Running Posture – Stealth running Newton was right: What goes up must come down. And the higher you go, the faster your body is accelerates downwards towards the planet on landing. This energy needs to be absorbed before making your next stride, and as far as possible recycled into useful forwards movement. If you have a noisy running style, it is a sure sign that energy recycling is not working well. Noise is a waste product you can actually hear! The amount of sound made on landing, represents the forces you are “feeling” in your; knees, feet, calf muscles and back. While these structures are designed to absorb running forces, they have a limit to what they can take. If you go beyond these limits, it causes what is known as an overuse injury. Starting to feel activated Stand upright and take a deep breath in, soften the ribs on the out-breath and reset the shoulders, move your bottom & stomach together as if leaning forward whilst standing at the edge of a cliff! rock forward from the ankles and start to walk/run. Top Tips to Going Gently on the Planet: 1. Run upright ( Feel elongated as if being towed fwd by a line from the crown of your head) 2. Land your front foot almost under you, not out in front 3. Use your arm swing to actively drive your leg motion.(With the elbow at 90deg.) 4. To run faster, increase your cadence (freq of steps) not your stride length 170-180 Steps per min (Metronome beats App) 5. Aim to feel all the components of your run, aligned with your direction of travel. By following this routine when starting to run I’ve noticed that my weight is shifted forward and, to stop my self falling on my face, I have to run faster! Genius! This gives me a forward momentum that I didn’t have before…that energy that was previously expending going up and down can now be transferred to travelling forward. Practice getting into this running posture. By jumping up and down in before and after positions you can feel exactly how much more bouncy you are and how the impact is absorbed by the correctly positioned vertebrae. Martin Howorth BSc(hons) MCSP ACPSM
