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Stepping Lightly

post #1 of 11
3/12/10 at 9:51pm
Thread Starter 
I seem to have a very heavy step. This is true when I run and when I'm just walking. I feel like this is making my sprinting, specifically my immediate acceleration, slower. How can I go about correcting this and not stepping so heavily?
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post #2 of 11
3/12/10 at 10:05pm
There's a whole group of people who are of the opinion that wearing shoes make "natural" gait impossible. Whether they are right or not, I never wear shoes around the house (or outside weather permitting).

Speaking of sprinting I've seen video footage of Jamaicans sprinting barefoot on grass.
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post #3 of 11
3/13/10 at 12:02am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by holybich View Post
There's a whole group of people who are of the opinion that wearing shoes make "natural" gait impossible. Whether they are right or not, I never wear shoes around the house (or outside weather permitting).

Speaking of sprinting I've seen video footage of Jamaicans sprinting barefoot on grass.

I should have been more specific. I'm a collegiate soccer player, so going barefoot isn't exactly an option. I'm pretty fast, but I can feel that I'm not as explosive/quick to accelerate as I should be, and I believe part of the reason for this is I'm literally pounding the ground with my feet.
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post #4 of 11
3/13/10 at 12:44am
do some plyos?
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post #5 of 11
3/13/10 at 12:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArteEtLabore14 View Post
I should have been more specific. I'm a collegiate soccer player, so going barefoot isn't exactly an option. I'm pretty fast, but I can feel that I'm not as explosive/quick to accelerate as I should be, and I believe part of the reason for this is I'm literally pounding the ground with my feet.

I think I know what you're talking about, but the best thing I can say is that you should experiment with your gait and footstrike and see how it feels.
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post #6 of 11
3/13/10 at 2:48am
Do you land on your heels or toes?
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post #7 of 11
3/13/10 at 2:52am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Do you land on your heels or toes?

Heels, but barely. I'm almost flat footed and so I step pretty much flat on the ground sometimes.
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post #8 of 11
3/13/10 at 3:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArteEtLabore14 View Post
Heels, but barely. I'm almost flat footed and so I step pretty much flat on the ground sometimes.

Well there you go. Try running more on your toes. When you land on your whole foot your ankles can't absorb the shock and your whole weight is hitting the ground at once.



(FYI I have no idea what I am talking about.)
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post #9 of 11
3/13/10 at 3:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post

(FYI I have no idea what I am talking about.)

Well, you've come to the right place.
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post #10 of 11
3/13/10 at 9:41am
This is generally an issue of foot turnover speed. Running more on the forefoot helps to alleviate it a bit in my experience since the achilles tendon becomes able to absorb and then provide a lot of reflexive force to get the foot back off the ground. Sometimes people that 'run heavy' overstride as well, which is somewhat linked to the way they run on their heels (running on the forefoot increases stride length a bit since the impact of the heel doesn't interrupt the last bit of the stride [aka 'braking']).

Look at how track athletes run and you'll get an idea.
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post #11 of 11
3/13/10 at 1:31pm
Do calf strengthening exercises and run (sprint) only on your toes. This is exhausting if your calf muscles are not ready for it, but if you build them up, you will greatly increase both your sprint and top-end run spead.
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