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More efficient running style

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Canute Dec 2013 10:33pm, 27 Dec 2013 840 posts	Quote Pin Canute Richh , that is an interesting thought. My lifting program has focussed largely on barbell squats and deadlifts which develop the major muscles that act on hips and knees, and also develops core muscles. Also, I have recently done a 6 week program of plyometrics, which mainly consisted of various types of hops and jumps, and is demand rapid eccentric contractions of many of the muscles involved in running. However I am still exploring other possibilities. In particular, as I have aged I have tended to land with my foot turned increasingly outwards. I presume this indicates some muscular imbalance, or a loss of flexibility. So my attempts to recover stride length is still a work in progress.
_Zen Jan 2014 8:59am, 2 Jan 2014 18 posts	Quote Pin _Zen Canute, I am 60 and only been running a couple of years so face some of the same issues as you. Pose & Chi saved me from injury but now I wish to develop further on my own. I have found that working on hip extension has definitely allowed me to run faster for the same (perceived) effort. However - as you say there is a danger of leaving the foot on the ground too long. And that 'leaks' into the rest of the gait cycle. So I have recently developed a short neurological re-training drill that works on both rearward extension of the hip - and the automatic elastic release of the knee forward. This drill which I call the "pre-swing" drill in deference to your ideas, starts with the toe of one foot about 12" or more behind the heel of the other - with weight on the front foot. Now move the body weight smartly backwards and extend the hip while keeping the hips facing squarely to the front. When the hip is fully extended just let the knee recoil forwards. The idea being to encourage the fast and relaxed release forward of the knee as an unconscious reflex. Thus time on stance is reduced. When actually running do not think too much of extending back to the fullest extent. Rather just "set it and let it go" per Steve Magness scienceofrunning.com While running a slightly sharper pull back of the elbow on the opposite side can be a cue for faster knee recoil. Caveat: Have only been using this drill a couple of weeks so the evidence is not all in yet! Rich & Canute, I am no stranger to the gym but have never done weighted squats before. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks. Cheers
Canute Jan 2014 12:14pm, 2 Jan 2014 842 posts	Quote Pin Canute Zen Thanks for the ‘pre-swing drill and for the link to Steve Magness’ blog. Let me start with Steve’s account of the hip extension. He states that the power at lift-off from stance comes from the hips, rather than plantar flexion of the calf. I strongly agree with this. Although the calf muscles do contract at toe off, the hip muscle are more powerful. The crucial issue is when the powerful hip muscle contraction occurs. Prilutsky’s electromyographic data (published in JEB, 2001) shows a very short and strong contraction of gluteus maximum at mid-stance while gastrocnemius contracts about 60 milliseconds later. Applying this to Steve’s description, it is contraction of the Glut max at mid stance that is the most important power generator. The practical issues is how to strengthen this contraction of Glut max and even more important, how to get the timing right. With regard to your pre-swing drill. I am not sure that I fully understand it. Presumably the leg that starts in the trailing position is the leg that is about to take off. You say that the body weight should move smartly back to extend the hip. When running the torso moves forward relative to the trailing leg. Do you mean that the hips move forwards while the gluteals contract sharply so that a larger force is transmitted down and back to the ground via the trailing fore-foot? If I have understood your pre-swing drill correctly, it appears to me that it has the desirable feature of emphasizing the sharp, strong Glut max contraction which I did not emphasize in the description of my swing-drill. However, I am a little concerned about the timing of the sharp contraction in your ‘pre-swing drill’. You are transmitting a large force though the forefoot in a strongly plantar flexed position. When actually running, I would be worry that this would create a risk of metatarsal stress fracture. If we assume that you are attempting to mimic paces in the range 3-4 m/sec, you are delivering a sharp contraction about 70-100 ms after midstance – that is 70-100 ms later than Prilutsky’s data shows. While I failed to emphasize the sharpness of the G max contraction in my swing drill, nonetheless, in my swing drill the G max contraction is initiated at mid-stance in accord with Prilutsky’s data. The contraction begins at a time when the for can be transmitted to the ground via both ends of the longitudinal arch of the foot. I think this is safer. Furthemore, the brain is likely to allow a more powerful contraction is this position. So in conclusion, (assuming I have correctly understood your pre-swing drill, I think it places a desirable emphasis on the sharpness of the Glu max contraction, but it does this too late in the gait cycle. Returning to the video clip of Cody on Steve’s blog, in te third run, which Steve commends as the best, the crucial thing appears to be the greater elevation arising from larger vertical GRF. This is what would be produced by a sharp G max contraction at mid-stance. Maybe I need to modify my description of the swing drill to emphasize the sharpness of the Glut max contraction at mid-stance and immediately after.
Canute Jan 2014 12:20pm, 2 Jan 2014 843 posts	Quote Pin Canute Sorry for the multiple typo's. For should be force in the statement ' The contraction begins at a time when the force can be transmitted to the ground via both ends of the longitudinal arch of the foot'
Canute Jan 2014 2:06pm, 2 Jan 2014 844 posts	Quote Pin Canute Zen, I should emphasize another point in your post with which I strongly agree. You say ‘While running a slightly sharper pull back of the elbow on the opposite side can be a cue for faster knee recoil.’ Yes, a sharp downward and backwards movement of the arm opposite to the stance leg, initiated fractionally before mid-stance and lasting until after toe off, will promote the required sharp gluteal contraction at mid-stance and subsequent reflex flexion of hip and knee after toe off. Because it is easier to provide precise conscious control over the contraction of muscles in the upper limb than the lower limb, I am inclined to think that the mental focus should be primarily on the arm swing rather than the gluteal push. The sharp down and backward movement of the arm is largely performed by latissimus dorsi. It is important to ensure that the shoulders remain relaxed. Latissumus dorsi is attached to a strong band of connective tissue in the lower back (the thoraco-lumbar fascia) and as Latissiums contracts the tensioning of this fascia stabilizes the pelvis and allows a strong gluteal contraction. I described this in my word press blog about what the disappointing performances of female marathoners in recent years. canute1.wordpress.com I think that even Paula Radcliffe, wonderful runner that she was, failed to optimise the coordination between arm and leg. My conclusion as: While I believe that the program of plyometrics which Gerald Hartman introduced in 2001 to develop leg strength played a key part in the transformation of Paula Radcliffe into the most outstanding female marathoner the world has yet seen, I suspect that greater attention to the coordination of the complex system of muscles extending from shoulder to foot via Latissimus dorsi, the glutes, ITB and the lower leg muscles, might have protected her from the injuries that confounded her Olympic dreams in 2004 and 2008. I still think that is true. However, I would gladly swap my knowledge of anatomy and physiology for Paula’s ability to run.
richh Jan 2014 2:33pm, 2 Jan 2014 657 posts	Quote Pin richh Zen, I have no knowledge, special or otherwise, about weight training. On days when weather prevents me from running, I usually do squats with no extra weight - about 4 sets of 40 over the course of the day. As for hip extension, I wonder how much of this is dictated by a rather short body running at 5 minute/mile pace? A result rather than a cause?
Canute Jan 2014 3:56pm, 2 Jan 2014 845 posts	Quote Pin Canute Zen, With regard to weights, I mainly do barbell squats and deadlifts. Deep squats provide very good development of the hip extensors while also providing good ‘whole body’ development. However it is crucial to learn good technique. I generally feel a little out of my depth in the macho world of lifting. I think Mark Rippetoe’s ‘Starting Strength- basic barbell training’ is excellent. However, it is almost certainly best to start at a gym that provides good expertise and the right equipment for barbell work. When I purchased an Olympic barbell and plates for use at home my wife found a lot of alarming u-tube clips of horrible catastrophes with barbells. She bought me a very stout squat cage which takes up a lot of space but was probably a sound investment – though I have not yet suffered any loss of control of the bar that might have been serious. A lot of sprinters do hang cleans. I think these are great for developing power around the hips and core, but hang clean technique is a bit tricky. SPR is probably this thread’s most expert advisor on weights
_Zen Jan 2014 7:19pm, 2 Jan 2014 19 posts	Quote Pin _Zen Canute, Quick reply on just a couple of points. Taking one small portion out of the gait cycle and emphasizing it - as in the pre-swing drill - is never going to be the same as the unconscious reality of the full gait cycle where everything affects everything else. So for example consciously driving the knee through in running actually results in a slower recovery, which then affects the landing foot position, etc., etc. So Yes when doing the exercise with a heavy emphasis on the sharp extension of the hip - you are right that is a little later in the gait cycle than would be the case for unconscious running. But the point of it for me is twofold. One: it helps me to train a push forward of the same hip over the extended leg and hopefully increase more dynamic flexibilty in extension. Two: it ties the furthest extent of that extension to a coordinated quick release forward of the hip-flexors - psoas, rectus femoris, etc. In short it exaggerates for the very specific purposes above. Hmmm ... whether it works or not we will have to see by experiment Interestingly my own limiting factor for hip extension is not the psoas but rather rectus femoris - as determined by the Thomas test and then comparing with modified Thomas test. And this may not be unusual for my age. The other point is that you are 100% correct when you look at the third 'stride' on Steve's videos and note that the cue the coach is giving here is to go for more height vs length from the push-off. This is the 'cannon ball' trajectory notion of balancing the force vector to give maximum flight time. I think I have to work on this balance too. Rich, Do you mean like the elites/african runners show - as in the video clip from the great north run comparing Mo Farah, Bekele, Gebreselasie? Where they all show a very pronounced hip extension in slow motion? My opinion is that these guys are naturally gifted with good dynamic flexibility in the same way as olympic swimmers have exceptional shoulder flexibilty. I do think the training we see the african runners do dragging rubber tyres may help with this but I could quite easily be talking out of my *** there Its 3am in Singapore .. Night
Canute Jan 2014 7:56pm, 2 Jan 2014 847 posts	Quote Pin Canute Zen I hope you are by this time sleeping well. I too often need to remind myself at 2-3am that in order to maximise the benefits of the previous days training, I should already have been asleep several hours allowing a healthy of surge of growth hormone. Thanks for your response. I accept that you were trying to emulate only a small but crucial part of the gait cycle. I will experiment with your pre-swing drill and see if I find it helpful. Nonetheless I think that the timing of the Glut maximus contraction is the most crucial issue. I have recently been doing a bounding drill that emphasizes the timing of the Gluteus maximus contraction, in an attempt to improve my stride. Following our discussion I have updated my description of the swing drill to include the incorporation of the swing into a full gait cycle within the bounding drill. canute1.wordpress.com I would be interested to know what you think of it.
_Zen Jan 2014 12:27pm, 3 Jan 2014 20 posts	Quote Pin _Zen Canute, Bounding! I like bounding Just back from a run round the reservoir and was trying to link the elbow swing to the relaxed recovery - rather than the push. It increasingly works well and I was able to open up nicely and sprint on the last few hundred meters. But all the way around it felt like my knees did not really come high enough. And if I artificially pulled them up to where they felt just right it seemed to cost too much energy. So I concluded that I have been running with too flat a trajectory for a week or two while working on my dynamic hip flexibility. So I tried bounding in the car park. I was nice and loose and it worked very nicely. Nice and springy but with relaxed calves and ankles. And there seemed no effort in recovery too. I think for me at least if we combine these ideas with some of the Steve Magness cues scienceofrunning.com in the link I posted before we may be able to move towards a more efficient flight trajectory. Thank you