---
title: "Six keys to improve your running technique"
published: 2016-01-26
updated: 2026-08-04
category: "Consejos para competir mejor"
source: "https://dev-abp.massivoai.com/en/articles/seis-claves-para-mejorar-la-tecnica-al-correr"
---

# Six keys to improve your running technique

**In his excellent book on mental training for runners, Matt Fitzgerald offers some simple ideas that can help you improve your running technique.**

Practice only one per training session and discover which one makes you feel better. Each technique seeks to "teach" your neuromuscular system more effective movement patterns while running, which requires executing them over hundreds and even thousands of strides. So be patient and train:

**Falling forward**: Lean your body forward slightly while running. Don't bend at the hips! Lean from your ankles, like Michael Jackson style. Do it almost to the point where you feel you're going to fall on your face, then find a point where you feel comfortable, but with gravity still pulling you forward. This cue will help your feet land naturally close to your center of gravity instead of landing further ahead, which is a common cause of injury.

**Navel to spine**: Concentrate on drawing your navel in as if you want to bring it closer to your spine. This exercise will activate the deep abdominal muscles that serve to stabilize. In a biomechanics study, it was found that 9 out of 10 runners fail to properly contract their abdominals, which causes part of the leg's force to be lost. Do your best to achieve it.

**Running on water**: Imagine you're running on water and your goal is not to sink. That will force you to take quick, light steps and apply greater force in less time when you make contact with the surface. (It's similar if we imagine running on hot ashes). This cue will help you have a more rigid stride (and therefore more efficient), minimize ground contact time, and make you begin the takeoff phase earlier.

**Pulling the street**: Imagine that the pavement is a giant treadmill, meaning it's not you who moves, but the street that comes toward you because you're pulling it with each stride. This cue will help you minimize ground contact time, initiate the push phase earlier, and make your stride more rigid.

**Skating**: Run as if you were on a skateboard, minimizing vertical oscillation. Imagine propelling your body forward rather than upward with each stride. If it helps, imagine you're running under a ceiling that's only 5 centimeters above your head, and you must avoid hitting it. This cue will help you run with greater stability by reducing vertical impact forces.

**Striking the street**: The speed we carry is related to how hard we strike the ground. Instead of falling passively, practice actively driving your foot to the ground. Make sure to push backward as well, not just vertically. This cue will give your stride more rigidity, initiate the push phase earlier, and minimize ground contact time.

Remember to practice one of these cues each time you run. Over time you'll discover which are your favorites and which help you improve the most. Don't get frustrated if at first it's difficult to "get the hang" of a cue, keep trying and with more practice the good sensations will come.

Source: Matt Fitzgerald, *Brain training for runners*. 2007.

 

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