Run Technique Coach

20 Drive / A-skips. That’s it.

Not for show.
Not for Instagram.
For reps.

This is what’s going into the 5 Move course app now — not just demos…
👉 challenges
👉 targets
👉 repeatable work

Because here’s the truth:

Running technique isn’t something you watch…
It’s something you earn through repetition.

You don’t “learn” A-skips.
You wire them in.

20 reps today
20 reps tomorrow
20 reps next week

Over and over and over again… until it’s automatic.

That’s how movement changes.
That’s how you go from thinking → doing → owning it.

Most runners try a drill once and move on.
That’s why nothing sticks.

The ones who improve?
They repeat. Relentlessly.

This is coordination.
This is rhythm.
This is how you build real running skill.

Master the simple. Then build.

That’s the system.

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Want structure, progressions, and actual coaching behind it?
That’s exactly what the 5 Move course and app is for.

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Move better. Train smarter. Run faster.

John Korir has springs!!!!!!

A prolific winner, and today he ran away from the field again with a brutally aggressive second half, stopping the clock just over 60 minutes.

His tekkers are first-class. He’s born with springs — on and off the ground faster than almost anyone in the sport.

Watch the shapes:
• Dip position: beautiful loading, slight lean reminiscent of Kelvin Kiptum, yet completely his own.
• Tuck: copes with the intensity of landing effortlessly, stepping over the knee and clearing the foot so everything rises cleanly.
• Drive position: opens the hips brilliantly — he’s airborne in the most perfect A-shape you’ll see (and this is why we practise A-shapes, or drive shapes, as I call them).
• Kick-out & recovery: front-side mechanics on point while the rear leg recovers seamlessly.
• Landing: places the foot underneath the body, ready to load and go again without losing momentum.

This is first-class technique — the kind we should all aspire to.



Credits: World Athletics

As a run technique coach, I include these three exercises in every warm-up to help set you up for a strong, injury-free run:

Shoe the Ducks 🦆Hamstring sweeps with the toe pointed up can help release neural tension that builds up from sitting, while also restoring movement through the posterior chain.

Walking High Knees. A great part of the activation and mobilisation phase of a RAMP warm-up, helping engage the calf, glute, hip flexor, and the rest of the body before you run.

Step Over Lunges. A running-specific movement that opens up the hips, improves coordination, and starts to build low-level force production in a way that carries over well to running.

Tip: Try both the lunges and shoeing the ducks backwards too — a great way to challenge coordination, reduce joint stress, and build strength through slightly different angles.

Simple. Specific. Effective.

Don’t practice bad habits.

To eradicate your walk run form into pro form, do everything with the correct sequence.

Step over by tuck, drive, kick and into the land.

This is the lunge taught through British Athletics to encourage good quality movement skills.

The standing leg pushes up to engage the glute and core. The free leg creates shapes to step over by using the hamstrings to tuck under hip, then to drive the knee and come down at a better angle. You absorb the force and train hip lock.

Complex Side Planks & Injury Risk Reduction

Some athletics governing bodies have used the side plank as a predictor of injury risk in elite athletes. Those who can hold a strong side plank and lift the top leg up — then lower it slowly under control — tend to show excellent pelvic stability, which is closely linked to reduced injury risk.

I’ve included two versions to try:

1. If you can’t lift the top leg yet:
Move the knee into a drive position and bring your elbow to meet it. This builds rotational control and teaches you to stabilise through the pelvis while moving the upper and lower body.

2. If you can lift the leg:
Raise and lower it with control, then bring your elbow to meet your knee. This is a true advanced side-plank progression that challenges strength, stability, and coordination.

Why do these matter for runners?
Because side planks strengthen the exact muscles that keep you stable on one leg — the deep core, obliques, glute medius, and hip stabilisers. These muscles control your pelvis, maintain alignment, reduce energy leaks, and play a major role in lowering injury risk. Stronger side-plank ability nearly always shows up as better running mechanics.

If you can master these variations, you’re building serious durability into your technique.

TOE YOGA 👣 – Why it matters for runners

Most runners have no control of their toes.

They move as one block…
Which means the foot becomes passive.
And a passive foot = lost performance.

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So what is toe yoga?

It’s simple:
• Lift the big toe, keep the other 4 down
• Then reverse it

Sounds easy…
Until you try it.

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Why this matters for running

The big toe is critical at toe-off.

👉 This is NOT about pushing off the back foot
👉 This is NOT about extending late behind you

This is about the final moment on the ground
As the body moves forward
And the knee drives through.

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Good running mechanics:
• Foot loads under you
• Body moves over it
• Big toe helps you come OFF the ground quickly

Bad (walk-based) mechanics:
• Push off late behind you
• Overuse calves
• Stay on the ground too long

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Toe yoga helps you:
✅ Build foot control
✅ Improve stability
✅ Create a cleaner, quicker toe-off
✅ Stop “pushing” and start “popping”

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Struggling to do it?

Use your hands.

Lift the toes.
Feel the position.
Teach your brain.

That’s how you build control.

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Your feet are your foundation.
If they don’t work… nothing above them will.

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Walk-Based to Run-Based Mechanics 🔄

For this Hyrox athlete, the shift was clear.

From a walk-based pattern — pushing off the back foot, long ground contact, “scissor” action…
➡️ To a run-based stride — developing the front side, creating shape, and moving with intent.

In just 90 minutes, she began building the key positions we coach in the 5 Move system:

Dip → Tuck → Drive → Kick → Land

This is where running starts to change.
Not just effort… but how you move.

She’s now at the start of a journey toward more efficient, powerful running — something that transfers directly into Hyrox and functional fitness performance.

If you want the same transformation:
👉 Join one of our May workshops
👉 Or start the online 5 Move course, where I’ll personally review your running technique

The Overstride.

This is one of the most common faults we see in runners — and it’s a much more dynamic problem.

Push → glide → brake.

You push off the back foot, float through the air, then land passively out in front.

And that landing?

It acts like a brake. 💥

For some runners, it’s inefficient - wasted energy and fighting every step.
For others, it’s where injuries start — whether that’s joints taking impact or soft tissue getting overloaded.

Yes some people run quite quick like this, BUT it’s not giving you the best chance to express your fitness.

So what do we want instead?

We want the foot to come out…
then down…
then back underneath you.

Now you’re no longer braking — you’re accelerating.

That’s the shift.

From passive landing → to active landing.

From reaching → to returning.

From push-based running → to front-side mechanics.

This is where the 5 Move system comes in and where we help this runner progress.

As you progress through the programme, you’ll start building this through more advanced drills like B-skips — developing that kick and whip action so the foot naturally comes back down towards you.

No thinking. No forcing.

Just clean, automatic movement.

If you want to move away from overstriding and start running with flow and efficiency, the 5 Move Running Programme is where it starts.

Use code ONLINE25 for a discount through April.

Move better. Train smarter. Run faster.

Safe landing from walk-based mechanics.

This runner shows something we don’t often see.

Yes — the overall pattern is still walk-based.
But at the front of the stride, they’re doing something right…

They’re bringing the foot back towards them instead of leaving it out in front.

That one change starts to remove the braking forces that destroy efficiency and load the body.

Because when the foot goes away from you, it acts like a brake.
When it comes back towards you, you land safer, smoother, and more efficiently.

This is exactly what we’re aiming for.

Their issue?

They never get off the foot.

They stay loaded too long and end up pushing from a heavily dorsiflexed position — putting huge stress through the calf and Achilles.

That’s where problems start building.

Efficient running isn’t about pushing harder.
It’s about timing, release, and using the bigger muscles to do the work.

👉 Get off the ground quicker
👉 Let the leg recover underneath you
👉 Land with control, not force

That’s how you move from walk-based mechanics to proper running.

If you want to stop muscling your stride and start running with ease, the 5 Move Running Programme shows you exactly how.

Use code ONLINE25 for 25% off.

Move better. Train smarter. Run faster.