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Pop Running Form Move with Power, Move with Ease. TheFunctionalStep.com

07/09/2026

Running is a movement problem as much as it is a fitness problem.

Two runners can look like they’re doing the same thing while their bodies are solving it completely differently.

That question has sent me down a 15 year rabbit hole:

Can you deliberately change how you move, practice the new option, then make it hold when you run?

After thousands of kms run, and thousands of 1:1 sessions and refinements, I’ve finally turned that process into a system.

More this week.

04/09/2026

Going downhill, your instinct is to lean back.

It makes sense, none of us want to fall down the hill :-)

But leaning back means your heel goes down first, and you absorb force by nailing your quads and knees every step. It also takes away the rest of your body's ability to absorb any of that force.

Think about jumping off a wall. You want to land soft. Watch any good parkour athlete and see how they do it.

Same thing going downhill - which means leaning into it.

Feels wrong? Works better :-)

👇 Try it on your next descent and tell me what you notice.
(Quick tip - don't overdo it until you've properly trained it - start on a small and gradual hill!)

02/09/2026

Knee pain doesn't need months of strength work.

Maz is in her 50s, used to be an ultra runner, and was too scared to do a parkrun with her friends. Her ankle stopped her, then her knee.

One session. At the end she said: "I can still stand here comfortably after an hour. No knee pain. I couldn't do that before."

A month later she ran 5k. Now she's back on the trails building towards mountain ultras.

Nothing about her knee got stronger in that time. It couldn't have - strength work doesn't work that fast.

The only thing that changed was which part of her was doing the work.

That's why strengthening the sore bit doesn't fix it. If the load keeps landing in the same place, all you've done is make your body tolerate the same load for longer.

Want the full story? Comment CASE STUDY and I'll send it over.

31/08/2026

I ran 50K on 30K a week of training. I finished. And I cramped. Why?

Many runners hear "cramp" and think dehydration. Salt. Electrolytes. And sometimes that's part of it.

But if you cramp in the same spot every single time, that's not hydration. Hydration doesn't pick a favourite muscle.

It's that those specific muscles are doing too much of the work.

Mine went to my hips because my hips hadn't been conditioned to the kilometres on the (unven) trails yet. This massive stabilisation work takes time to build.

Which muscle matters. Calves, quads and hamstrings locking up over and over is a different story - that's the one that can often turn into tendon problems and muscle strains and tears.

Where you cramp tells you what to fix.

So tell me which muscle keeps locking you up, and I'll tell you what it means. 👇

27/08/2026

Does slowing down make your running feel like a shuffle? Are you resorting to run-walk to reduce loading? Here's why.

Think about swimming.

A good swimmer can swim slowly and still look smooth, relaxed and efficient. They’re not fighting the water just to stay afloat.

Running can be the same.

An easy run should still feel like running - smooth, light and bouncy. Then, as you increase the speed, you simply build on that rhythm.

But if slowing down turns into a shuffle, and speeding up suddenly means pushing harder and working the leg muscles more, the answer might not be better fitness.

It might be how you're organising the movement.

The goal is to learn how to integrate your whole body into each step, so running becomes more about rhythm and flow - and less about pushing yourself forward with muscular effort every stride.

Simple idea.

The details make all the difference.

If you want a glimpse into how I teach this, comment STEP and I’ll send you my free Functional Step Guide, which shows you how to start integrating more of your body into every step.

24/08/2026

Most runners think they need more running volume. What if they don't?

This weekend I'm running 50K. Longest run in training: 20K.
Averaging 30K a week for the last 8 weeks.

On paper, that's a recipe for a bad day out.

I don't think it is - because after coaching hundreds of
runners, the thing that breaks people in long races is almost
never fitness. It's the body: knees, ankles, calves.

More miles won't fix that. Better movement will.

Try the 30-second test in the reel 👆
Where you feel it tells you what's actually going on.

Quads, calves, ankles, feet, lower back? More training's not the answer -
attention to detail is.
Glutes and core? You've got the foundation. Go build the miles.

Follow for more 👣

08/07/2026

Your quads aren’t the hero of your run.

They’re supposed to help, not take over the whole job.

If your quads, calves, Achilles, or hamstrings keep flaring up, they may not need more strengthening.

They might be doing too much because the load isn’t going where it should.

A stronger compensation is still a compensation.

Send this to the runner whose quads are trying to be Batman.

03/07/2026

Every runner I assess is skipping the same two steps.

They rest, rehab, get stronger — then jump straight back into training. Same cycle. Same result.

There's an order to this:

Step 1 — Glutes Online. Wake up your spring system. Glutes, hips, core doing the work — not your quads, calves and Achilles taking the hit.

Step 2 — Flow Running. Build that into how you actually run. Light, elastic, connected. Not muscling through.

Step 3 — Race Ready. Now you train. And the load makes you stronger instead of breaking you down.

Most runners start at step 3. That's why the cycle doesn't end.

👇 Comment SPRING below and I'll send you my Race Ready Runners Audit — a free consultation form that takes 5 minutes and tells you exactly which step your spring system is stuck at.

27/04/2026

Do you feel like your posture is always something you’re trying to fix?

Rounded shoulders, tight hips, forward head…

Most people try to stretch and strengthen their way out of it.

But the real issue is often how you’re moving every day.

Posture isn’t the cause — it’s the result.

If your movement patterns don’t change,
your body will keep going back to the same place.

When you improve how you move,
your body naturally organizes itself better.

That’s when posture starts to change—without forcing it.

I’m running a free workshop next week to help you assess your movement and understand what’s really going on.

Comment 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗘 and I’ll send you the details.

24/04/2026

If your calves are always tight after running…

it might not be what you think.

Most people assume they need to stretch more
or strengthen their calves.

But often, the real issue is how you’re moving.

Running isn’t just about pushing forward with your legs -
it’s a full body movement.

When your body isn’t working together,
your calves end up doing far more than they should.

And that’s when the tightness shows up.

When you fix the movement,
running starts to feel lighter and easier.

Have you ever noticed your calves tightening up on runs?

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