Your natural running stride is the most efficient one for your body
Beginning runners worry about having the perfect stride, but a new study suggests that sticking with the way you naturally run — even if you’re inexperienced — is the most efficient option.
Scientists recruited 33 runners — some experienced and some beginner — to do a 20-minute treadmill run. The participants tried out five different stride rates while wearing masks that measured how much oxygen their bodies were using. By this measure, the body used oxygen most effectively when people were running naturally. The results were published in the International Journal of Exercise Science by scientists, professors at Brigham Young University, who are runners themselves. Jared Ward finished sixth in the marathon in the 2016 Olympics, while I…