Running Drills 101: Bounding

Jul 25

Want to find a little more speed, power and efficiency on the run?

Bounding is an effective tool to build all those things, plus a hair more strength in those legs. No equipment required and done in less than a few minutes.

Not a bad deal, if you ask us!

Bounding is a favourite drill for runners of all levels and distances. From sprinters to marathoners, this one packs a punch, with a bonus that it will make you feel invincible.

Whether you’re new to running drills or looking to fine tune your approach, here’s a run down on the benefits of adding bounding to your regular rotation and all you need to get started.

Why is bounding beneficial?

Aside from feeling like you’re a super powerful human (and trust us, there are serious benefits to that mental game boost!), there are numerous reasons that this one is a longstanding winner:

Improve your ability to drive force into the ground quickly.

We think of it as teaching your nervous system to put your strength to work!

Aka build power.

You’ve worked hard to build capacity for strength, but if your brain and nervous system haven’t caught on to the need to put that strength to work quickly, you’ll lack power on the run. Ultimately, that means untapped performance, and that’s just not our style.

Use bounding to build and reinforce the motor pattern of using your capacity for strength to quickly propel yourself forward. This applies to runners tackling all distances, and we especially encourage endurance athletes to build it in since it’s a skill set (and a type of muscle fibre) that is typically lacking elsewhere in their training schedules.
Reduce your ground contact time.

Ground contact time is the amount of time that you spend with your foot on the ground with each stride. When your foot is on the ground, you aren't moving forward.

So, lower ground contact time means less stationary time and greater efficiency. It also goes hand in hand with higher cadence, less ask of the quads and knees, reduce likelihood of overstriding and better use of the “free” elastic energy stored in the tendons.

Wins all around.
Practice key components of the running gait.

We know that “good” run technique doesn’t grant you immunity to injury. But an efficient, powerful movement pattern will go a long way to running towards some big dreamy goals.

Specifically, bounding can reinforce:

Positioning the foot to make use of your lower leg "spring"
Driving your knees and arms
Extending at the hip on your trailing leg.

How to incorporate bounding

Having established that bounding is a worthwhile investment in your running, let’s dive into the how.

Start off with a few solid steps of running, then begin to bound by taking quick, powerful steps forward. Then, dive into the bound.

A few of our favourite cues:

Cover as much distance as possible from one step to the next.
Imagine hopping over puddles of hot lava. You need to get off the hot ground quickly and you need to soar over the next big puddle.
Hang in the air for at least 1 second, then push down into the ground.
Push into the ground with the goal of getting off of it as quickly as you can.

This is a drill where a little goes a long way. Think: