Why do we do running drills? Is it to look silly?

Right then, you lovely runners out there. When you go out for a run, do you perform running drills?

If I'm honest, I only do them during my Wednesday evening run with Oaksblokes and SLJ. Any other runs I do, it's a case of ‘get my trainers on and go’. No time for faffing about with drills. I also worry that by doing drills I will end up exhausted and I'll not have enough left in the tank for my run. But am I doing my runs a disservice? Should I focus more on drills or are they superfluous to the whole running event?

Running drills should mimic each aspect of good running form. In doing them, they help your efficiency and overall athleticism by encouraging movement in varying planes of motion. They improve neuromuscular connections between your brain and legs to help you become more coordinated and balanced. They strengthen your muscles giving you more power and increase the range of motion in your joints improving your running form. They raise your heart rate and improve your cardiovascular condition.

Put simply, running drills warm your joints and muscles up, improve communication between your brain and legs and improve your cardiovascular system. You may think you look silly doing them and may feel uncoordinated but actually, you’re reducing your risk of injury, training your body correctly and improving your running form. Smart!

When Should You Do Running Drills?

Ideally, you should do drills after a warm-up of half a mile to two miles. This ensures your muscles are warm and ready for an increased range of motion. The best session to do them before is a speed session or a shorter run rather than your long run. It is suggested to incorporate at least one to two drill sessions into your running program each week. Do each drill for 10-20 metres and go through the sequence at least once, if you have time repeat them two or three times.

Which drills should I do?

There are lots of running drills out there, all with different names and all are excellent for runners but my particular favourites and the ones we do on a Wednesday evening are High Knees, Heel Kicks, Side steps, Bring me Sunshines and Little Fast Feet.

High knees- This classic drill encourages a higher knee drive and a quick leg turnover. It should be a rapid drill so alternate your legs as fast as possible making sure you bring each knee up to your hip height. Keep your back straight and shoulders up and focus on your legs and core to lift your knees up. This drill is about form rather than covering distance. It builds strength and power in your calves, hamstrings and glute meaning quicker, bigger strides.

Heel Kicks- Heel Kicks work your hamstrings helping them contract faster. They also teach you to land your foot directly under your body reinforcing correct foot landing during running. Using small steps, almost running in place, pull your heel up directly under your glutes, and then straight down again (don’t stride forward) – bonus points if you can actually kick your glutes! Again, this is a fast pace drill focusing on form rather than distance.

Side to sides skips- These work on the lateral abductor/ adductor muscles to provide stability and increase mobility in the hips. Standing upright with your hips and shoulders facing forwards, skip side to side by bringing your feet together and then shoulder width apart. Let your arms cross over each other in front of the body as you skip. The key here is to find natural timing while maintaining rhythm as you skip side to side.

‘Bring me Sunshines’ were nicknamed that by the Wednesday runners because they do take on a similar (but not the same) action as the Morecombe and Wise prance. In the ahem, ‘Professional’ world however they’re known as High Knee Skips. This drill is designed to improve your stride length by encouraging you to put power into your skips to move you forwards. It's a bit like skipping with high knees. As you skip, bring your knee up and bounce forwards landing softly. Remember to raise your opposite arm to knee.

Little Fast Feet otherwise known as Ankling focuses on the strength and power of the push off of your foot and ankle which helps facilitate proper loading and spring during running. Using a quick and very short stride, strike the ground with the forefoot and fold the foot down to the surface from toe to heel with the heel just grazing the ground momentarily before popping up to perform a new strike. Take small steps with minimal knee lift and minimal time spent on the ground, all the movement being initiated from the ankles and feet.

As a recreational runner, do I need to bother?

Well, yes it’s a good idea too. The only runners who should proceed with caution are those coming back from injury. Drills should not hurt. If they do, stop! But anyone else can do drills and should try to incorporate them into a couple of their runs during the week.

They’re beneficial to all levels of runners, not just the competitive or elite. They are there to help improve the mind/body connection thereby reinforcing the proper mechanics of running and form, so try to think of them as part of your run, not an extra.

Remember the focus of your drills should be your form so don’t rush through them. Take your time and focus on movement, rather than distance.

Happy running!