I had a customer who was struggling with ongoing calf cramping while running. Objective signs were improving and we had discussed technique within the clinic; however, the cramps were still coming on. I decided it was time to hit the pavement with him to get a true sense of what was going on.

After warming up his areas of dysfunction: Right ankle range, hip range, thoracic rotation we hit the pavement. There were a few things I noticed that I think we can all benefit from.

1. remember the importance of cadence: 170-190 steps / minute. To make it easy count strides: 85-95.

2. trunk position: upright

3. arm swing: elbows at about 90 degrees, elbows drive back at least 30 degrees past neutral

4. Trunk rotation: should be fluid and follow the motion of the arms. One shouldn’t waste side to side energy but if the ribs and trunk are locked, injuries in other sites will surface

5. Head movement. The oscillatory movement of the head should be minimal while running. The higher you go the more energy you are wasting.

There are more but I thought these 5 were easy to work on during your next run. Try focusing on 2 (my client had to think about head movement and arm swing) and see what affect it has on your next run.

Thanks for reading.