Running

Unaided running over ground, with a flight phase in every stride where neither foot is down — the impact and the effort that separates it from walking.

How to do it

1. Start from an easy jog and build into your pace over the first few minutes rather than setting off at target speed.
2. Land with your foot under your hips, not out in front, and keep the contact with the ground short and quiet.
3. Run tall through the hips with a slight forward lean from the ankles, not a fold at the waist.
4. Bend your elbows to about ninety degrees and drive your arms forward and back, keeping them off your chest.
5. Breathe rhythmically and keep your shoulders, jaw and hands loose.
6. Hold the pace for the desired time or distance, then jog and walk for a few minutes to finish.

Tips

• Build weekly distance gradually. Almost every running injury comes from adding volume faster than the tendons and bones adapt, not from a single hard run.
• Most of your running should be easy enough to talk in. Running every session at a middling hard pace is the fastest way to plateau.
• Shorten your stride and let your cadence rise if you feel yourself thudding — reaching for a longer stride puts the brakes on with every footfall.

Muscles

Primary: Calves (gastrocnemius), Quadriceps

Secondary: Glutes (max), Hamstrings, Hip flexors, Calves (soleus)