Effortless Erik

I have always been obsessed with how we optimize our performance.  From road to trail running and middle distance to ultra's, I have a love for both the science and art of running. As an athlete, certified coach, and former Phys Ed & Sports Science teacher I have trained thousands of athletes, all with their unique way of running.

What has fascinated me is how some athletes are so fluent and smooth while others are not. What I noticed in my time as an educator was that there is a major shift in running ability when children transition to middle school. Typically, children at a primary school level are quite good runners. Almost effortless. And when they reach the age of a middle-schooler (you know, those awkward in-between years), some continue to keep that effortless running pattern but, sadly, most don’t.

Running becomes a much harder task as the body grows bigger and as society asks you to study more and sit down for longer periods of time. It is like many of us forget how to run as we grow up.

It is not like we forget, we actually forget how to run.

Passionate about supporting people to enjoy running, I decided to use my analytical skills to define a method to bring ‘lost’ runners back to running properly, running effortlessly. For that, I turned to the two groups who I know run exceptionally well: East-African runners and primary school children.  

I studied both groups, looked for commonalities and distilled the running forms both groups have into three key elements. 

And so was born the Effortless Running™ method!