Some tips from Coach Kelley

6 WAYS TO EFFICIENT RUNNING:

1- RUN TALL. gravity and weak core muscles cause many runners to "fold" in the middle when their feet land. this sitting-down movement wastes energy. imagine that wires are attached to your shoulders, pulling you up slightly. thrust your hips forward a bit and think "stability" when your foot hits. it's easier to run tall if you've worked your core properly.

2- RELAX. tension in your arms, shoulders, neck, and face reduce efficiency. arms and fingers should be loose. unclench your hands and let your jaw jiggle.

3- LAND ON THE MIDFOOT. a heel-first landing is a brake. it means you're extending your leg out too fa in front of your center of gravity, so it takes more energy to move forward. and it's shaky, so your muscles are working on stabilization instead of forward motion. shorten your stride. it'll feel odd at first, like shuffling, but once you get used to it, focus on thrusting backward with force.

4- RUN SOFTLY. the louder your footfalls, the less efficiently you're running. try running more quietly; you'll be unconsciously switching to a midfoot strike and a shorter, quicker stride.

5- SWING SYMMETRICALLY. check your form on a treadmill in front of a mirror. if one arm is bent more than the other or swings more, you have a musculoskeletal imbalance that can slow you down. target the weaker side with strength and flexibility exercises.


obviously, these help when running in a straight line - but are definitely good to be mindful about when it comes to efficiency. in a game like Ultimate, you sprint faster in the open field by taking faster or longer steps. you must also have speed endurance - this is important only to prevent you from slowing down after repeated short sprints.

more to come.

your friendly neighborhood coach kell

the majority of this comes from an article in men's health magazine.
to find out more about core exercises, see www.MensHealth.com/cardio