouts, too. Your intensity dictates whether they're warmups or complete sessions.

Think of these drills as components of the running puzzle. Mastering these will make you a more efficient runner.

Next week: Fitness Challenge 2004 update.

Milo F. Bryant's fitness column appears in Monday's Life section. Bryant has a National Strength and Conditioning Association certification. He also writes Gazette sports columns. Contact him at mbryant@gazette.com.