The Striking Step

Learn this technique to improve your overall stride and movement efficiency during speed and  distance running.

Read Video Text Below:

HI David Weck here. Today I'm going to teach you something called “The Striking Step”. It’s about creating impulsive power throughout your body that connects your body from the hand to the foot. It's going to effectively give you a power pulse of efficiency where we wedge the body to harness the gravity ground reaction force with better timing and position to give you a more efficient running stride.

I'm going to teach two techniques: To drill it and learn it. And then I’m going to show you how to apply it so that you can learn to run with greater efficiency.

You're going to begin by making a fist but it's not going to be a conventional fist because this [makes fist] is a very constricted posture that's why. We instruct runners never clench your fist when you run, so what you’re going to do rather than this [makes conventional fist] is you're going to fold fingers flat for this wrap the thumb around it. I'll be using a CoreFIST. You can learn more about the CoreFIST at WeckMethod but for right now Fast n Easy is right here. Fold the fingers flat; you begin within uppercut just clapping the hands together. It's not about hitting it hard, it’s about the timing.

And what I want to do is I'm going to land on the right foot, I'm going to connect with the right hand. And so it's just this motion right here. You want to set up through a Power Position™ so not a lot of arch in the back and you just want to time that sequence. And it's just, think of it as a bit as a superfast instantaneous pulse of power that as soon as it hits it just disappears. So not carry tension and it’s that timing and positioning. Here you can pick up the pace. And what you want to feel is, imagined that when the hand is striking here, imagine that it's the heel that's striking up to the hand. There's connection unification: the hand and the foot make that happen. Okay, you're obviously going to do that with both sides.

You can switch and just getting that timing right. That little power pulse so that your first just step, that full balance on the foot to striking. And I will sometimes do sort of just a one-two-three, and pause it. One-two-three-four, and I'll climb up the ladder. One-two-three-four-five, and I'll just get that timing synced up.

Next technique is a run and punch against a surface. You want enough weight that it's going to prevent you from moving forward. And the idea is that if we want to move forward, we have to drop into backward. And that dropping backwards is going to wedge the body forward. Don't hinge forward at the hips, and push and lean Power Position™ so you're leading from the pelvis. And then it's just run and punch together.

boom boom boom boom boom

As soon the foot is landing you're projecting the punch forward, and it's not a fighting punch it’s a projecting punch where I'm just wedging. And picture like you do a plank or a push-up where it's just that solid. It’s connected to my core and you can even keep it inside the hip joint. And the idea is that if the bag isn't there and I BOOM, it's going to send me forward. BOOM, send me forward and the bag stopping me teaches me how to just relax, drop my weight down, the bone alignment through the Power Position(TM). The fist and the foot give me a wedging effect. When I'm harnessing the gravity ground reaction force and creating what we call “effortless power”. And you can do this as a conditioning exercise as well if you just run and punch. Make sure the timing is on and then [hit hit hit hit hit] increased the speed do that between one and four minutes.

You'll have a nice little cardio set but more important for the purpose of this exercise technique is you’re going to start to create that connection with BOOM [create connection]. So to practice those two techniques and you get comfortable with the timing, now you go to apply it the next time you go out for a run. Start very slowly and the idea is you're just going to connect. You’re going to imagine that when the foot hits, it's a strike, don't chase it. Gravity coming down at 9.8 meters per second squared so let it come to you. So it's here boom boom boom boom boom and you just run and pulse and boom. It’s a pulse of power that as soon as that foot hits and the hand you visualizes boom, there's a connection that make it disappear fast happens. And just change to the other side and you just sync that up.

And you are nice and slow. I'm not actually jogging because I’m this space but it's just that simple and imagine that, imagine that when I land here, imagine that you could support all the weight possible through your bone structure. You want it to feel like BOOM, you could load up 600 pounds and I'm in a position through a Power Position™ of the hip that is just going to BOOM.

I have told all body structural integrity for just that split second and then you time that and then after you've done that you forget about it. You just run the way you want to run and you let what you've developed seep in and materialize through muscle memory. The more you do to drill here and you can turn the wrist to palm down, turn it to facing you “boom bloom boom” create a little spiraling action in it but the more you assimilate that timing in the positioning, the more it's just going to ingrain muscle memory. Then you'll be able to use it and apply it and then it's just going to change that time just synced up the hands and the feet. Any good runner will tell you that the hands lead the body. The hands will dictate the pace and you want to time it up so that the hands and feet are perfectly synchronized to create a cleaner ground strike. And we call it a ground strike for a reason, because the force that you hit the ground (as long as the structure is not collapsing) you want to hit the ground nice and hard, nice and fast so that you create a better stride length in. If you have the structural position it doesn't beat you down, it actually fortifies and you create bone density through that striking action onto the ground. So I want you try that out. If you have questions, send them in. I want to answer the questions for you because this is a really useful technique. The people I have taught it to transformed their tough mudders, and their Spartan Race, and their hour half marathons because they feel that. And then you want to advance it you go to WeckMethod] and you learn the CoreFIST and what this does is it changes the internal balance so that you can actually use tension now to create relaxation and looseness in the core. It's sort of opposite of what happens in your hands.

Here so like I said, for now fold you fingers flats. Run and punch into the pad or the bag. Do your little uppercut “POP POP POP” go out apply it. See what happens. Watch my other tips for head over foot, Power Position™ because it's a whole body systemic. Unity is what we want. And I'll bet she'll be a better runner. And if you're not, ask me questions and will dial it in and you will be.

Check it out @WeckMethod and stay tuned for more tips.

Thanks.