The nerdiest (and maybe most strategic) way to improve your running.
Motion Geek Video Analysis offers a full-body analysis of your running form, and suggests exercises, drills, and even shoes to help improve your exercise regimen. The requirements for the service are relatively easy: register with the site, create six videos on your phone, upload them, and receive your analysis within the week. Registration requires you to fill out a brief physical history where there is the opportunity to report any past injuries or pain you might experience while exercising, as well as a section where you outline your personal running goals. The six videos include two running videos and four videos focusing on functional movements such as squats, lunges, and leg lifts. Physical therapists analyze your videos, provide form recommendations, and suggest strengthening exercises to assist running form.
Related: Improve Your Running With Yoga
The analysis is very detailed, easy to understand, and prescriptive in its feedback. Stills pulled from the videos (as shown below) are highlighted to actually show you where the weak spots in your form exist and then thoroughly explain in the text accompanying the images. The analysis lists deficiencies, describes their possible sources, explains the impact of the problem, and then gives you tips for improving. Finally, you’re given an overall analysis with tips for meeting your goal and drills to build form.
Motion Geek earns a very positive review. It was easy to use, extremely informative, and I appreciated the level of detail given to both the form critique and suggested exercises for improvement. I would advise prospective users to seriously consider their running goals before uploading videos for analysis, as the feedback is very specifically geared towards those goals. I believe there is something useful in the service for all runners, as the service provides such prescriptive advice on how to strengthen form and meet specific objectives.
You can check out the level of detail in Motion Geek’s observations and suggestions for me below:
They applied this concentrated attention to my knees, hips, and core, too.
They also included helpful strategies to help me achieve my goals–an example is shown above.
More on running strategies and advice:
How to Train for Your First Triathlon