Improve Running Stride

Welcome to AQSpeed.com’s collection of articles on Improve Running Stride.

These Improve Running Stride articles were all written by Dr. Larry VanSuch who is an expert in helping athletes develop the necessary speed and quickness so they can perform their best at all levels of competition.

Included here are many other valuable sports training tips and athletic speed insights that Dr. VanSuch has learned over the years by working closely with athletes, coaches and trainers as well as through his personal study.

After you have read through these Improve Running Stride articles, feel free to leave us a comment, ask us a sports-related question and sign up on this page to get immediate access to our Free Speed Secrets videos.

Body Torque #5: Lateral Spine Rotators for Sprinting Speed

In this video, we are going to talk about the fifth and final torque involved in running. This torque is produced by muscles around the spinal column that rotate the torso in one direction or the other. And because it doesn’t involve any of the extremities, it is not as obvious as the previous four torques.

Now the easiest way for us identify which direction the torso would rotate, if there were no other forces acting on it, would be to look at the torques involving both shoulders. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. Left and right shoulders producing a counterclockwise torque around spinal column.

You will recall in the previous video that both shoulders produced a CCW torque around the spinal column. In order for this to take place the torso would also have to rotate in the same direction to assist this movement, much like it does when you are performing oblique sit-ups. See Figure 2.

Figure 2. Torso rotates in same direction as shoulders during oblique sit-up.

The muscles involved in rotating the torso in this CCW direction are known as the lateral spine rotators and their names are the external abdominal oblique, multifidus spinae and rotatores spinae muscles. See Figure 3.

Figure 3. Lateral Rotators of the Spine Muscles.

The one thing that is worth mentioning here is that these lateral spine rotator muscles exist on both sides of the body. Therefore the ones located on your right side contract to turn the front of your body to the left as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Right lateral spine rotators contract to turn front side of body to the left.

The lateral rotators of the spine on the left side contract to turn the front of your body to the right as seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Left lateral spine rotators contract to turn front side of body to the right.

So now we know that it is the lateral spine rotators on the right side of this athlete’s body that are contracting to help produce this CCW torque. See Figure 6.

Figure 6. Lateral rotators of the spine contracting in this image.

That completes the identification of all 5 torques that are produced around the spinal column when you run and here they are for you to see all at once as well as the final torque equation that must be balanced so that you are able to run in a straight path. See Figure 7.

Figure 7. Final torque equation for the running process.

Now I am going to conclude this series of videos with one more final video where I will point out some unique details regarding these torques, such as what it means to your running speed, running stride and turnover rate if your hip flexors are weak, what would happen to your top end speed if your shoulders are weak as well as some other interesting relationships regarding all of these forces in the body.

Body Torque #2 – Hip/Thigh Flexors Help You Run Faster

The second body torque involved in running will come from the left leg. Since the left leg has been thrust in front of our athlete, we know then that a force, relatively speaking with regards to direction, will end up pulling the left hip forward. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. Force pulling the left hip forward.

And seeing this, we can ask a similar question just like we did for the first body torque and that is, if this were the only force acting on the body, which direction, if any, will it cause our athlete’s hips to turn?

Well in this case, and with respect to the spinal column, the force pulling on the left hip is displaced to the left of it. So we know that it has to rotate the body in one direction or the other.

And if we imagine this pulling force continuing in the same direction, forward, we can then see that it will produce a clockwise torque around the spinal column as seen by the direction of this arrow. See Figure 2.

Figure 2. Clockwise torque around the spinal column by left leg.

The muscles responsible for this torque are primarily the hip flexors, and their names are the psoas, iliacus, rectus femoris, Sartorius, adductor brevis, adductor longus and pectineus. See Figure 3.

Figure 3. Hip Flexors muscles creating torque in clockwise direction.

Now these 7 hip flexor muscles are a very interesting group for at least three reasons.

Reason #1
There are not many exercises and/or machines available for athletes to train their hip flexors

The first reason the hip flexors are an interesting group of muscles is that here we have one of the longest and strongest muscle groups in the body that is responsible for improving your running stride and turnover rate, yet when it comes to the opportunities for athletes to train them, there appear to be very few. See Figure 4.

Figure 4. Not many exercises available for hip flexor training.

For example, if you were to go in to a gym, any gym for that matter, the chances of you finding a machine to help you train these muscles would be very slim. From my own personal experience, there is just one machine dedicated in this regard and it looks like this, where you stand on a platform and have a lever with a pad on it placed over your knee that will allow you to raise it upward while lifting a stack of weights. See Figure 5.

Figure 5. Dedicated hip flexor machine.

The only other opportunity you might have to train them as far as using a machine is concerned is that you could possibly pull a stack of weights through a cable that is attached around your ankle, but personally I don’t recommend this as an exercise because of the risk of injury to the hip flexors should you lose your balance during the routine. See Figure 6.

Figure 6. Hip flexor exercise.

And that’s about it as far as machines are concerned. If there are any other dedicated hip flexor machines, I simply haven’t seen them and if they do exist, they are not very popular at the moment.

Now with regards to simple exercises to help you train them, you are looking at things like sit-ups and hanging knee raises. You might also consider tying a resistance band between your thighs and running to create tension in the hip flexors as the knees are thrust upward and forward. See Figure 7.

Figure 7. Simple Hip Flexor Exercises.

And that’s about it with regards to what many athletes have as options to train this muscle group which again is quite unique considering the importance of them to running faster.

Now with regards to these exercises we just mentioned which include the dedicated hip flexor machine, situps, hanging knee raises and running with bands between your thighs, I personally like all of them. See Figure 8.

Figure 8. All Great Hip Flexor Exercises.

But even if you are really devoted to these exercises to help improve your hip flexor performance, you will have a hard time training all 7 of your hip flexor muscles if these are the only exercises you do. In fact, you will likely only be training two of them with these exercises which brings us to the second reason why this is such an interesting group. See Figure 9.

Figure 9. Only 2 out of 7 hip flexor muscles are typically ever exercised.

Reason #2
Not all 7 hip flexor muscles are created equal.

The second reason why the hip flexors are such an interesting group of muscles is because even though your hip may go into flexion, this doesn’t mean that all 7 of them will be working equally at the same time. See Figure 10.

Figure 10. Not all 7 hip flexors work equally.

And this has to do with the differences between where each of these muscles originate and then insert that give some of them a little more responsibility over the others depending on the position of your hip, thigh and leg.

So, for example, let’s talk about the psoas and iliacus muscles. These are perhaps the two most popular hip flexor muscles that you are likely to train. The psoas originates from the transverse processes of T12 through L5, crosses over the hip joint and then inserts into the lesser trochanter of the femur as seen by this line here. See Figure 11.

Figure 11. Location of Psoas muscle.

The iliacus originates from the upper 2/3’s of the iliac fossa, crosses over the hip joint as well and also inserts into the lesser trochanter of the femur as seen by this line. See Figure 12.

Figure 12. Location of Iliacus muscle.

Now any flexion of your thigh upward, similar to what you are seeing in this image, will be caused primarily by these two muscles. And this is similar to the position of your thigh when you perform the exercises such as situps and hanging knee raises and the others. See Figure 13.

Figure 13. Psoas and Iliacus Muscles.

But as I mentioned previously, these exercises will not effectively engage the other 5 hip flexors muscles for reasons that will now be explained.

Targeting the Rectus Femoris

Starting with the rectus femoris, it crosses two joints, not just one. It crosses both the hip and the knee as seen by our line drawn here. See Figure 14.

Figure 14. Location of Rectus Femoris.

And so to effectively engage this muscle, not only does the hip have to be flexed under resistance, but the knee has to also be extended under resistance, otherwise you will be missing out on a significant amount of hip flexor strength that this muscle can provide. See Figure 15.

Figure 15. Rectus Femoris involved in hip flexion and knee extension.

Situps, hanging knees raises and the others don’t work the rectus femoris this way and that means, your stride and turnover rate will not be as quick and strong as it could be.

Targeting the Sartorius

Now, the Sartorius muscle also crosses two joints, just like the rectus femoris. It crosses both the hip and the knee as seen by our line drawn here. See Figure 16.

Figure 16. Location of Sartorius muscle.

For this muscle to be fully engaged within an exercise, not only does the hip have to be flexed under resistance and knee extended under resistance, but because the Sartorius inserts into the inside of the knee, the entire thigh and leg must also be externally rotated outward under resistance. See Figure 17.

Figure 17. Sartorius targeted with hip in flexion, knee in extension and hip in external rotation.

Looking at this from a different angle, we see the thigh being flexed first, followed by extension of the knee and then finally external rotation of the hip. See Figure 18.

Figure 18. Sartorius targeted with hip in flexion, knee in extension and hip in external rotation.

And this also happens to be the same position to effectively draw in the remaining three hip flexor muscles, which are the adductor longus, adductor brevis and pectineus. See Figure 19.

Figure 19. Targeting the Adductor Longus, Adductor Brevis and Pectineus by putting the hip in flexion, knee in extension and hip in external rotation.

So you can see that while performing exercises like situps and hanging knee raises are good exercises, they are limited to only the psoas and ilacus muscles. To get the other 5 hip flexors involved requires placing your leg and thigh into different positions.

Reason #3
The Hip Flexor Muscles are More Powerful and More Important Than You Might Think When it Comes to Running Faster

The third reason why the hip flexors are such an interesting group of muscles is because they are actually a lot more powerful and a lot more important than you might think when it comes to running faster.

Now as we mentioned in the first video, there are a total of 5 body torques, or rotational forces, acting on the spinal column and they all must offset each other, or counterbalance each other, so that you can maintain running in a straight line. See Figure 20.

Figure 20. Five torques acting on the spinal column must offset each other.

This means that, when you add them all up, the net rotational force must equal zero. See Figure 21.

Figure 21. All torques must add up to zero force.

Or another way of seeing this is the amount of force produced by all of the CCW torques must equal the amount of force produced by all of the CW torques. See Figure 22.

Figure 22. All Counterclockwise body torques must equal all clockwise torques.

And so, right now, you will recall back in video #1 of this series that we had body torque #1 going in the CCW direction which was powered by the glutes/hams, quads and calves on the right side of the body, and here in this video, we have torque #2 going in the CW direction which we just learned was powered by the hip flexors. See Figure 23.

Figure 23. Torque 1 (CCW) and Torque 2 (CW).

With three more torques to consider, one for the left arm, one for the right arm, and one for the torso, I bet many of you would think that most, if not all of three of them, would favor the side of the hip flexors to help support them against the powerful glutes/hams, quads and calves…and if you did, you are going to be pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise. See Figure 24.

Figure 24. Torques 1, 3, 4 and 5 are CCW and Torque 2 is CW.

To see this, let’s move on to the next video where we discuss body torque #3 for the right arm and body torque #4 for the left arm. See Figure 25.

Figure 25. Torque 3 for right arm and torque 4 for left arm.

Body Torque #1 by Glutes/Hams Increase Running Speed

Dear Athlete,

In this series of videos I am going to reveal to you how your body generates 5 rotational forces, or body torques, around your spinal column to help you run faster.

These 5 rotational forces are created from powerful muscle contractions found within your 1) right leg, 2) left leg, 3) right arm 4) left arm and 5) torso. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. 5 Rotational Forces to Run Faster.

And as an athlete, you absolutely must know about these 5 rotational forces because if you fail to train even just one of them then you are likely under-training when it comes to running speed. And if you are under-training then it is safe to say that you will not run as fast as you WERE meant to.

So I want to encourage you to watch the rest of this FIRST video because not only will you learn about the first body torque involved in running faster, but many of you are also going to start to see just how limited and perhaps just how narrow your speed training focus currently is. See Figure 2.

Figure 2. Narrow Speed Training Focus.

And my hope for you is that once you see this this you will want to watch all of these videos so that you can tap in to your true running speed potential.

Now if you are ready, let’s begin.

What is Torque?

Torque is defined as any force that causes rotation and for our purposes here, we only need to concern ourselves with the direction of this rotation which can either be clockwise or counterclockwise. See Figure 3.

Figure 3. Torque is a force that causes rotation.

So, for example, if we are looking at the face of a clock and apply a force to the minute hand in this direction, it will cause it to rotate in the clockwise direction. See Figure 4.

Figure 4. Clockwise Torque.

And similarly, if we apply force in this direction, it will cause it to rotate in the ccw direction. See Figure 5.

Figure 5. Counterclockwise Torque.

That’s easy enough right? So with that in mind, let’s go ahead and see if we can identify our first body torque.

Torque #1

In this figure we are going to draw just three simple lines on our athlete so we can start to envision where these body torques will act on the body. One line represents the spinal column as well as the center of the body where all 5 of these rotational forces will try and turn the body around. Another line is drawn across the shoulders and represents where the arms are attached and where they will try and rotate the upper body around the spinal column, and another line is drawn across the hips and represents where the legs are attached to the pelvis and is where they will try and rotate the lower body around the spinal column. See Figure 6.

Figure 6.

Now the first body torque that we are going to talk about will come from the right leg through the right hip. Since the right leg is on the ground behind our athlete pushing forward, we know then that a force, relatively speaking with regards to direction, will push the right hip going forward. See Figure 7.

Figure 7. Force pushing through right hip.

Now if this were the only force acting on the body, the question then is this. Which direction, if any, will it cause our athlete’s hips to turn?

Well the first thing to take notice of here is that, with respect to the spinal column, the force is coming from the right hip which is displaced to the right of it.

So we know that it has to rotate the body in one direction or the other. Because, the only way it wouldn’t cause the body to rotate would be if it were directly in line with the spinal column itself, which is simply not possible. See Figure 8.

Figure 8. No rotation caused by force in the center of the spine.

So we know it has to rotate, but again, which direction? Well, if we imagine this force continuing in the same direction, forward through the right hip, we can then see that it will produce a counterclockwise torque AROUND THE SPINAL COLUMN as seen by the direction of this arrow. See Figure 9.

Figure 9. Torque #1 is Counterclockwise.

So there’s the first of five body torques to help you run faster and the muscle groups in your lower extremity responsible for this torque are primarily the hip extensors, or glutes/hams as they are often referred to, the knee extensors, or quads, and the ankle plantarflexors, or calf muscles. See Figure 10.

Figure 10. Glutes/Hams, Quads, Calves for Torque #1.

Now if you stop and think about what exercises you might do to help you train these muscle groups you will likely come up with many of them seen in this list. See Figure 11.

Figure 11. Torque #1 Exercises.

Most of them target the glutes/hams, some target the quads and some the calf muscles and some of them target all three at the same time.

Now before we go any further, I want to say that I like all of these exercises in this list and I highly recommend them for any athlete looking to run faster. In fact, you could even say that this list of exercises is foundational to many training routines and are largely responsible for helping you get a quick first step, helping to improve reaction time, helping to improve running speed, improve running stride, improve turnover rate, increasing sprinting speed and much more.

But what I find interesting about it and the muscles that are targeted, is that not only do many athletes choose specifically from it to help them run faster, any exercises they do outside of this list to help them get quicker will more often than not, still only target these same three muscle groups and again, that’s the glutes/hams, quads and calf muscles.

So while they may look to create a variety in their routines to help them find that elusive speed training breakthrough that they’ve always wanted, they usually never seem to break away from training any one or more of these three muscle groups. See Figure 12.

Figure 12.

And the challenge those athletes will face, the challenge that you are likely facing today as you look to get faster, is that if you continue to focus or limit your speed training to just the glutes/hams, quads, and calves, you will be missing the training necessary that these other 4 torques demand for you to run faster because they each involve a completely a different set of muscles. See Figure 13.

Figure 13.

Furthermore, this first toque that is generated by your glutes and hamstrings, the quads and calves needs to be offset by one or more of these other 4 torques. See Figure 14.

Figure 14.

In other words, your body must produce some sort of torque in the opposite direction to counterbalance this torque, otherwise you will have a hard time running in a straight line. And if you don’t have the necessary strength in other muscles to counteract the powerful glutes/hams, you won’t be able to take full advantage of their powerful strength.

So, that leads us to the second body torque involved in running, one that is necessary to counteract or counterbalance this first torque, and that is the subject of our next video. See Figure 15.

Figure 15. Torque #2, Counteracting Torque.

Improve Running Speed, Stride and Turnover Rate with Hip Flexor Development.

Increasing your sprinting speed, stride and turnover rate comes down to the training of your hip flexor muscles.

In spite of their inherent strength, the hip flexors are still significantly underdeveloped in most athletes, including professionals. When was the last time you trained your Iliacus muscle?

These muscles are mainly located in the pelvic region of the body. Their main function is to flex the thigh up on the pelvis seen in our image below. [Read more…]