August 27, 2012

The Natural Running Technique



In this second article of the series, we introduce you to Lee Saxby’s barefoot running technique, or Natural Running. The following explanations and graphics come from the coaching material and a live session with Canadian coach Tina Dubois.


What is Natural Running?
According to the method, “Running” is one of the three biomechanical forms of human locomotion, along with walking and sprinting. As you can see, “Jogging” is not a part of the picture here, and is described as an incorrect – an injurious – movement, only made possible because of standard shoes and their lack of proprioceptive feedback.


What’s the technique?
According to Saxby, there is an ideal way for running, and it applies to everyone. It’s composed of three parts; posture, rhythm and relax.



  • Posture means an upright torso with a straight, aligned head. Legs fall under the body, on the ball of the foot… nothing exotic here, except when you look in closer detail. The upright posture doesn’t include the usual “forward slant”, or bend at the ankles, that other methods (such as “Chi Running”) recommend. The foot fall has to be very precise, too, as landing on the side of your forefoot is deemed incorrect. The logic behind this is that your strongest metatarsal bone is, by far, the one leading to your big toe.
  • Rhythm means your cadence is precisely 180 beats per minute. Each of your feet will lift from the ground 90 times each minute, which leads to a very fast cadence. Add in the upright position and the first couple minutes will make you feel like running in place.
  • Relax means no tension in the upper or lower body. Movement is controlled, but not stiff. There is no bobbing of the head or rotation in the shoulders, but nothing has to be held too tight.


Real-Life Example
While at Tina Dubois’ coaching session, she took videos of my running, before and after applying Saxby’s method. For the sake of context, I am a self-taught barefoot runner with a 3-year base, who enjoys mostly injury-free running over all sorts of terrains and distances.


Video 1 : Before




Verdict : Head-Chasing, Forefoot Striking Overstrider
My standard posture, it turns out, is not quite perfect according to this method. Admittedly, the head-chasing part is mostly due to my watching the treadmill console, so we won’t pay much attention to that one and blame it on environmental factors. The overstriding, however, is the money shot. I tend to land on the side of my forefoot, a slight bit in front of my center of gravity. This causes an unbalance and makes me stretch my back leg (called “trail leg”) further behind me.





In Tina’s words :
  • Posture – Pretty good, only slightly bent at the waist (probably because your overstride is also quite slight). I can tell that your head is bent forward mostly because you're looking at the treadmill console)
  • Trail Leg – A little long (indicated by the orange line between your knees)
  • Foot Posture - Lateral forefoot with both feet (more lateral on your left than your right)
  • Overstride – Short overstride (indicated by blue arrow between heel and green line)
  • Rhymth – VERY close to 180 BPM
  • Contact time – 16 frames for both feet (filmed at 60 frames/second) for a contact time of just over 250 ms.

Corrective measures
Where Lee Saxby’s method really shines, in my opinion, is in the corrective exercises it proposes. Nothing complicated here, only a couple routines you can do anywhere, with minimal equipment. here’s a quick rundown :

  • Barefoot jumping
    Jump in place with both feet to a 180BPM rhythm. This will force very quick cadence and instil the feeling of the right footfall, as it is biomechanically impossible to land anywhere else than the ball of your foot. “Remember” the feeling in your feet and reapply to your running.

  • Barefoot walking
    While holding a bar overhead (a broom stick or, ideally, something a tad heavier like a weightlifting bar), walk around barefoot without pressing the bar forward or pulling it back. This forces the upright posture recommended in the method.

  • The "1-2-Pull"
    Same idea as the barefoot jump, this one is practiced on alternating legs, while in place or moving. To a 180 BPM rhythm, fold each knee back once, then “kick” once, higher. Repeat, while staying in the beat.

  • Squatting
    With a straight back, squat down with your whole foot touching the ground. Don’t lift your heels and concentrate your weight on the ball of the foot. You can ensure you have a straight posture by doing this exercise while extending out your arms and balancing a weighed bar on your collarbone.


Corrective measures applied to my… case
Since I have a tendency to slant forward slightly, Tina recommends the barefoot walking exercise. She also insists on my increasing my cadence to 180BPM, using the barefoot jumping exercise and a “metronome” MP3 that I can listen to while training. Last but not least, to take care of my lagging trail leg, she recommends I run stretches while performing the 1-2-Pull exercise. The second video below illustrates both my modified running technique and the 1-2-Pull exercise (notice the “kicking” leg).


Video 2 : After



Verdict : Natural Runner (!!!)
Although my second posture assessment was made easier by having a metronome beat to run to, I have to admit I didn’t put much effort into “trying” to look the part. I think this is largely due to the pertinence of the exercises, which are both simple to master and easy to practice.





In Tina's words :

  • Posture - Perfectly upright (indicated by the back of your ear being on the green line above your centre of gravity and no exaggerated curve in your low back)
  • Trail Leg - Close, which is perfect!
  • Foot Posture - Medial forefoot on the right and a little lateral on the left
  • Overstride – No overstride at all!
  • Rhythm – Right on 180 BPM (determined by listening to the metronome on the original movie file)
  • Contact time – 15 frames, which is perfect!

So in less than 3 hours, under the supervision of Tina, I was able to go from my "standard" posture to a "natural running" form. It required only a couple focused exercises and getting used to a 180 BPM rythm, which felt too fast for comfort but turned out to be close to what I was doing already.


Video 3 : Before + After, a side-by-side analysis



For a somewhat experienced barefoot / minimal runner like myself, adjusting to the Natural Running method was quite a breeze. It seemed like the technique was more difficult to apply for some other "shod" runners attending the session. However, they were probably lacking strength in the stabilizer muscles and had no prior experience of the "barefoot feel", which made listening to their body likely harder. My guess is most of them probably needed only to perform the exercises a couple more times for the posture and the technique to feel more natural.


The next article in the series will be my analysis of the method and what I took away from it, both in theory and practice. As mentioned earlier, I’m inviting you to take part in the conversation in the comments section below. Tina will be there to answer your questions and discuss your feedback.


For a complete run-down of the Natural Running technique, you can visit Tina's official website.

August 24, 2012

Interview : Tina Dubois, Natural Running Coach


In this first article of the series, we introduce you to Tina Dubois, first Canadian coach for Lee Saxby's Natural Running method. I had the opportunity to meet her recently, while on her first national tour to promote the "mastery of the barefoot running skill".


Before we go into a detailed description of the method and an analysis of my running posture (anything for the sake of science!), let's get to meet the woman, a Western-Canada runner and blogger who decided to leave her old running ways - and injuries - behind and focus on technique.


FL - What brought you to natural running? What’s your running background?
TD - I started running in 2000 and was a perpetually injured runner. In my first 8 years of running, I suffered from occasional shin splints, patellar-femoral pain (AKA runner's knee), IT-band strain, as well as sore hips and SI joints. I chronically suffered from low back pain and plantar fasciitis. I always ran through the pain and ran several trail races including the Canadian Death Race relay and 5 Peaks Trail Running Series, as well as a few road races and a couple sprint-distance triathlons.

In 2008, I read "You Walk Wrong" by Adam Sternbergh where I was introduced to the idea of wearing minimal shoes as a way to strengthen your feet and improve your posture and walking gait. I bought my first pair of minimal shoes in May and the chronic pain in my low back that I endured with every step was gone and I was a minimal shoe convert. From a full-time orthotic wearer, I slowly transitioned to walking, and eventually running, solely in minimal shoes. I started reviewing minimal footwear in 2009.

In 2011, VIVOBAREFOOT offered the Certified Coaching Program and I was lucky enough to attend the first Training Clinic in New York City. I learned how to run naturally from Lee Saxby at the Coaching Program and how to teach it to others. Now I run injury-free and hope to teach this form of running to as many runners as possible.


FL - Why choose Lee Saxby’s method? How did you find out about it?
TD - I found out about the Coaching Program from my friend, Barefoot Angie Bee's website, as she was invited to the same Training Clinic.

Lee Saxby's method identifies three forms of running: heel-striking overstriding (or jogging), forefoot-striking overstriding (or unskilled barefoot form), and what I call Natural Running (what he calls skilled barefoot form). As a coach, we are taught how to identify the three forms in our clients and how to change their form into natural running using specific exercises and functional coaching cues. Although there are many running coaching methods available (POSE, ChiRunning, Good Form Running, etc.), Lee's method breaks down the skill of running into microskills (posture, rhythm, and relaxation) that the runner can focus on individually and uses coaching cues that improve these skills, by feeling what good form is rather than thinking about what good form is, making the transformation to natural runner extremely quick and maintained through practice.


FL - Did your running form need a lot of improvement?
TD - Before the Coaching Program, I ran with unskilled barefoot form or a forefoot-striking overstriding form. This form is extremely common in runners who ran with a heel-strike and switched to running in minimal shoes or barefoot. When your body receives sufficient proprioceptive feedback (ie, sensory information about how you're hitting the ground), people will usually switch from landing on their heel to landing on their forefoot but all other aspects of your form remain the same. I learned to run with a faster cadence and land under my centre of gravity (rather than ahead of it) with a medial forefoot landing (between the first and second toe on the ball of the foot).


Tina Dubois
FL - How long – and how smooth – was your transition to the natural running form?
TD - It took half a day to relearn how to run (in a group of 10 people). If you're wondering how long it took me to regain my mileage using the new form compared to the old form, I'd say about 4 weeks. How long a person takes to transition and reach their previous mileage depends on A LOT of factors including what their previous form was, what their mileage was, what level of strength a person has in their legs, what their injury history is, etc.


FL - Did you benefit from your transition? How so?
TD - Absolutely! Before the transition to natural running, I ran extremely slowly and found running to be a lot of work, even after I switched to running in minimal shoes. If I ran any faster than my somewhat-faster-than-walking pace, some part of my body would hurt, so I never ran fast and was content with my level of pain-free running. Now I can run MUCH faster with MUCH less energy and have no pain.


FL - In your opinion, what’s the strongest point(s) in Lee Saxby’s method?
TD - Lee's Coaching Program teaches what injuries are caused by which forms of running and why based on human physiology and biomechanics. His method teaches the most biomechanically efficient and safe form of running that humans can achieve in a way that achieves this form in around an hour. Then all you have to do as a runner is practice a few exercises and remember certain aspects of those exercises while running. The strongest points of Lee's method are its biomechanical basis, ease of learning, and simplicity in practice.


FL - What are your goals as a natural running coach?
TD - I want to share the benefits of Natural Running to all runners so that they can experience the most efficient and safest form of running we can achieve. Basically, I want to help all runners learn to run pain-free.


FL - Do you think there’s a single right way to run, or are there natural variations between individuals?
TD - The principles of Natural Running are based in basic human anatomy and biomechanics. I think there is an 'optimum' way to run that maximizes efficiency and minimizes injury based on these principles. Variation between individuals is caused by different levels of skill.


FL - Do you consider yourself a barefoot advocate? What’s your take on the whole shoe debate?
TD - I advocate being barefoot as a tool to gain strength in your feet and use barefoot running as a tool to increase proprioceptive feedback (ie, awareness of how your feet hit the ground) while learning the skills of running. When I run, I wear a minimal shoe that is appropriate for the terrain I'm running on and type of running that I am doing. My position on shoes is that I choose to wear footwear that allows my feet to move naturally with as much proprioceptive feedback as possible for the terrain and temperature conditions whether I'm walking or running.


Our next article will present the Natural Running method and include a hands-on example using my own, self-taught running barefoot running form. Tina has recorded a video of my posture on the treadmill, then advised on a series of exercises and body awareness. We recorded a second video to try to see if the exercises and advice had any impact on my posture.


I invite you to participate to this series by sending feedback and asking questions to Tina, who is following the conversation on my blog (in case you're reading this from somewhere else). Make this your chance to have a conversation directly with a certified coach :)



August 14, 2012

Dance, Dance : The Green Mountains






I discovered the Green Mountains, a remote forest reserve in Quebec's Eastern Townships region, a while back... Last Saturday, I went down there and brought my GoPro along.

Wanna dance?


August 10, 2012

New Series : The Lee Saxby Running Method

There's a lot of debate in the running community about running technique. More and more people have come out saying they have found the "ideal" way of running, promising everything from increased speed to the end of injuries.

Although I am far from convinced that there is a single right way to run, I also know that there are some basic principles at the core of a sound running technique that can help improve performance and keep injuries at bay.

So when I was invited, a couple weeks back, to attend a clinic based on coach Lee Saxby's method given by Canadian runner Tina Dubois, I was both curious and excited. I was offered the chance to attend the presentation of the theory, to get my own running form analyzed and to get some physical training exercises to help improve my form.

In a new series of articles starting next week, I will introduce you to coach Tina Dubois, go over the Lee Saxby method and share my posture analysis and following recommendations.

You're invited to post your questions and comments along the way, and Tina will join in the conversation.