Coach Dex

Coach Dex I help runners improve their technique to run further, faster, and without pain!

09/14/2026

If you want to feel lighter on your feet when you run, foot tapping is one of my favorite drills to work on.

The whole idea is to build better perception of pulling your foot into runner’s pose.

Start by just hopping in place.

Think up, up, up. You’re not trying to push down into the ground like you’re doing calf raises. Stay springy and let the ground give that energy back to you.

Once you have that rhythm, start pulling one foot into pose.

Two feet, pull to pose.

Two feet, pull to pose.

The important part here is that you never think about putting your foot down. You’re pulling one of your support feet off the ground and into runner’s pose, and allowing your support foot/feet to land naturally.

Once that feels good, add a little fall and start moving forward.

You don’t need much. If you fall too much, you’ll move through space faster than you can maintain the drill.

Then start alternating sides and keep that same rhythm going.

As you get better at it, the movement should start feeling quicker, lighter and more natural.

You’re getting some bounce from your feet and lower legs while your hamstrings handle the pull back to pose.

Then take that feeling directly into your run.

Don’t finish the drill and immediately go back to reaching your feet out in front of you.

Keep the same focus.

Pull to pose. Stay light.

Get after it. 🫡

09/14/2026

Same pace. Different work loads.

In the first clip, I’m bent forward at the waist, reaching my leg out in front of me, overstriding, and spending a lot of time on the ground.

In the second clip, I’m standing taller and focusing on pulling back to pose.

One thing you’ll notice is that my cadence comes up.
Not automatically... Cadence is a choice, but when you stop overstriding, it becomes a whole lot easier to choose a quicker cadence.

You can’t switch support until you arrive in pose.
The farther you reach away from pose, the longer it takes to get back there.

The longer it takes to get back to pose, the longer it takes to switch support.

That’s why overstriding and low cadence tend to go together.

Clean up the posture. Stop reaching so much. Pull back to pose.

Now it’s easier to move your feet quickly, spend less time on the ground, and keep the stride feeling light.

Same pace.

Just a lot less work.

Follow to tighten up your stride and run lighter. 🫡

09/13/2026

A quicker cadence doesn’t automatically mean a faster pace.

Here I’m showing two different speeds at the same cadence, so cadence isn’t what’s controlling the speed.

Cadence is a choice.

It’s how often you decide to switch legs.

You can run in place at a quick cadence, which means you can run slow with a quick cadence.

A quicker cadence usually means:

- Less time on the ground
- Less braking
- More elastic/springy movement

A slower cadence usually means:

- Longer time on the ground
- More load on your body each step
- More reaching and overstriding

That’s where things start to feel heavy

It might feel a little off at first. Your heart rate might go up as you focus to keep the rhythm.

As you get used to it, it settles down

Also, if you want to run fast, you need that rhythm anyway!

If you only use a quick cadence when you speed up, now you’re trying to move your legs faster and deal with higher forces.

If the rhythm is already there, all you have to do is manage a bigger fall and the stride that comes with it.

MOVE THOSE FEET, PEOPLE!

Follow to learn how to tighten up your stride! 🖖

05/18/2026

If you’ve been watching here, make sure to follow me at Coach Dex to keep getting the goods!!

05/18/2026

You do not run by leaning from the ankles like this. That’s one of the biggest misunderstandings of the Pose Method idea of falling.

People hear “lean forward” and think they need to actively do something, so they end up bending at the waist trying to force a lean. But that’s not really what’s happening in running.

When your foot first lands slightly ahead of your body, you’re not leaning from the ankles.

Then your body catches back up over support and you’re balanced again.

From there, gravity and momentum continue carrying your center of mass forward into the next fall. That’s the part people confuse as “leaning,” but it’s not something you’re actively creating. In fact, it would actually take effort to stop it from happening.

The fall happens because you allow it to happen while maintaining posture and continuing to change support underneath yourself. You’re not trying to force your body forward. You’re trying to stop interrupting the forward movement that’s already there.

That’s why I’d rather people think about falling than leaning. Leaning sounds active. Falling is something you allow.

Get after it 🫡

Address

11843 Cannon Boulevard Suite A
Newport News, VA
23606

Opening Hours

Monday 4pm - 7:45pm
Wednesday 4pm - 7:45pm
Sunday 8am - 10:30am

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Coach Dex posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Coach Dex:

Shortcuts

Share

Category