Running technique is an important component of running economy and performance

© 2017 American College of Sports MedicineDespite an intuitive relationship between technique and both running economy (RE) and performance, and the diverse techniques employed by runners to achieve forward locomotion, the objective importance of overall technique and the key components therein remain to be elucidated. PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between individual and combined kinematic measures of technique with both RE and performance. METHODS: Ninety-seven endurance runners (47 female) of diverse competitive standards performed a discontinuous protocol of incremental treadmill running (4 min stages, 1 km.h increments). Measurements included three-dimensional full body kinematics, respiratory gases to determine energy cost, and velocity of lactate turnpoint (vLTP). Five categories of kinematic measures (vertical oscillation, braking, posture, stride parameters and lower limb angles) and locomotory energy cost (LEc) were averaged across 10-12 km.h (the highest common velocity