Improving your Stryd Footpath with running technique specialist Paul MacKinnon
Today's post is brought to you by running technique specialist Paul MacKinnon from Melbourne, Australia. He will be bringing you an expert-backed tip on improving your Stryd Footpath with key running cues and technique adjustments. Plus, you’ll hear a real success story from another Stryd user!
G’day Stryd Community!
Ready to take your running efficiency to the next level?
My name is Paul MacKinnon, I’m a running technique specialist from Melbourne, Australia and I work with athletes from beginners through to Olympic professionals. I’m super passionate about helping all athletes maximize their potential through improving movement patterns! I’m currently working with athletes such as Colleen Quigley, Emily Infeld, Karissa Schweitzer, Galen Rupp, Cam Wurf and locally Australian Record holders Brett Robinson, Izzi Batt-Doyle, and Ellie Salthouse.
The foundations of my coaching methods rely upon getting the athlete to feel what movements they are currently making to create an internal awareness. Once this internal awareness is harnessed, simple cues can then be given to implement positive change.
By giving athletes the tools to understand, one, what it feels like to implement a cue and, two, what it feels like to revert to “old way”, they can become their own coach when out running to create new habits. Most times this simple process highlights why they have been getting injured in a specific area or where they are missing out on efficiency or speed.
A little different from the common methodology of coaching running from the feet/legs up, my philosophy is a top-down approach. Everything above the hips influences everything below. Thus, if you are making unhelpful or asymmetrical movements above there is very little chance of making the most efficient movements in a symmetrical manner below.
It’s at this juncture I can explain why I’m writing this blog for you today.
Recently I had an athlete come down from Sydney to work on her form. This athlete uses and trains off power so naturally had a Stryd pod on each foot. The results from only one session were fascinating to see from a data stand point!
After this session, I posted two images on my Instagram (@thebalancedrunner) using screenshots of the Stryd footpath technology that you are all no doubt familiar with. What it shows is the left/right footpath from behind and side on comparing the differences from the start of the session to the end of the session; this is what I call “Old Way/New Way”.
What you may find most interesting is not a single part of the cue that the above athlete is focusing on was foot or leg related…The subtle (or not so subtle) changes that you can see from the images was purely from focusing on upper body movements. Whilst still not perfect, the improvements are clear to see.
From the behind view, the shape and symmetry of the movements are much closer! From the side, the height of the foot lift has significantly increased and, although not perfectly symmetrical, the shapes are a lot more alike and much smoother. The timing of the toe off is much closer as well!
Now whilst what I do is coach an athlete to feel what is going on to create effective change, the additional information that Stryd provided to the athlete and myself reaffirmed the path we were on. This tool can not only be used for looking at whether the cue provides the expected movement changes, but it also has the power to provide insights on how these new form cues are maintained over time and when they are lost. Whether it’s identifying the loss of a cue deep into the fatigue of a hard training session or seeing how different running shoes may affect the expected pattern, the amount of post-hoc analysis that Stryd provides is incredible.
After putting that post up, I’ve had multiple members from my online course highlighting their experience with combining my online coaching series with Stryd. After working on a new cue and comparing how they feel to the footpath data, it gave one athlete the confidence that they could exaggerate their change a little more even though it felt like they already were. Another explained that seeing the ground contact time (GCT) difference between the Old and New Way gave her the confidence that she was executing the cue well! It has been very cool to see.
Given the first step of my process is creating self awareness, what I would suggest to get started is to identify if you have an imbalance in your Stryd Footpath or ground contact data. If so, you should have a look at what you are doing on the top half of your body instead of just focusing all your attention on the waist down.
You can do this in one or both of these ways:
1. When you are out running, start to take note of how your arms are moving. Spend some time just focusing on, and being aware, of one side initially. What movement is being made? Where is the focus or driver of the movement? In what plane is the movement occurring? Once you have done that move to the other side and repeat. Do they feel the same or different?
2. Film yourself and visually look at the movements you are making. Are they the same? What difference can you see? If you didn’t do step one and went straight to step 2, now it’s time to go and complete step one (or do it again).
Now that you are mindful of your upper body movement and identified a potential source of difference, you can implement cues to make adjustments. You can then track your data to see if those changes leads to an advantageous and more balanced Stryd Footpath or the ground contact time metric.
Want to improve your Stryd Footpath with more running cues and technique improvement? Start today!
Every run you complete without optimizing your core movement is a run where you're leaving speed and efficiency on the table.
Paul MacKinnon’s - The Balanced Runner: Core Program has helped runners of all levels refine their technique and unlock better efficiency. These cues have led to quantifiable improvements in their Stryd Footpath and other key efficiency metrics.
Reap these benefits yourself with code Stryd-25Off for 25% your first month of basic membership.
👉 Click here to join The Balanced Runner: Core Program Now!
This code is only valid for the next one week until the end of Wednesday, February 26, so join today!
Join today and get access to:
🔹 The Core Program of Cues – Expert coaching cues to refine your form and unlock smoother, more efficient running
🎥 Coaches’ Corner – Exclusive insights and real-world case studies from top running coaches
📚 Advanced Running Technique Knowledge Base – Deep-dive resources to help you master your movement patterns
🚀 Exclusive Content & Insights – See how subtle adjustments translate into real performance gains
Every session without these tools is a missed opportunity to run smoother, faster, and more efficiently. Don’t wait! Start optimizing your form today and feel the difference in as quickly as your first run.
👉 Click here to join The Balanced Runner: Core Program Now!
This code is only valid for the next one week until the end of Wednesday, February 26, so join today!