How to track running form progress month to month

You track running form progress by filming the same view, at the same pace, in the same place, every four to six weeks, and comparing the same numbers each time. landing reach, knee bend, lean, arm angle, head position and cadence. A single report tells you where you are. Two reports filmed the same way tell you whether anything changed. That is the whole method.

Most people who complain that a form app "did nothing" got one report, changed something, and never filmed again. The report was fine. There was no second one.

Why one report is not enough

A form analysis is a snapshot. It is affected by the day, the pace, the shoes, the surface and how tired you are. One clip at 5:30 per kilometre on a track in fresh legs will not match one at 6:15 on a trail at the end of a long run. Neither is wrong. They are just different runs.

So a single score means less than people want it to. What means something is the same measurement, taken the same way, moving in the same direction over three or four checks.

Same view, same pace, same place

This is the rule. Every time you film to compare, match these.

Same view. Side view for landing, knee, lean, arms and head. Front or behind for hip line and side-to-side movement. Do not compare a side clip with a front clip. They measure different things. Pick side as your main view and film it every time.

Same pace. Easy pace, the one you run most days. Not a stride, not a race. If you have a watch, note the pace. If not, use the same effort and the same breathing.

Same place. Same flat path, same spot for the phone, same distance from the camera, same height. Mark the phone spot if you can. The camera setup changes the angles more than most people expect. See how to film yourself running.

Same point in the run. Fresh legs each time, or tired legs each time. If your form drops late in runs and that is what you are working on, film late every time.

Same shoes. Not essential, but a shoe change moves cadence and landing a little.

What to compare

Compare numbers, not feelings. These are the ones that move with training.

landing reach. As a fraction of leg length, so it is comparable even if you stood slightly closer to the phone. This is the first number to watch if you are fixing overstriding.
Knee bend on landing, at midstance. In degrees. A stiff landing softens toward 20 to 35 degrees.
Torso lean. In degrees. Watch for the number settling in the low single digits.
Head position. In degrees. Should fall as you run taller.
Arm angle. Elbow near 90 degrees, and the hands stopping their crossing.
Knee bend at push-off. Rises as the trailing leg learns to fold.
Cadence. Steps per minute. A 5 percent rise is a real change. A 2 percent wobble is noise.

Do not fixate on the overall score. It is useful as a summary, but a five point move in the score can hide a big change in one dial and a small drop in another. Look at the dials.

How often

Every four to six weeks. That is long enough for a drill plan to show up on video and short enough to stay interested. More often than every three weeks and you are mostly measuring noise. Less often than eight weeks and you lose the thread.

A good rhythm is: film, do a 4 or 8 week plan, film again, adjust the plan, repeat. See how to improve running form for the plan.

The one cue

The cue for tracking progress is not a form cue. It is a habit.

Film it the same way, every time.

If you remember only that, the comparison will be honest.

A 4-week cycle that produces a comparison

This is one cycle. Repeat it.

Week 0: baseline.

Film the side view. Note pace, place and shoes.
Write down the lowest dial. That is the target.

Weeks 1 and 2: pattern.

Drills matched to the target, two or three sessions a week. For landing: A-march 3 × 30 seconds, slow calf raises 3 × 10, single-leg balance 2 × 30 seconds each side.
One cue on two easy runs.

Weeks 3 and 4: speed.

A-skip 3 × 20 metres, quick-feet strides 4 × 20 seconds, glute bridge 3 × 10.
Cue on every other kilometre of one run.

End of week 4: compare.

Film again. Same view, same pace, same place.
Compare the target dial first, then the rest. See running form drills for swapping drills if the target changes.

How to check it with Caden

Film your baseline. Tap Run a new analysis, set up a side-on shot, and follow the framing guide. Film 10 to 20 seconds at easy pace.
Do a 4 or 8 week plan on the Exercises tab. Tick sessions off as you go.
In week 4, film again the same way. Same view, same pace, same place.
Open Stats. The form score is shown over time, and only clips measured the same way feed a trend. Tap any metric to see its trend across every run.
Tap Before and after. Caden puts your earliest comparable run next to your latest, dial by dial, with the breakpoint frames side by side.
Scroll the history to see every run. If a clip was filmed differently, ignore it in the comparison and film another.

Caden stores the clip and the annotated key frames with the analysis until you delete it, so the comparison can pull them up months later.

Mistakes people make

Comparing a treadmill clip with an outdoor clip. Treadmills shorten the stride. Compare like with like. See running form analysis on a treadmill.
Filming after a change and calling it proof. One run with the cue on is not progress. Four weeks and a fresh clip is.
Checking every week. Weekly clips wobble. Monthly clips show a trend.
Changing two things between checks. New shoes and a cadence change in the same month means you cannot tell which one moved the number.
Chasing the score. Watch the dial you were working on. The score follows.

FAQ

How often should I check my running form?

Every four to six weeks. That gives a drill plan time to show on video without measuring day-to-day noise.

Why does my running form score change between runs?

Pace, tiredness, surface, shoes and camera placement all move the numbers. Film the same view at the same pace in the same place and the score becomes comparable.

What is a real improvement in running form?

A clear move in the dial you were working on, held across two checks. For cadence, about 5 percent. For landing reach, a visible shift of the ankle toward the hip on the foot strike frame.

Can I compare a side view with a front view?

No. They measure different things. Caden tracks the side view for landing, knee, lean, arms and head. Front or behind footage is worth keeping separately for hip and shoulder line, but you review it yourself.

Do I need the same phone position every time?

As close as you can. Same height, same distance, same spot. Caden gives landing as a fraction of leg length, which helps with small distance changes, but angles still shift if the phone moves a lot.