What is Gracefull Running?
Founder, Becky Lyne's international athletics career granted her the access to some of the country’s leading physios, biomechanists and doctors. Despite this, she spent the majority of her career side-lined by injury. Frustrated she would ask herself, “If humans are designed to run, why am I still getting injured?”. There had to be something fundamentally wrong.
What followed was years of reading, studying and experimenting to try and find the formula that would get her back running consistently. It was only after retiring from athletics and starting a new hobby of dancing, that all the pieces of the jigsaw started to fit together. She realised that the postural requirements of dancing applied just as effectively to running. An epiphany whilst stretching in front of the fire conveniently packaged the 5 pieces of advice she would regularly give out to athletes she coached into the G-R-A-C-E-full acronym.
As a former professional athlete, Becky Lyne has experienced the highs and lows of a career at the top of her game. Her list of achievements includes third in the 800m at the European Championships (a performance which then took her to third on the British all time list) and fourth in the 800m at the Athletics World Cup, in a season that saw her voted Britain's Female Athlete of the Year 2006.
Since retiring, Becky continues to amass a wealth of knowledge and experience working with world leading specialists and coaches, which she now shares with young ambitious athletes, as well as her local and online running communities, to inspire runners at every level to achieve their full potential.
As well as drawing on the priceless hands-on experience of being a professional athlete, Becky uses the scientific background gained from her First Class Honours Degree in Sport and Exercise Science from Loughborough University to shortcut through the confusion with the key guiding principles that form the GRACE-full Method.
Learn more about the 5 principles of Gracefull Running, the method we employ in all our coaching processes.
Landing underneath your centre of mass reduces breaking forces OR Lifting your hips up and forward discourages you from jolt-ily heel planting in front of your body
The resonant frequency of leg muscles is 3 hertz OR Get free elastic energy from your muscles and tendons by running at 180 strides per min
Backwards displacement of centre of mass decreases your horizontal force vector OR Having a strong aligned body allows you to use gravity to propel you onward by tilting forward from the ankles
Smoothness reduces wasted energy due to vertical displacement OR Your legs should feel like a wheel underneath you, using all energy push you forward functionally instead of bobbing up and down.
Running induces BDNF serotonin, anandamide and kynurenine aminotransferase release OR Hormones and enzymes that physiologically and tangibly reduce stress, anxiety and depression
Hover over the 5 principles of Gracefull Running to learn more about how to run more as humans are designed to.
- Decreased risk of injury
- More efficient, faster running
- Increased enjoyment
Plus a multitude of physical (increased cardiovascular fitness, strength bone density etc) and mental (decreased anxiety, depression and stress, improved sleep etc) health benefits.
A further epiphany whilst out running revealed how the acronym could also be applied to your mindset, nutrition, recovery, relationships and living with purpose. These six pillars of well-being went on to form the basis of a mentoring programme she designed for aspiring athletes.
The audience for the past year has been a wonderful group of teenage middle-distance athletes from her old athletics clubs, Hallamshire Harriers Sheffield, now affectionately referred to as her ‘Grace-lets’. Mixing conditioning sessions with performance and well-being seminars, not only does she aim to help the girls to become fitter, stronger and healthier athletes, but also to become young women that can Gracefully take on life’s obstacles.
This online programme has now been opened internationally with her dear friend (and former rival) Marilyn Okoro on board to help spread the Gracefull Gospel. See our Gracefull Girls page for details of what’s involved in the programme and how you can sign up.