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There  is a popular belief that “everyone has their own natural running gait  and it should not be altered”.  I have never seen any evidence to back  up this theory, I agree that no two people will run exactly the same  however there are fundamental movement mechanics that maximize speed,  economy and reduce injury risk. 

I  have worked with, mentored under or taken courses from half a dozen  high performance run coaches, I have read countless sport science  journals, and the evidence is clear that there are basic principals that  consistently maximize speed, economy and injury prevention.  

Walk vs Run: A Short Gait Analysis

At  first glance, walking and running appear to differ only in speed. In  reality, they are fundamentally different movement patterns that rely on  very different muscular strategies.

Walking  is driven primarily by the anterior chain, particularly the quadriceps,  and is characterized by longer ground contact time and a relatively  straight-leg gait. Running, on the other hand, relies far more on the  posterior chain—glutes, hamstrings, and calves—working in concert with  the anterior muscles to generate elasticity which is where power is  created.

Running is not just walking faster. It is an elastic bounce and release system.

It comes back to a principle I’ve referenced before:

“The angle of a lever dictates muscle function.”

Change joint position and you change which muscles work and efficiently.

Triple Flexion: The Foundation of Running Power

Good  running form is the result of three levers working together—hip, knee,  and ankle creating what is known as triple flexion. Triple Flexion is  defined as the simultaneous bending of all three joints and this system  will determine.

• How much force is produced at ground contact
• The efficiency of the SSC (stretch shortening cycle) which is how      energy is stored and returned
• Length of ground contact time ( GCT)
  

When triple flexion works, force is stored and returned, when it collapse, force is absorbed and lost.

The Ankle

As the big toe pushes off the ground and the leg passes underneath the hip, the ankle should be in a dorsiflexed position (toes pulled up toward the shin).

This serves two critical purposes:

1. Creates a stable landing platform
   Try standing on one leg with your toes pointed down, pull your toes up   toward your shin (dorsiflexion) and you immediately feel the  improvement in ankle stability, it is stronger and more stable.
2. Pre-loads the Achilles tendon and calf
   This  pre-loading shortens ground contact time (GCT) by allowing the  ankle–Achilles complex to act like a spring. Longer GCT results in  greater energy loss. 

Coaching Cues

• Toes up, heels up, knees up – The knee, toes and heel drive up and forward while the toes pull toward the shin.
• Step over the ankle – The recovering foot should pass over the stance ankle, just above the lower calf not stay close to ground.
• Keep the stance leg stiff – The stance leg should remain strong upon ground contact, Ankle, knee and hip should not collapse. 

The Knee

A  sprinters thigh will be close to perpendicular to the ground; for  distance runners this would be excessive, but insufficient knee drive  limits force production, reduces economy and can be the cause of a  number of injuries

A more acute knee angle positions the hip to engage the posterior chain which:

• Increases power production
• Improves hip engagement
• Enhances activation of the glutes, hamstrings, and quads
• 
  

If the knee doesn’t drive forward, maximum force cannot be produced.

Coaching Analogy

One  of the ways I try to describe the movement is to have the athlete  visualize being on a skate board.  In order to propel yourself forward  would the propulsion foot hit the ground inline with the foot on the  skateboard and push back, or would you drive your knee up and forward  in-front of you and pull back ward hitting the ground just in front of  your centre mass? 

Effective running is achieved by choice number two.

Coaching Cues

• From  the side view, are the knees on different planes? The recovery knee  should rise above the stance knee (thigh position) at the top of the  recovery cycle/beginning of the propulsion phase.
• The recovery foot should pass over the stance ankle near the bottom of the calf.
• If the stride resembles a walking gait (foot always near the ground), muscle engagement and force production are minimal.
• Sole of the foot should point backward not up
• Foot should be travelling forward immediately, not kicking backward

 The Hips

Hip  function is often the most overlooked aspect of running mechanics, foot  strike, forward lean, arm drive all important and popular topics, but  hip function has a tremendous influence on run performance.  

Just like in swimming and in cycling, in running your body goes where your hips lead.

Pelvic Stability

Watch  the athlete from behind, does the hip drop to the right when the right  foot hits the ground? Does the same happen on the left?  Excessive  side-to-side hip drop indicates that the triple flexion chain is  collapsing on contact. Instead of storing and returning energy, the  athlete is absorbing it this leads to:

• Longer ground contact time
• Reduced power production
• Shorter stride length

The Ball Analogy

One  of the ways I try to show this visually is to take a tennis ball and a  golf ball.  Hold each at shoulder height and just drop them on the  ground.
Most people expect the tennis ball to bounce higher. In  reality, the golf ball does because it is stiff and tightly wound. The  tennis ball compresses, losing energy before rebounding.

A  collapsing hip behaves like the tennis ball. A stable pelvis behaves  like the golf ball energy goes back up, not into the ground.

Pelvic Position: Anterior vs Posterior Tilt

The pelvis transfers force between the upper and lower body and works best when it is level and stacked.

• Anterior pelvic tilt: exaggerated lower-back arch, hips pushed forward
• Posterior pelvic tilt: glutes pushed excessively backward
  

Both  restrict hip extension, forcing the hip flexors to work harder during  recovery and reducing efficiency. Optimal alignment places the pelvis in  a neutral position.

Importance of Posture 

As the foot first makes contact with the ground, you should be able to draw a straight line from ankle → hip → shoulder → ear.   As the foot leaves the ground, and the big toe is pushing off the  same alignment should remain, with a slight forward lean from the  ankles to the ear the athlete should not be leaning from the hips or  waist

Running efficiency is not about isolated cues or single joints. It emerges when the ankle, knee, and hip function together,  maintaining stiffness where needed and elasticity where possible. When  triple flexion is coordinated and the pelvis remains stable, power is  conserved, contact time is minimized, and speed becomes easier.

Injury Prevention and Triple Flexion

Efficient  running mechanics are not just about speed it is also the primary  injury prevention strategy. When the hip, knee and ankle function as an  integrated system, load is distributed across multiple tissues and  stored elastically. When that system breaks down, stress increases,  fatigue accelerates, and injury risk increases.

Where Injuries Begin

Most running injuries are not caused by too much force,  but by force being absorbed in the wrong place for too long. The result  of a lever at the wrong positioning is increased GCT and loss of  elastic energy and running goes from popping off the ground and energy  release system into a land and push system.

Injury Prevention the Ankle: Achilles, Calf, and Foot Load

When the foot hits the ground in a dorasiflex position the result is:

• Dorsiflexion under the hip pre-loads the Achilles and calf
• The ankle behaves like a stiff spring
• Energy is returned rapidly
• 
  

What happens when this breaks down

• Striking  with the heel (over-striding) or landing to far forward (toe pointing  down or plantar-flexion) increases braking forces and transfers the load  to the shin.
• Ground contact time increases losing elastic energy
• Calf and Achilles shift from elastic storage to sustained muscular work
  

Common Injuries 

• Achilles tendinitis
• Shin Splints / tibia fracture
• Calf strains / pulls
• Plantar fasciitis

The Knee: Load Distribution and Braking

When,  forward and up knee drive diminishes, stride length is often maintained  by reaching forward this increases joint stress without increasing  speed.

What we should be looking for:

• On the recovery leg the knee drives up and forward as soon as the toe pushes off the ground
• The propulsion leg strikes the ground just in front of the centre of mass (hips)
• This results in force being directed vertically and elastically
  

What happens when it breaks down.

• Reduced knee drive tends to lead to over-striding 
• Increased braking forces as the foot contacts the ground
• The knee becomes a shock absorber instead of a force transmitter
  

Common Injuries

• Runners knee (Patellofemoral pain) and other common knee pain issues
• IT band irritation
• Shin splints
• Achilles tendon injuries 

The Hip: The Gatekeeper of Injury Risk

The  hip is where most running injuries start, even if symptoms show up  elsewhere. As glute endurance fades, the pelvis loses stability. Pace is  compromised even though effort increases.

What we should be looking for:

• Stable pelvis with minimal side-to-side drop
• Hip extensors absorb and return force
• Energy stays in the system

 What happens when it breaks down

• Pelvic drop increases, which in turn means more energy is lost
• Triple flexion (knee and ankle) also start to collapse 
• Energy is absorbed instead of returned
  

Common injuries

• Hamstring strains
• Lateral Hip pain (Gluteal tendinopathy) soreness on the outside of the hips, pain increases with prolonged activity
• Hip flexor strains
• Low back pain      
   

The Last word on Pelvic Tilt 

Both  anterior and posterior pelvic tilt restrict hip extension. This causes  hip flexors to work harder during recovery. Many “tight hip flexors” may  not be “short” they might be overworked due to poor pelvic position.

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It  wasn’t until 2011, after seeing a presentation by Iñigo Mujika at an  Own the Podium workshop, that I began to truly understand tapering and  its importance to an overall program.

Up until that point, I thought tapering was simple: reduce load for 10–14 days and arrive fresh on race day.

Inigo  Mujika is a sport physiologist, coach, and one of the leading  researchers in tapering and peaking and that presentation challenged how  I thought about tapering. His work made it clear that tapering wasn’t  just about doing less. It was about not only how and when to taper but  also you should consider what type of taper suited what type of athlete.

In  2015, I took a group of athletes to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, for a  six-week camp. At the time, Triathlon Canada’s national program was led  by Jamie Turner, Jamie had established a training base there and spent  much of the WTCS season in the region.

Most  days after training, I’d meet with Jamie to debrief the day, and this  was when I met Inigo who was not only our main point of contact for  training in Vitoria he was also a friend of Jamie’s. 

It was during those conversations that I realized:

I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

I  understood tapering in principle, but I hadn’t considered how different  tapering strategies should match an athlete’s profile, training  history, or race demands. I had more information on tapering strategies,  but not the knowledge on how to integrate it to maximum effect.

When I was asked a few questions and I reflected honestly on my own processes, the answers weren’t great:

• Did I use different taper strategies for different race distances? No.
• Did I assess whether my taper was effective? Not really.
• Did I test taper strategies within training blocks? No.
• Did I taper all three disciplines the same way? Yes.
  
  

Not exactly high-performance thinking.

Tapering Is Not an Add-On

It seemed like an obvious concept, once it had been explained:

 The taper is not an add-on to a program—it is the final phase of the most important training block.

Inigo Mujika writes in one of books Tapering and Peaking for Optimal Performance:

“The  performance enhancement that usually takes place with the taper is  related to recovery of the physiological capacities that were impaired  by past training and to restoration of the tolerance to training,  resulting in further adaptations during the taper.”

Put more simply, the objectives of an effective taper are to:

1. Maximally reduce accumulated physiological and psychological stress (fatigue)
2. Restore training tolerance and enhance training-induced adaptations
   
   

Through  these conversations, there were a number of takeaways, things I could  build on and things I could start to implement and then refine.  

Here are a few of the lessons I had learned then, and since.

There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Taper

There are different tapering strategies because there are different types of athletes. 

• Some respond quickly to training, others it takes more time
• Athletes carry fatigue differently: some can work through fatigue, others breakdown
• Some thrive on consistent high volume, many others do not
• Some are comfortable with longer periods of reduced volume, it can compromise confidence in others
  
  

Different  race distances and formats also place different demands on the athlete.  Understanding what a taper is to accomplish is really about  understanding, who the athlete is and how they respond to different  types of training and the type of race.

Common Tapering Strategies

Linear Taper

• Gradual,steady reduction in volume
• Typically, 2–3 weeks
• Up to 60% total volume reduction

In  my experience I have found this taper is most useful for athletes new  to the sport or athletes that may be new to your program.  It is simple  and straight forward, allows coaches to establish some baseline  responses and is simple to execute.

Exponential Taper

• Larger reduction early often 40% or more
• Then progressively smaller reductions

One  of the benefits an Exponential taper has over a Liner taper in my  experience is that accumulated fatigue from normal training loads is  shed quicker but fitness is preserved. The quicker large drop in volume  also allows for some fine tuning as you approach race day.  

In  my experience this type of taper works best for athletes who respond to  lower volumes of normal training, athletes who need to feel really  fresh, and athletes who may want to adjust training up or down to feel  confident close to race day.

Step Taper

• One immediate drop in volume up to 40-60%
• Load then remains relatively constant

I  have found that this approach is good for athletes who may respond a  bit slower to added volume in normal training and / or athletes who have  recently returned to normal training from illness or injury or where a  fast unloading may be needed.

Double Taper (Two-Peak Taper)

• Usually 5-6 weeks in length
• Initial taper of about 2-3 weeks
• Followed by a small increase in load
• Then a second taper into competition

This  approach is based on the Supercompensation principal, the body  overcompensates from the first taper triggering adaptation above the  previous fitness level before the final loading / unloading cycle.  This  strategy is best for athletes who respond quickly to training and / or  athletes who lose confidence when training loads are reduced for longer  periods.

Full transparency I have only used this tapering  strategy once, going into our National Championships last Sept.  The  athlete had raced only a couple of times over the previous 3-4 years  (combination of COVID, illness and rehab from surgery). 
1st taper was 2 weeks
1 week unload
2 weeks at 70% load of taper 1

Was it perfect? Hard to say.

But he finished third in U23 so I am confident we are at least moving in the right direction.

My Coaching Takeaways

A few other nuggets that I came away with:

• Maintain intensity -  Preserve neuromuscular sharpness
• Maintain swim frequency - Supports both performance and“feel”
• Reduce volume, not touch points - Keep athletes connected to race demands
• Include transition work at race intensity -  Reinforce decision-making under pressure
• Don’t do too little, Don’t do too much – too little can make you feel flat, too much and you haven’t shed fatigue
• Demands of the event – Match training and your taper to the demands of the event
• Build confidence through execution – sets and sessions that are challenging but doable, build confidence before a race
  
  

Coaching Checklist: Did the taper work?

• Did the athlete execute at or near their current ability?
• Were they able to respond to key moments in the race?
• Did they feel sharp? Or Flat?
• Did they fade late in the race? (too much load?)
• Did they lack top end response? (too much intensity?)
• If needed do you adjust the tapering strategy to the athlete? Or use a different strategy?
• Did you and your athlete learn something to apply in the future?
  
  

The biggest change in my thinking was that tapering was not just something you did going into a race 

• it is the final phase of the most important training block
• getting it wrong can compromise weeks or months of training.
• Individualize tapering strategies like you individualize training strategies. 
• Tapering isn’t rest, it is bringing performance capacity to the fore front

Thanks for reading