longer stride

[sweetgal]

hello

Do you know some jump and weight lifting exercises which could help me to improve my knee elevation and do my stride longer?

[runking]

Keep in mind there maybe a dozen other things with your running that warrants your attention other then your stride length. I could be wrong, but I can't imagine altering your stride length will result in better performance. If you try to "force it" you'll probably see a decrease in performance. I'd suggest doing some hill bounds and such to improve on your forum and let the stride length follow a natural course. There are tons of very good quality runners who have horrible form. There isn't any harm in trying to improve your form, just let it come naturally. An artificial form might very well reap no rewards.

[kelly]

Speed equals stride length X stride rate. To increase stride length, increase rear leg drive. Hill running is one way to accomplish this, I would start there.

[fighter]

to help get your stride longer, pump your arms faster, lift your knees up more, and reach with your legs. Also try not to land flat on your feet. =)

[smarty]

Fighter, Thats a good point, dont overstride, thats backward momentum with every step that you take, a braking action.

If youve seen Chariots of Fire, this is Abrams (sp?) problem, and shows how he overcomes it.

[peter]

Maybe I'm bring over analytical, but surely if you reach with your legs, you're only going to encourage overstriding? I agree with getting the knees up, but for me you don't need to reach with your legs if your knees are coming up. Your stride length will get longer as a result of better knee lift...