什么是最好的步态

由菲尔Maffetone博士

多年来，我经常问到的最好的方式来运行。更快的腿营业额？前倾的身体吗？保持你的手臂在你身边？推手与你的脚吗？我希望能有一个简单的答案。但有没有。什么是最好的，但是，告诉了亚军的概念是，如果你的脚正确地砸在地面上，身体的其他部位会，导致自然的步态。虽然这是最重要的地方开始改善你的步态，如果有一个问题在这里先修正。但是，这是比较容易做的比说。大多数跑鞋的脚做他们的工作，这可能会导致整个身体有不好的步态，诱导成肌肉，骨骼和关节的压力与干扰。穿错鞋，你永远也找不到你的自然有效的步态。

这是最常见的一个具体问题是，许多跑步鞋，因为你的土地上，而不是你的脚后跟，进一步推进了你的脚。这是因为它们是建立大，过支持的高跟鞋和销售提供一个“更流畅，更缓冲乘坐。”但是，随着时间的推移，鞋跟上的重复的登陆行动造成脚的踝关节功能障碍以及潜在的，膝盖和臀部受伤。现在你的身体的基础是打击最脆弱的地区。

拱在你的脚下，支持的肌肉，和许多肌腱，尤其是大跟腱，以这样一种方式，当畅通，其内置的春天般的动作，使运行一个完全自然的活动。不仅可以你的脚的冲击力，每一步都没有损坏，但它需要能量的引力场和回收回​​来的脚弹前进，而不是倒退。但是，通过内置的高跟鞋穿的鞋，你几乎是不断倒退的每一步。

赤脚跑步，甚至几码到感觉的差异。你不能降落在你的脚后跟。赤脚将改变这一切。它可以让你自由，自然，高效的运行。一般情况下，赤脚跑，你会倾向于不低迷。这将是更容易保持直立的姿势。这是因为你会降落在中旬前掌，不是你的脚跟。的每一步，你的脚会弹出你的身体和向前发展。

这种自然的步态会帮助你感觉到你的脚雨后春笋般掉在地上，仿佛他们有更多的精力。事实上，他们做的。那是的能源回报自然发生在一个健康的步伐。重点雨后春笋掉在地上的脚。当你感觉它，你的身体会更快速地移动。如果你穿的是心脏监测仪，你会发现你的步伐可以更快的心脏率无一上涨。 （我已经多次看到，10或12次率较高的不正确的步态与之间的差异。）阅读更多..

需要更多的帮助吗？想想上运行的热煤，如果你要做到这一点，你的脚需要尽可能多留烧红的煤。因此，从即时每只脚接触地面，迅速把它捡起来。我用这个“热煤技术”，以帮助运动员更有效地与他们的步态。你的脚不再停留在地面上，更多的精力浪费，更容易受伤，而且不太可能，你会使用，能更好的运行。相反，想想你的脚离地面后的每一步。同时，你放松。看照片最伟大的选手，它们实际上是空气中的大部分时间，因为他们花的时间要少得多，每只脚在地面上。

在极少数情况下，你的身体是特别顽固的，你可以不涉及到我刚才解释的，这可能是因为你的脚，使用不当的工作，他们需要更多的时间去学习自然的动作。他们可能需要额外的再培训，或康复。如果是这样的情况下，不断开拓进取与赤脚的活动，慢慢地越来越多的时间花费在unshod。对于那些已经制定了恶劣的运行习惯或穿着不当的鞋子有着悠久的历史，这个过程是特别困难和具有挑战性的。

从肌肉不平衡的干扰

即使你做所有正确的事情，执行简短的赤脚慢跑，使用正确的平面底鞋你的锻炼和休息期间，整个天的肌肉不平衡可能会干扰一个更有效的步态。人们发展自己的脚最常见的问题之一是肌肉不平衡。这可以成为一个恶性循环，你可以步行或慢跑，没有你的鞋子，因为你的肌肉不平衡阻止了适当的支持，但鞋子继续保持肌肉的不平衡。

但对于肌肉的不平衡，有些人不穿鞋往往不觉得合适的，或在某些情况下，它的痛苦。在这两种情况下，鞋子已成为名副其实的拐杖 - 你沉迷于人工支持。这就像在轮椅上整天10小时后，会让你感到僵硬和疼痛，在轮椅上数月，会令你甚至无法走路！

逐渐断奶自己关以上，支持的鞋，和这意味着赤脚跑步时，你可以，或当它的方便，在你的脚下，你经常可以修复的肌肉不平衡，刺激他们以这样的方式，作为以争取适当的功能，所有的肌肉，韧带，肌腱，甚至在皮肤上。

对某些人来说，这可能需要一段时间。首先，它可能是必要的，穿稍薄底鞋，然后逐渐下降到一半或一半以上的厚度从通常鞋。只有这样，你的脚开始工作，感觉好多了赤脚行走，最终实现作为一个青年，最初是硬连接到你的身体，美妙的自然感觉。然后，只经过了几个星期的步行更自然，您将可以赤脚慢跑。

一个快速入门的运行权

赤足跑步来提高你的形式和步态的概念是好的，但如果你已经训练你的身体向前弯曲太多，无法获取图像的世界级马拉松选手步幅你的头，或学习等不良习惯，如降落在你的脚后跟。怎么办呢？因此，这里有一些额外的建议，可以帮助你摆脱的车辙。

1。不要试图仿效的“完美”的步态

你骗不了大自然的鬼斧神工，所以不要乱用步态。试图运行一些“完美”的运行形式，是一种快速的方式来获得伤害。它已经尝试了，并且，没有长期的成功。事实上，我听说跑步受伤来我的诊所，这是一个共同的历史。悲伤的故事是常见的一种，许多意见都像这样：
- 我开始在轨道上运行的步伐来提高我的形式...
- 我看纽约市马拉松比赛在电视上忍不住注意到风格的领导者，我想我应该运行同样的方式...
- 我开始与我的朋友们正在运行的400米短跑的训练...
- 我读形式在杂志上的一篇文章...

所有这些语句结束，不久之后，我开始感到这种痛苦...

尤为典型的是教练或亚军，自己成独立的组件 - 武器将尝试打破步态，应该是水平的，膝盖要拿出高，大腿水平，高跟鞋几乎打你的屁股，并依此类推。当所有这些方面进行“正确”，你理应有完美的步态和可以在运行更快的速度移动。但在现实中，大多数跑步者恢复他们的老习惯，身体无法使这些剧烈的变化。经常发生的是肌肉剧痛，关节疼痛，并很快停止运行损伤。这是因为跑步者通常会启动已经不正确的步态，尤其是如果他或她是穿错了，过支持的鞋的鞋跟前锋。事实是，实际上有几十个相互关联的组成部分，关于步态的，即使你使画面完美的，但这并不意味着你的身体更好地工作方式。此外，有意识地制造了很多的步态变化，可以提高你的心脏率显着增加的压力的标志。而且，如果你只能改变你的步态一些的各个部分，你刚刚结束了另一种形式的不正确的步态，身体其他部位，可能会导致生理上的压力。

2。不要前倾

这似乎是显而易见的。如果你向前倾，你会爱上向前推动的方向，它会在你的身体，所以它必须是一个很好的方式来运行。事实并非如此。前倾的问题是，大多数人这样做弯腰，这是不自然的。向前弯腰，迫使你的上限和下限脊柱向后延伸，而事实上，整个身体适应一个潜在的恶化的姿势。结果将增加的压力，你的肌肉，肌腱，关节，韧带，骨骼在身体的任何地方。

弯曲你的腰，弯曲的骨盆并触发一个整体的严重的异常姿势的变化，导致一个更不正常的步态，而是认为整个骨盆稍向前，而不是向前倾斜。做好了，这会让你运行在一个直立的姿势。想想是高当您运行，技术上你时，你的姿势是正确的。由于脊柱是直的（它具有正常的曲线），您还需要确保你的头是在自然的位置。这样做将遵循：看你的眼睛和你的头稍低于地平线，而不是凝视着正前方，不敢仰视，而不是你的脑袋低头看着地面。

不自然的弯曲或倾斜的，您可能会导致你的屁股在该地区的强大的臀大肌逐渐失去动力，因为他们的合同少得多（这会导致大腿前面的股四头肌，并有可能在前面的腰大肌骨盆），以加强过多。而且，腰椎（腰背）和颈椎（颈部）脊柱可以延长太多，制造一种夸张的曲线一起在后面的颈部和腰背伸肌紧张。这也可能导致在颈部屈肌的弱点，头不太稳定，从而能够进一步恶化的形式。这一切都使得身体使用更多的能量来完成相同的任务，向前迈进。

在运行时，想想骨盆向前，你会觉得你的四头肌，你打你的脚与地面的合同。如果你这样做是正确的，你会觉得你的屁股收紧，如果你有慢性臀大肌的弱点，甚至会产生轻微的肌肉酸痛之间的训练。这也将让你的腹部肌肉收缩，变得坚定，进一步帮助您运行一个更好的直立的姿势。

这可能是困难的，如果不是不可能做到的，如果你穿的，因为你会降落在你的脚后跟，这迫使你的骨盆向前，而不是支持或厚的底跑鞋。穿合适的鞋和着陆中期或前脚掌，你的步态更可能是最佳的。

更妙的是这样的想法：不要试图向前倾，专注于前面提到的“热煤”技术。让你的脚离开地面，更快（这是一个过程的弯曲，抬起膝盖），你会鼓励前进的脚和脚踝的“春天”机制，这将推动你最有效的。

3。推动

如果你按照的行动上面提到的，从你的脚与地面推，是不是你需要有意识地做每一步。你的大脑会照顾的行动（以及你的身体经历了在运行过程中与他人的数百个）。推动应该是自然的，没有你做任何事情，如果你的步态是正确的发生。如上所述，对身体有一个令人难以置信的弹簧操动机构，附加到脚部的肌肉，使拱脚，尤其是支持的小腿肌肉跟腱肌腱的一项重要工作。当你走在路上，你回收利用，冲击能量春天。换句话说，你会很自然地使用武力对你有利的一个更好的步态。如果你有强迫你的推客，你可能做错了，如穿错鞋。在这种情况下，冲击成为产生负面影响，并最终可以向受伤。

4。快速腿营业额“

一个快腿的营业额是好的，但你可以模仿步步幅为一个世界级的亚军吗？对于大多数人来说，答案是否定的。就像你不能缩短你的步伐太多，以获得更快的周转。过长或过短的步幅是不自然的，紧张的，但找到您最轻松的步态会产生心脏率最低，同时保持相同的步伐。 （或者相同的心脏率，更快的速度。）

您可以运行在自己的生物力学的自然边界，增加腿的营业额将下坡跑入你的训练。通过运行轻微或中度（不是太陡），你可以保持同样的心跳率和运行以更快的步伐，并没有overstriding，从而具有更快的周转。谁竞争，这是一个很好的锻炼，并进行一次或每周两次（不背回天）大多数跑步者也不为过。你可以这样做，如果你有几个下坡重复半英里（0.8公里）或以上的长坡的一个简单的慢跑上山，下坡开始再次运行，或者只运行一个丘陵当然有足够的下坡。

5。韵律

人类移动在一个令人难以置信的类似的时尚韵律或节奏。这可能是很难相信，但我们所有的运行大约每分钟180步。任何人谁是健康的，正常走在一个基本的步伐，每分钟约120步。即使在我们的日常活动中已被证明有每分钟120步或移动的“步伐”。 （唯一的例外是步行或在跑步机上运行，​​由于其不自然的情况下，大脑感知的身体运动，但身体仍然在同一个地方带来了特殊的压力，在这种情况下，有一个更广泛的变化节奏。）

这些数字180和120是近似的，是典型的。几乎所有参赛者都约在150和190之间的步骤有节奏，一分钟，无论是慢跑，跑马拉松，或冲刺。这使得一些必要的回旋余地来调整自己的步伐和身体力学的大脑。肌肉不平衡，疲劳，咖啡因，一天的时间，天气和其他因素可以影响一个人的运行效率，对于一个给定的锻炼，大脑会察觉到这些因素，并做出适当的修改，如稍微放缓节奏，或快。

比大脑更重要的是，我们的头是重要的，不仅影响了节奏，但步态。眼睛（的大脑）的一部分发挥作用，作为内耳，其中包含一个微小的“耳石”，每边。这些都有助于身体的运动和平衡的信息收集。此外，各种肌肉在脖子上，不断地发送信息传递给大脑的身体运动，并帮助眼睛下颌关节（直接连接到大脑，而不是所有其他的肌肉，第一次连接到脊髓）耳朵做他们的工作。所有的这些反馈，结合感觉输入脚，脊椎，骨盆和其他地方，可以帮助大脑更好地适应在运行过程中的变化。这些调整是细微的，几乎察觉不到。其结果是可能的最有效的运行。为了做到这一点，的可能决定大脑176是一个很好的节奏，至少在第20或几分钟然后它可能会改变至182等等。

6。有节奏？

这样，人类的大脑有节奏的，120和180的行走节奏的运行，这种模式的例子。请任何人都可以挖掘出与他或她的手指有节奏，节奏通常是一分钟120次左右。即使在这个节奏听音乐是可取的。科学家们已经评价过现代音乐之间的1960年和1990年的74,000件，并发现，平均的节奏是每分钟120次左右。

难怪音乐可以帮助一个人的运行，像所有其他的运动。音乐可以促进小脑的活动，在一个人的大脑，它控制节奏和节奏的基础上，“有点脑子的”。谁也不能保持平稳的步态运行时，可能会受益于听音乐，而不是在后台，而不一定同时运行，但侧重听音乐治疗，一天的任何时间，即使是只有几分钟，它有助于大脑的调节节奏的步态。

另一种方式来帮助你的步态是使用节拍器。的小手帮助数字节拍器，可在大多数音乐商店或在线网站，便于携带和调整整个的锻炼。这个简单的治疗可以帮助您了解节拍器的节拍调整，以你的脚步，运行更加平稳。这是最好的，这样做一个简单的表面，如柏油路或曲目，而不是一个粗略的线索。一个适当的热身，开始调整节拍器速度较慢的节拍器应该发出哔哔声，在与每一个脚步。当你增加你的速度，再次调整节拍器。随着每一个新的速度，确保在步骤节拍器的节拍，你的脚撞到地面。它可能看起来很难在第一，保持正确的节奏同步的节拍与你的脚撞到地面大脑的协调。您可能会发现在你的心中渐行渐远，先后造成了一个简要拍步协调的损失。但是，你的小脑得到的想法，作为治疗成功，将成为你的步态顺畅，运行会觉得更方便，更轻松。对于一些人来说，只是一些培训课程，用节拍器可以创造奇迹。其他人可能需要几个星期。

what is the best running gait

You can’t fool Mother Nature, so don’t mess with gait. There are dozens of interrelated components regarding gait—and even if you make them "perfect," it doesn’t mean your body works better that way.

by Dr. Phil Maffetone

Over the years, I was often asked about the best way to run. Faster leg turnover? Lean forward with the body? Keep your arms by your side? Push off with your feet? I wish there was a simple answer. But there’s not. What is best to tell a runner, however, is the notion that if your feet hit the ground properly, the rest of the body tends to follow, resulting in your natural gait. While this is the most important place to start improving your gait—and if there’s a problem here’s the one to fix first. But this is easier done than said. Most running shoes interfere with the feet doing their job, which could cause the whole body to have a poor gait, inducing stress into muscles, bones and joints. By wearing the wrong shoes you’ll never find your natural effective gait.

A specific problem that’s most common is that many running shoes cause you to land on your heel instead of further forward on your foot. This is because they are built with large, over-supported heels and are marketed as providing as a “smoother, more cushioned ride.” But over time, the repetitive action of landing on the heel causes foot dysfunction as well the potential for ankle, knee, and hip injury. Now your body’s foundation is cracking at the most vulnerable areas.

The arches in your feet, supported by muscles, and many tendons, especially the large Achilles, work in such a way that when unimpeded, their built-in spring-like action makes running a perfectly natural activity. Not only can your foot take the pounding force with each step without damage, but it takes that energy—from the gravitation force—and recycles it back to the foot to spring forward instead of falling back. But by wearing shoes with built-up heels, you are virtually falling backwards with each step.

Try running barefoot even for a few yards to feel the difference. You can’t land on your heel. Being barefoot will change all that. It will allow you to run free, natural and efficient. Generally, by running barefoot, you’ll tend not to slump. It will be easier to keep an upright posture. This is because you’ll land on your mid-to forefoot, not your heel. And with each step your foot will spring your body up and forward.

This natural gait will help you sense your feet springing off the ground, almost as if they have more energy. In fact, they do. That’s the energy return that occurs naturally in a healthy stride. Focus on the feet springing off the ground. When you feel it, your body will actually be moving more quickly. If you’re wearing a heart monitor, you’ll see that your pace can be faster without a rise in heart rate. (I have witnessed on many occasions, a difference ranging between 10 or 12 beats—with higher rates associated with an improper running gait.)  READ  MORE..

Need more help? Think of running on hot coals—if you were going to do that, your feet need to stay off the red-hot coals as much as possible. So from the instant each foot touches the ground, quickly pick it up. I’ve used this “hot coal technique” to help runners be more efficient with their gait. The longer your foot stays on the ground, the more energy you waste, the more vulnerable you are to injury, and the less likely you will use that energy for better running. Instead, think about your feet coming off the ground after each step. All while you’re relaxed. Look at photos of the great runners; they are actually airborne much of the time because they spend much less time with each foot on the ground.

In the unlikely event that your body is being particularly stubborn and you can’t relate to what I’ve just explained, it could be that your feet are so used to working improperly that they need more time to learn natural movements. They may require additional re-training, or rehabilitation. If this is the case, keep forging ahead with barefoot activity, slowly increasing the time spent unshod. This process is particularly difficult and challenging for those who have already developed poor running habits or for those with a long history of wearing improper shoes.

Interference from muscle imbalance

Even if you’re doing all the right things—performing your brief barefoot jog, using the correct flat-sole shoes during the rest of your workout and throughout the day—muscle imbalance can interfere with a more efficient gait. One of the most common problems people develop in their feet is muscle imbalance. This can become a vicious cycle—you can’t walk or jog without your shoes because your muscle imbalance prevents proper support, but the shoes continue maintaining muscle imbalance.

But for some people with muscle imbalance, going without shoes often doesn’t feel right, or in some cases it’s painful. In both cases, the shoes have literally become a crutch—you’re addicted to the artificial support. It’s like being in a wheelchair all day—getting up after 10 hours will make you feel stiff and achy—being in the wheelchair for months will render you unable to even walk!

By gradually weaning yourself off over-supported shoes—and this means going barefoot whenever you can, or when it’s convenient—you can often fix the muscle imbalance in your feet by stimulating them in such a way as to enlist proper function of all the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and even the skin.

This can take time for some people. It might first be necessary to wear slightly thinner-soled shoes, and gradually work down to those that are half or more in thickness from your usually shoe. Only then, as your feet start to work and feel better will barefoot walking finally achieve that wonderful natural sensation that was originally hardwired into your body as a youth. Then, only after a couple of weeks of just walking more naturally, you will be able to jog barefoot.

A Quick Primer on Running Right

The notion of barefoot running to improve your form and gait is fine and good, but what if you’ve trained your body to bend forward too much, can’t get the image of a world-class marathoner-type stride out of your head, or have learned other bad running habits such as landing on your heels. What then? So here are some additional recommendations that can help you get out of the rut.

1. Avoid trying to emulate the “perfect” gait

You can’t fool Mother Nature, so don’t mess with gait. Trying to run with some “perfect” running form is a quick way to get hurt. It’s been tried over and over, without long-term success. In fact, it was a common history I heard from runners coming to my clinic with an injury. The sad story was a common one—many of the comments went something like this:
- I started running strides on the track to improve my form…
- I was watching the New York City Marathon on TV and couldn’t help notice the running style of the leader and thought I should run the same way…
- I began training with my friends who were running 400-meter sprints…
- I read an article on form in the running magazine…

All these statements ended with …soon afterward I started feeling this pain…

What’s particularly typical is that a coach or runner himself will attempt to break down the gait into separate components—arms should be horizontal, knees should come up high, thigh horizontal, heels should almost hit your butt, and so on. When all these aspects are performed “correctly” you supposedly have the perfect gait and can move at a faster running pace. But in reality, most runners revert back to their old habits, physically unable to make these dramatic changes. And what often happen next is a muscle twinge here, a joint ache there, and soon a run-stopping injury. That’s because the runner is often starting with an already improper gait, especially if he or she is a heel-striker wearing the wrong, over-supported shoes. The fact is that there are actually dozens of interrelated components regarding gait—and even if you make them picture-perfect, it doesn’t mean your body works better that way. Additionally, consciously making a lot of gait changes can raise your heart rate significantly—a sign of increased stress. And, if you only change some of the individual pieces of your gait, you just end up with another form of improper gait that can cause physical stress elsewhere in your body.

2. Don’t Lean Forward

It seems obvious. If you lean forward you’ll fall forward and propel your body in the direction it’s going, so it must be a good way to run. It’s not. The problem with leaning forward is that most people do it by bending at the waist; that’s unnatural. Bending forward forces your lower and upper spine to extend back more, and in fact, the whole body to adapt to a potentially worsening posture. The result will be added stress on your muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, and bones anywhere in the body.

Instead of bending at your waist, which flexes the pelvis and triggers a whole serious of abnormal changes in posture leading to a more irregular gait, think about the whole pelvis being slightly more forward instead of tilting forward. Properly done, this will make you run in a more upright posture. Think about being taller when you run, which technically you are when your posture is right. As the spine is straighter (it has normal curves) you will also want to make sure your head is in a natural position too. Do this with your eyes and your head will follow: look slightly below the horizon—not gazing straight ahead, not looking up, and not with your head looking down at the ground.

By unnaturally bending or tilting forward you could cause the powerful gluteus maximus muscles in the area of your butt to gradually lose power because they contract much less (which causes the quadriceps on the front of the thigh and possibly the psoas muscles in the front of the pelvis) to tighten too much. And, both the lumbar (low back) and cervical (neck) spine can extend too much, producing an exaggerated curve along with extensor muscle tightness in the back of the neck and low back. This could also cause weakness in the neck flexor muscles, making the head less stable, which can further worsen your form. All this makes the body use more energy to accomplish the same task of moving forward.

When running, think about a forward pelvis and you’ll feel your quadriceps contract as you hit the ground with your foot. If you do this correctly, you’ll feel your butt tighten, and even produce slight muscle soreness between workouts if you have chronic gluteus maximus weakness. Doing this will also allow your abdominal muscles to contract more, and become firm, further helping you run with a better upright posture.

All this may be difficult if not impossible to do if you wear over-supported or thick-soled running shoes because you’ll land on your heel, which forces your pelvis back instead of forward. By wearing proper shoes and landing mid- or forefoot, your gait is more likely to be optimal.

Even better is this idea: Instead of trying to lean forward, focus on the “hot coal” technique mentioned earlier. By getting your foot off the ground quicker (which is a process of bending and lifting the knee) you’ll encourage the foot and ankle “spring forward” mechanism, which will propel you most efficiently.

3. Pushing Off

If you follow the actions noted above, pushing off from the ground with your foot is not something you need to consciously do with each step. Your brain will take care of that action (along with the hundreds of others your body undergoes during running). Pushing off should be natural and occur without you doing anything if your gait is right. As noted above, the body has an incredible spring mechanism, an important job of the tendons attaching to foot muscles that make up the arches of the feet, and especially the Achilles tendon supported by the calf muscles. As you hit the ground you recycle that pounding energy to spring forward. In other words, you will be naturally using the force in your favor for a better gait. If you have to force your push-off, you’re probably doing something wrong, such as wearing the wrong shoes. In that case, the pounding becomes a negative effect and ultimately can contribute to an injury.

4. Fast leg turnover

A fast leg turnover is fine, but can you mimic a world-class runner stride for stride? For most, the answer is no. Just like you can’t shorten your stride too much to get a faster turnover. Too long or too short a stride is unnatural and stressful; but finding your most relaxed gait will produce the lowest heart rate, all while maintaining the same pace. (Or, a faster pace with the same heart rate.)

You can run within the natural boundaries of your own biomechanics and still increase leg turnover by incorporating downhill runs into your training. By running down a slight or moderate grade (not too steep) you can maintain the same heart rate and run at a much faster pace and without overstriding, thereby having a faster turnover. This is a great workout for those who compete, and performing it once or twice a week (not back-to-back days) is not excessive for most runners. You can do this with several downhill repeats if you have a long grade of a half mile or more (with an easy jog up the hill to start your downhill run again), or just run a hilly course with adequate downhills.

5. Cadence

Humans move in an incredibly similar fashion regarding cadence or tempo. It may be hard to believe, but most of us all run about 180 steps per minute. Anyone who is healthy normally walks at a basic pace of about 120 steps per minute. Even during our daily activity has been shown to have a “pace” of 120 steps or moves per minute. (The exception is walking or running on a treadmill, which poses a particular stress due to its unnatural circumstance—the brain senses the body movement but the body remains in one place. In this case there’s a wider variation in tempo.)

These numbers—180 and 120—are approximate and are typical. Virtually all runners have a range of tempo between about 150 and 190 steps a minute whether jogging, running a marathon, or sprinting. This allows one’s brain some leeway to adjust one’s pace and body mechanics as necessary. Muscle imbalance, fatigue, caffeine, time of day, the weather and other factors can affect one’s running efficiency for a given workout, and the brain will sense these factors and make appropriate changes such as slightly slowing our tempo, or speeding it up.

It’s more than the brain, the rest of our head is important too, not only influencing tempo but gait. The eyes (a part of the brain) play a role, as does the inner ear, which contains a tiny “otolith” on each side. These contribute to collecting information about body movement and balance. In addition, various muscles around the neck and those of the jaw joint (which connect directly to the brain as opposed to all other muscles which first connect to the spinal cord) continually send messages to the brain about body movement, and help the eyes and ears do their work. All this feedback, combined with the sensory input coming from the feet, spine, pelvis and elsewhere, helps the brain better adapt to changes during a run. Most of these adjustments are subtle and barely noticeable. The result is the most efficient run possible. In order to do this, the brain may decide 176 is a good tempo, at least for the first 20 or so minutes, then it may change to 182, and so on.

6. Got Rhythm?

It so happens that humans have a rhythmic brain, and the walking tempo of 120, and 180 for running, are examples of this pattern. Ask anyone to tap out a rhythm with his or her fingers and the tempo will usually be around 120 beats a minute. Even listening to music at this tempo is preferable. Scientists have evaluated over 74,000 pieces of modern music between 1960 and 1990, and found that the average rhythm was around 120 beats per minute.

It’s no wonder music can help one’s running, like all other sports. Music can promote the activity of the cerebellum, that “little brain” at the base of one’s brain, which controls tempo and rhythm. People who can’t maintain a smooth gait while running may benefit from listening to music—not in the background and not necessarily while running, but focused listening as music as therapy any time of day even if it’s only for a few minutes; it helps the brain regulate the rhythm of the gait.

Another way to help your gait is by using a metronome. A small hand-help digital metronome, available in most music stores or online websites, is easy to carry and adjust throughout your workout. This simple therapy can help you learn to run more smoothly by following the beats of the metronome adjusted to your pace. It’s best to do this on an easy running surface such as a paved road or track rather than a rough trail. Start with a proper warm up, adjusting the metronome to your slower pace—the metronome should beep in conjunction with each footstep. As you increase your speed, adjust the metronome again. With each new tempo, make sure your feet are hitting the ground in step with the metronome’s beat. It may seem difficult at first to maintain the right rhythm—syncing the brain’s coordination of beats with your feet hitting the ground. You may find your mind drifting away at times, causing a briefly loss of beat-step coordination. But as your cerebellum gets the idea, as the therapy succeeds, your gait will become smoother and the run will feel easier and more relaxed. For some people, just a few training sessions with a metronome can work wonders. Others may require a few weeks.