if you see a runner with bad form...

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froeschli
froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
yesterday i saw this runner, and he basically hopped from one foot onto the other, landing flat footed, feet wide apart. It kind of looked like the people you see on tv hopping between car tires, just that he kept his feet flat the entire time. I hurt just watching him, and couldn't help being amazed he was actually propelling himself forward in that manner. I wasn't sure whether to stop and tell him to look into proper form or what, so i ended up just smiling encouragingly and going past. Then i turned a corner and saw another one doing nearly the same thing, just not as extreme.
I'm basically a beginner myself, so i don't think it is my place to comment other people's running style. But would you stop them and try and help, or leave them to figure it out themselves?

Replies

  • acg1305
    acg1305 Posts: 224 Member
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    Leave them do their thing for god sake. What is it to you? You don't want to make them self conscious and put them off.
  • Becky_Boodle
    Becky_Boodle Posts: 253 Member
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    Maybe they were doing it that way for a reason...
    I've never seen anyone run like that...maybe they do it in intervals?
    people are strange lol
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    Never ever give people unsolicited advice about something they are doing that you think is wrong.

    I have seen some really weird running form, and you know what, I've been stuck behind them in a race because they are still faster than me despite their weird idiosyncrasy.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Could have been something specific that they were working. I've seen people running backwards, running sideways, alternating between short and long strides, spinning their arms, practically hopping, and probably more. But they're doing their thing and I'm doing mine, no need for me to get in their business at all.

    Though, one of the more interesting ones is actually at one of the gym locations I go to. She does the stair climber (the one with the escalator style steps), and as she lifts each foot off the step, she sweeps her leg back and up into almost dance-like move, before then swinging it back forward onto the step. She does it with every step for the entire time she's on the machine, it catches my attention every time. :)
  • arc_82
    arc_82 Posts: 9
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    Never ever give people unsolicited advice about something they are doing that you think is wrong.

    This exactly. Unless someone is about to be hit by a car, just let them be.
  • directorj
    directorj Posts: 537 Member
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    Just let them be. I honestly had bad form too until I did research on how to run.
  • mandamama
    mandamama Posts: 250
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    Maybe they ARE flatfooted?
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
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    I'm a physical therapist, and even though it kills me inside sometimes, I don't say a thing.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    I get the same urge when I see people biking with the pedal lodged firmly under the arch or heel of their foot and just bite my lip.

    If someone asks, yes; unsolicited, no.
  • jskaggs1971
    jskaggs1971 Posts: 371 Member
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    If someone asks, yes; unsolicited, no.

    This.

    Whether it's in the gym, on the trails, on skis, at the golf course, or anywhere else, don't offer unless you're asked
  • brandyk77
    brandyk77 Posts: 605 Member
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    have you ever seen paula radcliffe run? she gets along just fine.

    unless you know them VERY well or are asked, keep quiet.
  • ATLMel
    ATLMel Posts: 392 Member
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    Never ever give people unsolicited advice about something they are doing that you think is wrong.

    This.

    In the corrals before my first marathon I received a 10 min sermon from some guy telling me how running in my Brooks was so bad for me and I should switch to Vibrams like him.

    Chicking him at Mile 20 was the best part of that marathon.

    People do what works for them. If they don't ask, don't proselytize.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    I always see people doing exercises wrong at the gym or things they just should not do. I just keep my mouth shut and move on. Sometimes my husband will say something like last week when this older woman was using the cable machine to do bi's but was putting more shoulder into it. He asked her very politely what she was trying to work and when she told him he corrected her form. She was pretty happy.

    But otherwise, no. I don't say anything.
  • MattGetsMad
    MattGetsMad Posts: 429 Member
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    I don't run (yet) but on my walk this morning I noticed a guy walking through the parking lot with a pronounced limp. He walked down to the trail and turned left, I went right. I walked for about a minute before deciding to walk back to my car and unload my wallet and keys. Heading back towards my car on the trail I saw the same guy "running". I put running in quotations because I probably would have thought there was something very wrong with him had I not seen his limp already. His form was terrible, but it may have been the only form that he has...
    Just something to think about.
  • Vegan_Chick
    Vegan_Chick Posts: 474 Member
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    I would be scared to say something to them but I notice people using bad form all the time. I think it would be taken as an insult, not sure
  • vahine03
    vahine03 Posts: 214 Member
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    I've done that before. I wouldnt call it running but i have done it once in a while while running/joggin. When it feels like my legs are about to give in, i do this, and then resume back. I seem to keep a better form when doin that once in a while. I'm sure it looks weird for everyone else. :p But it helps me.

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