Shane Benzie is a world-renowned movement coach and the author of The Lost Art of Running. Over the years, he has worked with HYROX athletes, Olympians, free solo climbers, and even tribal communities across the globe. He helps athletes move more efficiently by treating running as a skill – one that can be trained, refined, and mastered.
In our chat for the Rox Lyfe podcast, Shane shares why 84% of runners unknowingly run with a walking gait, how small tweaks in posture and foot strike can transform performance, and why impact and airtime – often seen as problems – are actually your biggest allies.
From Injured Runner to Movement Coach
Benzie’s journey started with frustration. No matter how strong or fit he got, he kept getting injured and struggled to improve his results. The breakthrough came when he stopped focusing on fitness and instead studied how he was running. “I’d got myself physically fit, but I wasn’t getting any better with my results. That’s when I realised it wasn’t about fitness – it was about movement.”
That shift set him on a path of studying biomechanics, anthropology, and real-world movement to decode how humans are designed to run.
Runner with a Walking Gait
After analysing over 4,000 athletes, Shane found that 84% of runners use a heel strike and pendulum-style stride – essentially running with a walking gait. This not only makes running less efficient but also increases injury risk. Instead, Benzie encourages athletes to develop what he calls “beautiful curves” in their stride – creating elastic recoil that propels the body forward.
Impact and Airtime are Running Allies
Conventional wisdom says to fear impact and minimize airtime. Shane disagrees. “A human’s movement strategy is based on hitting the ground. That impact creates elastic energy, we store it, and it helps us spring off again.”
He explains that bounce is your currency for going forward. Reduce it, and you trap yourself into short, inefficient strides. Embrace it, and you unlock efficiency.
The Tripod Foot
One of Benzie’s cornerstone concepts is learning to land on a tripod foot – with equal contact at the heel, big toe, and little toe. “That tripod landing gives you stability, reduces ground contact time, and lets your foot’s quarter of a million nerve endings maximise data from the ground.”
This technique not only improves efficiency but also transfers to HYROX stations like the sled push or burpee broad jumps, where stability and power are essential.
Lessons from Kenyan Camps and Extreme Athletes
Benzie has lived and trained alongside East African runners, who he believes are masters of tapping into the body’s natural elastic system. Their secret? Neuron mirroring. By mimicking each other’s efficient strides, they hardwire better movement without ever being “coached” in the traditional sense.
He also applies lessons from extreme athletes like free solo climbers and big wave surfers, whose lives depend on flawless movement. “If we can learn from people whose life depends on getting it right, why wouldn’t we prepare the same way for our sport?”
Posture, Technology and the Modern Athlete
Your everyday posture plays a major role in your running performance. Hours spent hunched at desks or looking down at phones shorten the body’s “sea of elastic tension.”
Shane teaches athletes to reclaim height and symmetry in their movement – even while standing at a desk. “You’re training, even in the office,” he says.
Posture, Technology and the Modern Athlete
While carbon-plated shoes dominate headlines, Benzie believes shoe choice should prioritise natural function:
• A wide toe box to let the foot splay on landing
• Moderate drop (2-6mm) to balance Achilles load and posture
• Enough ground feel to engage the foot’s proprioceptors
“The best shoe,” he says, “is the one that lets your foot do what it was designed to do.”
Treat Running as a Skill
Shane’s ultimate message is simple: stop treating running as something we all just “know how” to do.
“Anyone can swing a golf club – doesn’t mean you’ll hit it straight and far. Running is a skill. Develop it, and it pays dividends.”
Summary
Whether you’re chasing a HYROX PB or simply trying to run without injury, Shane Benzie’s work reframes running as movement mastery, not just fitness. By embracing impact, maximising airtime, and training your body to move as it’s designed, you can become faster, more efficient, and more resilient.
To dive deeper, check out Shane’s book The Lost Art of Running and listen to the full Rox Lyfe podcast episode (or watch below)…
