Many individuals choose to incorporate a running routine into their overall health and fitness routine as a way of efficiently achieve a cardiovascular workout and burn a fairly high number of calories without spending a fortune on exercise equipment.

While the health and fitness benefits of running are quite numerous, the fact that it’s nearly impossible to observe your form and posture as you run can lead to common running mistakes that can cause unnecessary back pain and excessive impact on a variety of different joints.

By identifying and correcting the errors that you repeatedly make while running, you will not only maximize the efficiency of your workout routines but, minimize the pain and fatigue that you feel following a long jaunt.

Although an appointment with a running clinic or a physical therapy center is the best way to receive individualized guidance and advice, below are several tips and techniques that you can implement to correct some of the most common running mistakes today.

Common Running Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

1. Know Your Foot Type

If your feet are flatter than average and you’re not wearing the proper shoes to accommodate your foot shape, you might be setting yourself up for unnecessary pain your knees, back and hips. Those with flat feet are advised to visit a specialized running-shoe retailer or a custom orthotics center to purchase customized shoes or inserts specifically designed for your feet.

If you want to minimize pain without breaking the bank, visit the orthotics and inserts section of your local department store. Although this won’t grant you access to a perfectly customized fit, even generic inserts should provide a comfort and support upgrade to your current shoes.

2. Use the Correct Swing and Stride Length

When individuals complain about back pain resulting from running, the culprit is often an overly long stride length or arm swing length. When you take steps that are disproportionately large in relation to the size of your body, you’ll excessively rotate your spine and pelvis with each stride, subsequently leading to back pain.

Drawing your arms back unevenly while running can misalign the spine, also resulting in back pain. As you run, try to focus on the distance that your elbows extend behind your back with each swing of your arms. Similarly, try to use shorter strides, especially if you’re not blessed with the gift of height.

3. Strike Down on the Appropriate Part of Your Foot

Runners fall into two categories: rear-foot runners and forefoot runners. Forefoot runners tend to strike the ground harder with the front portions of their feet, while rear-foot runners strike the ground harder with the rear portions of their feet. Although one style is not inherently superior to the other, it’s likely that one style and one style only is most appropriate for you.

If you’re a rear-foot runner, you exert more force on your feet as you run in comparison to a forefoot runner. This level of impact can cause joint pain for some individuals, while other rear-foot runners use this style for their entire lives without complaint.

If you fall into the former category, it’ll take time, training, and most likely the assistance of a physical therapist in order to change to a forefoot running style. You’ll need to strengthen your feet in order to support forefoot running, and doing so too quickly could result in strains, pains and injury.

4. Strengthen Your Gluteus Muscles

If you frequently experience knee pain following a run, the problem may actually lie in your poorly developed gluteus muscles, which are the muscles found in your hips and buttocks. As you run, your knees effectively collapse and bow inward, resulting in what can be extremely severe joint pain.

Runners who don’t experience knee pain have their body weight supported by their gluteus muscles. If the gluteus muscles are too weak, the weight is distributed to your knees instead. To correct the problem, try performing exercises that work the gluteus maximus and posterior gluteus medius.

5. Maintain Equal Impact Between Both Feet

One of the most common problems among runners in pain is striking down harder with one foot than the other. Known as an “asymmetrical running pattern,” this running mistake could lead to joint pain in various parts of the body, as well as soreness in the foot that’s bearing the majority of the impact during a run.

The best way to detect this problem, surprisingly, is by listening to the sound made by your feet hitting the pavement as you run. If one foot is making a significantly louder sound than the other, you may be using an asymmetrical running pattern. Making a few small adjustments to your running posture can fix the problem.

Common Running Mistakes: The Bottom Line

Although there’s slightly less to remember when maintaining good running posture than, say, achieving a perfect golf swing, any number of simple mistakes can lead to pain during and after a run.

When an exercise activity causes you pain, you’re obviously less likely to repeat that activity in the future. By following a few tips and maintaining the correct form, you can hold on to an inexpensive and highly efficient form of cardiovascular activity.