A recent study showed that a slight forward lean of the trunk during running is of great significance for runners to avoid injury.
It is particularly important to master the correct trunk posture during running.
For more details on scientific running, please refer to Running Science: Technical, Physical Strength, Nutrition and Rehabilitation Guidance for Optimizing Runners’ Sports Performance-.
Now let’s introduce the different forward angles and the correct way to lean forward, master the correct way and angle to improve your running level.
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For runners who have forcibly changed their running posture, compared with the “free tilt of the trunk”, if the forward tilt angle of the trunk increases, the peak stress of the patellofemoral joint will decrease significantly, while the tilt angle of the trunk decreases, and the stress of the patellofemoral joint will increase significantly.
Leaning forward from the ankle can keep the body in the same straight line from head to foot.
The right way to lean forward – When you lean forward from your ankles, you should start with your ankles, not your hips.
If the torso leans back slightly, the point where the foot contacts the ground will be located in front of the body’s center of gravity, and the force generated by the contact between the foot and the ground will be too large, which will have a braking effect.
Different tilt angles Slightly forward leaning runners’ torso tilt angle will affect their sports performance (through running economy) and injury risk.
During the running process, when the body is upright, the average tilt angle is about 7.3 degrees; “Reduce trunk tilt”, that is, when running, the trunk leans back more than usual, with an average tilt angle of 4.0 degrees; “Increase trunk tilt” means that the trunk leans forward more than usual during running, with an average tilt angle of 14.1 degrees.
The greater the forward lean angle of the runner’s trunk, the better the running economy (under the same oxygen consumption, more energy can be released).
A certain degree of trunk strength can keep the body forward, so as not to lose the horizontal force, which is why strength training and mobility training can improve running performance and reduce injury risk.
Excessive forward leaning If the trunk leans forward more than 16 degrees during running, it will limit the activities of hip flexors, which will bring pressure on the lower back of runners.
The forward tilt of the trunk does not increase the stress of the ankle joint, but increases the stress of the hip joint.
According to reports, about half of the runners’ injuries are knee joint injuries, among which patellofemoral joint (PFJ) pain is the most common.
The ankle does not need to overcome the larger force in the vertical direction, so that the stretching force of the hip, knee and ankle can be transferred to the forward movement more effectively, so as to ensure that the released energy is used for horizontal advancement.
In addition to improving running performance, forward leaning has the advantage of reducing the risk of injury.
From the sagittal plane, the trunk posture can be measured by the amount of forward or backward tilt of the trunk.
Under the condition of “free tilt of trunk”, the stress of patellofemoral joint is relatively small for runners with larger forward tilt of trunk.
And according to relevant research, in the acceleration phase of running, hip extensors (hamstrings and gluteus) seem to have a more positive impact on running performance.
If you lean forward from the hip or waist, it will increase the pressure on the knee joint and limit the activities of the hip extensors.
Inadequate anteversion If the torso inclines forward less than 10 degrees, the range of motion of the hip flexor becomes larger and the range of motion of the hip extensor becomes smaller, resulting in excessive stride.
Correct trunk posture can not only improve running performance (improve running economy), but also reduce the risk of injury.
An ideal forward tilt angle is “slight forward tilt”, that is, 10~16 degrees forward tilt.
Everyone’s strength and biomechanical structure are different, so each runner’s torso posture is different when running.
Through the investigation of many runners who are not easily injured, it is found that most of their running postures are the following three types: “free trunk tilt”, that is, runners run with the habitual trunk posture.
However, for many runners, reducing the stress on the knee joint and transferring it to the hip extensors is a positive change.
It is generally supported that changing the running posture will not eliminate the stress, but will transfer the stress to other structures of the body.