Improve Running Form: 7 Tips for Better Economy

Two runners, the same heart rate, the same training — yet one of them runs noticeably more relaxed at the same pace. The difference is called running economy: the amount of oxygen you need for a given pace. It differs between athletes by up to 30 percent — and it is trainable. Good running form is not an aesthetic topic but the cheapest performance lever available: you get faster without adding a single training stimulus. Here are the seven most effective building blocks.

What running economy is — and why it matters

Running economy describes how much energy (measured via oxygen consumption) you spend per kilometre at a given pace. An economical runner consumes less oxygen at 5:00 min/km than an uneconomical one — and can convert the savings into speed or carry them to the finish line as a reserve. In sports science, economy is considered the third pillar of endurance performance alongside VO2max and lactate threshold; among elite athletes with almost identical VO2max values, it often decides between victory and defeat.

The good news: while VO2max is tightly limited by genetics, economy can be improved over years — through training volume, strength work and deliberate technique training. Studies show improvements of 2 to 8 percent from targeted technique and coordination stimuli alone. Over a marathon distance, that amounts to several minutes.

Tip 1: Increase your cadence slightly

Step rate (cadence) is the most easily measurable technique parameter. Most recreational runners move at 150–165 steps per minute at an easy pace; elite athletes reach 180 or more. A higher cadence shortens ground contact time, reduces vertical oscillation and brakes you less with every footstrike.

Getting started is simple: measure your spontaneous cadence on an easy run (many watches display it live) and increase it by about 5 percent — 160 becomes 168. No more. Bigger jumps feel forced and push your heart rate up. After a few weeks the new frequency is automated, and you can take the next small step.

Tip 2: Land beneath your centre of mass

The costliest technique problem is overstriding: the foot lands far ahead of the body and the heel brakes with every step. That braking wave travels into the shin, knee and hip as load — and it measurably costs pace. The solution is not “switching to forefoot running” but letting the foot touch down closer beneath your centre of mass. The cadence increase from tip 1 takes care of a large part of that automatically.

A practical self-test: have someone film you from the side, or listen to the sound of your footsteps. A loud, slapping footstrike indicates a hard, braking landing — a quiet, springy roll-off indicates good form.

Tip 3: Upright posture with a slight forward lean

Economical runners run “tall”: chest open, gaze 10–20 metres ahead, hips extended, no collapse into a seated position. The forward lean comes from the ankles, not the hips — the body forms a slightly forward-tilted line from ankle to head. This posture uses gravity as propulsion instead of fighting against it.

Two mental cues help: “Run as if a string were pulling you up from the crown of your head” against the tendency to shrink while running. And “push your hips forward” against the common sitting position — the hip flexion that costs you stride length and power transfer.

Tip 4: Let your arms swing actively

The arms counterbalance the legs: they stabilise the trunk and set the rhythm. Keep the elbow at roughly 90 degrees, swing from the shoulder, and keep your hands loose — as if holding a crisp between thumb and index finger without crushing it. Importantly, the arms swing forwards and backwards, not across the midline of the body. Cross-swinging creates rotation that your trunk muscles have to compensate for — a pure waste of energy.

A useful side effect: when you tire and want to hold pace, consciously drive the tempo through your arms. The legs follow the arm frequency almost automatically — a handy trick in a finishing kick or on a climb.

Tip 5: Strides and running drills

Technique cannot be thought into existence — it has to be felt and automated. Two tools have proven themselves: strides (4–6 × 80–100 m, accelerating from an easy jog to about 90% of sprint pace, then running out) train fast, clean steps under light pace stress. Running drills — butt kicks, high knees, bouncy runs, skipping — train the individual movement components: ankle stiffness, active leg recovery, forefoot contact.

Together, both cost ten minutes. Add them to the end of an easy run twice a week — never at the limit of exertion, always with full concentration on execution. Poorly performed drills engrain poor patterns.

Tip 6: Hill running as a form school

Running uphill enforces almost everything that good form requires: short steps, high cadence, upright posture, landing beneath the body, a powerful push-off from the forefoot. Uphill, you can hardly run any other way than economically — the gradient corrects you. It also builds the specific strength that flat running does not provide, at considerably lower impact load than speed work on the flat. The most effective hill sessions and their weekly dosage are covered in detail in the article on hill training.

Tip 7: Barefoot stimuli — in small doses

Short barefoot blocks on grass (2–3 × 30–60 seconds after a run) or a few minutes in minimalist shoes sensitise the soles of your feet and strengthen the intrinsic foot muscles. The effect: you instantly feel when you land too hard or too far in front — barefoot running does not forgive poor form. This feedback sharpens your movement awareness for running in shoes as well.

Dosage is crucial here: barefoot stimuli are a sensory tool, not a volume block. Going from zero to kilometre-long barefoot runs invites calf, Achilles and midfoot problems directly.

Fitting technique work into your weekly plan

Technique work needs freshness and concentration — so it never belongs on hard days or at the end of long runs. Its natural place: at the end of the easy sessions that make up the bulk of the week in 80/20 training anyway. Twice a week, ten minutes of strides plus drills after an easy run add up to more than 17 hours of pure technique training over a year — without a single extra session on the calendar.

Two rules: first, focus on one component per month (e.g. cadence only in September), not seven at once. Second, do not schedule technique blocks before hard key sessions like the threshold run — the legs should be fresh there, not pre-fatigued.

Common mistakes

• Changing everything at once. New shoes, new cadence, new foot strike in the same week — this creates overload because several structures must adapt simultaneously. One component, small steps, weeks of patience.
• Radically switching to forefoot running. The heel striker's sin is not the heel but landing far in front. Forcing a switch to the forefoot invites calf and Achilles problems — landing close to your centre of mass is what counts, not the strike zone.
• Working on form only when it “hurts”. Many only address technique when an injury forces them to. Yet technique work is most effective as prevention — it lowers load spikes before they cause problems.
• Using drills as a substitute for volume. No drill in the world replaces easy kilometres. The strongest technique improvement remains lots of relaxed running itself — the nervous system optimises through repetition.
• Ignoring heart rate while transitioning. During the transition phase, heart rate rises temporarily at your usual pace. Clinging to your zone model instead of backing off the pace turns technique training into accidental speed work.

How Peakora schedules technique work

In Peakora, strides and technique blocks are not a loose add-on but a fixed part of easy sessions: the engine attaches them to easy runs as planned, so they happen in a fresh state — and deliberately keeps them away from threshold and interval days. Because the plan manages your load across all weeks, technique work stays consistent instead of being left to chance — and it is exactly this consistency that turns drills into automatic habits.

Frequently asked questions about running form

Can adults still change their running form?

Yes — the nervous system remains trainable throughout life. What matters is small, frequent stimuli rather than radical overhauls: short technique blocks two to three times per week over several months. Cadence is the easiest component to train.

How long until a form change takes effect?

Expect 6 to 12 weeks until a new movement becomes automatic. Studies show measurable improvements in running economy after roughly 8–10 weeks of regular technique training. Under pace stress, the old style will initially keep resurfacing — that is normal.

Should I switch to forefoot running?

Not necessarily. Even world-class marathoners mostly land on the heel or midfoot. What matters is not where but how close to your centre of mass the foot lands. A forced switch raises the injury risk for calves and the Achilles tendon.

Is a cadence of 180 steps per minute mandatory?

No — 180 is a guideline from observing elite athletes, not a law. Your optimal cadence depends on leg length, pace and physiology. Raising your spontaneous cadence by about 5% is sensible if you tend towards long, heel-heavy strides.