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Lead Stories: Thursday, August 28, 2008

Stride Length Improvement

Posted February 2nd, 2007 at 10:00 AM by Jim Fortner

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips

Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.

Although both stride rate and stride length increase as runners become faster, greater gain is realized by more runners through the increase of stride length, not stride rate. And stride length is the ultimate limiter of how fast we will eventually become because it is the primary bio-mechanical determinant of running economy.

Certainly, a runner who has a very slow stride rate, such as 150 or fewer strides/minute, can realize a lot of pace gain through increased leg turnover as his/her cardio-respiratory systems develop to enable faster paces.
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Will taking longer steps help me run faster?

Posted December 8th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Martha Jones

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips

You cannot run faster by consciously trying to increase your stride length. When you try to take longer strides that feel unnatural, you lose energy and run more slowly. Your most efficient stride length is determined by what feels most comfortable to you. Your heel hits the ground with great force.

The tendons in your legs absorb some of this energy and then contract forcibly after your heel hits the ground so you regain
about 60 to 75 percent of that stored energy. When you try to take a stride that is longer than your natural one, you lose a great deal of this stored energy, tire much earlier and move your legs at a slower rate.
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Tall vs. Short Runners

Posted September 29th, 2006 at 4:00 AM by Jim Fortner

Section: Running & Training

Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Make sure to also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.

[Some people believe] that taller runners inherently have a longer stride length. And, as a result, if two runners have the same stride rate, the taller one should be faster because of this naturally longer stride length. Neither premise is true. The determination of stride length simply is not that simple.

Although leg length, which is largely determined by height, is a factor that does affect stride length, it is a relatively minor one. Stride length is primarily determined by rear leg drive and range of motion. The former (drive) is completely independent of leg length (height) and the latter (range) is only very slightly influenced by leg length….do the geometrical math.

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