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When I started running, I ran; eventually. As time went on I started looking at how I ran and more specifically at how the way I ran impacted in my body. This lead to the discovery of several methods of “efficient” running. With most of the credit falling on a fellow forumite jonp for the Pose and Pirie information and his colleagues Marion and Michelle for the ChiRunning description, I have collated the information below as a comparison of some of these techniques. I am not claiming that there is anything wrong with the way we run; nor am I suggesting that you need to make changes, but for anyone interested then I hope this article will be of interest to you as it was me.
Part 1
Pose Method treats running as a skill (technique) sport, that we can learn and continually hone our skill of running. This is separate from your normal "training" that is essentially a physiological workout of your body. Pose Method is a "method" and as such is not just a description of good technique, but also a way to learn it.
Traditional running instruction talks about "driving phase", "toe-off", "push-off" and talks about power generated from our muscles pushing against the ground to drive ourselves forward. Pose running turns this on its head by basically saying that in actual fact the primary (motive) force in running is gravity. Gravity accelerates our body downward (to the centre of the earth) at a constant 9.8 m/s2, so it was dismissed as a force to move us forward. But our body actually rotates forward when we run (no matter our style) and when this occurs, a gravitational torque provides our propulsion. Our muscles work (of course), but they provide support for our body and react to gravity (if you jump up and down, every time you take weight, your quad muscles engage automatically to stabilise you - you don't "do" this, it just happens. So Pose method views muscle activity as a supporting role of our body not a propulsive one. (There is one exception described below).
It all sounds terribly complex, but Pose Method (the way to learn to run) splits the task of running into 3 elements: Pose-Fall-Pull
- Pose describes the body alignment for running
- Fall describes how our body actually falls forward (via gravity) when we run - if we let it.
- Pull describes the only "active" movement we need to make when we run
"Pose"
If you watch any runner, you will see an enormous variety of body positions. Some people hunched forward, some tall and straight, some twisting their shoulders etc. With Pose we basically have to learn one body position, "The "Pose". There are 4 points of alignment, each one sits directly on top of each other so that you are in a straight vertical line: Ball of foot->Hips->Shoulder->Head. In this position you are balanced as if on the edge of a cliff. Any slight unbalance and you will fall forward.
"Fall"
This follows the Pose. It is actually not something you do, but more something you let happen. It is about relaxation when your run and reducing body tension. If you are in the "Pose" (on the edge of a cliff) then when running, momentum will take the centre of mass of your body (known as General Centre of Mass or just GCM) forward and you will fall forward. The important thing is to teach yourself to just let this happen. It means you shouldn't keep tense muscles and try and "power run". Did you ever see the top 100m sprinters in the Olympics and see how there muscles swish around like jelly as they run - that is what I'm talking about; release of tension. Whenever you get a muscle pull, you have held a tense muscle that is subsequently tugged and tears. If you release tension, then your muscles behave more elastically.
"Pull"
You are now falling forward from the "Pose" because you let yourself go without holding muscle tension. But you need to do something to stop yourself falling flat on your face. This is called the Pull and it is what you do with your feet when you run. The pull is a lift of your foot off the ground in a direction directly upwards under your hips. You do not push your foot back and then swing it forwards. Your "action" is to just lift your foot up so that you get back into the next Pose position and hence back to the next Pose-Fall-Pull cycle which is running. Although you pull your foot directly upwards, when running this will actually look like a circular motion since your body is moving forward.
The one thing we don't teach in Pose running is how to land, and that is for very good reason; it happens correctly and directly under your body if you just focus on pulling your foot upwards and then forget the foot i.e. don't interfere by pushing your foot to the ground. So the forefoot landing that is often talked about for Pose is actually a result of doing other things correctly and not something you aim for by actively doing it.
The benefits of Pose are greatly reduced risk of injury and increase in running efficiency. If you are a heel runner then you are actually putting a straight leg out in front of your body to stop it moving forward (you're applying the brakes). When this happens, all the force of your bodyweight goes up through your leg and hits the weakest point - your knees. That is why runners suffer knee problems; almost all the landing force is directed up to your knee. With Pose because our foot is landing naturally under our body (which is continually falling forward with every step) with a bent knee, then the force is distributed evenly correctly. Imagine your are a boxer and your opponent throws a punch, you can stand there and take the full force or you can shift your body position and redirect the force so it becomes a glancing blow. That is the essence of pose, redirecting the force of gravity to let it work for you. There is much more technicality regarding muscle and tendon elasticity, ground reaction forces etc but it is not necessary to know unless you are just interested for the sake of the science.
Pose Method is a method, and as such doesn't just describe how to run, but also teaches it. This is done through a set of special exercises called drills that break the Pose-Fall-Pull into small chunks and allows you to "learn the moves" outside of running, (a bit like what you do when you learn to swim) so that with practice you learn to run more efficiently and with reduced risk of injury.
Here is a video clip of Usain Bolt winning the 100m Olympic gold. At 1min in there is a nice slo-mo section. It looks like Usain is striding out in front, but watch the point where his foot actually lands - it's right under his body. Also see how his body is all lined up at this very same point in the "Pose" position.
Usain Bolt 100m final Beijing 2008 WR 9.69 Video Compilation
Here is a video clip of a Pose trained runner (but not Olympic athlete!). See the similarities to Bolt's style.
Pose - Dr Mike
These two are sprinting, but the technique is exactly the same for all speeds including jogging; you just keep your body alignment and use less intensity to pull your foot up off the ground.
Here is an example of slower Pose running:
http://www.posetech.com/video-old/drromanov_slow.mov
Part 1
POSE
Pose Method treats running as a skill (technique) sport, that we can learn and continually hone our skill of running. This is separate from your normal "training" that is essentially a physiological workout of your body. Pose Method is a "method" and as such is not just a description of good technique, but also a way to learn it.
Traditional running instruction talks about "driving phase", "toe-off", "push-off" and talks about power generated from our muscles pushing against the ground to drive ourselves forward. Pose running turns this on its head by basically saying that in actual fact the primary (motive) force in running is gravity. Gravity accelerates our body downward (to the centre of the earth) at a constant 9.8 m/s2, so it was dismissed as a force to move us forward. But our body actually rotates forward when we run (no matter our style) and when this occurs, a gravitational torque provides our propulsion. Our muscles work (of course), but they provide support for our body and react to gravity (if you jump up and down, every time you take weight, your quad muscles engage automatically to stabilise you - you don't "do" this, it just happens. So Pose method views muscle activity as a supporting role of our body not a propulsive one. (There is one exception described below).
It all sounds terribly complex, but Pose Method (the way to learn to run) splits the task of running into 3 elements: Pose-Fall-Pull
- Pose describes the body alignment for running
- Fall describes how our body actually falls forward (via gravity) when we run - if we let it.
- Pull describes the only "active" movement we need to make when we run
"Pose"
If you watch any runner, you will see an enormous variety of body positions. Some people hunched forward, some tall and straight, some twisting their shoulders etc. With Pose we basically have to learn one body position, "The "Pose". There are 4 points of alignment, each one sits directly on top of each other so that you are in a straight vertical line: Ball of foot->Hips->Shoulder->Head. In this position you are balanced as if on the edge of a cliff. Any slight unbalance and you will fall forward.
"Fall"
This follows the Pose. It is actually not something you do, but more something you let happen. It is about relaxation when your run and reducing body tension. If you are in the "Pose" (on the edge of a cliff) then when running, momentum will take the centre of mass of your body (known as General Centre of Mass or just GCM) forward and you will fall forward. The important thing is to teach yourself to just let this happen. It means you shouldn't keep tense muscles and try and "power run". Did you ever see the top 100m sprinters in the Olympics and see how there muscles swish around like jelly as they run - that is what I'm talking about; release of tension. Whenever you get a muscle pull, you have held a tense muscle that is subsequently tugged and tears. If you release tension, then your muscles behave more elastically.
"Pull"
You are now falling forward from the "Pose" because you let yourself go without holding muscle tension. But you need to do something to stop yourself falling flat on your face. This is called the Pull and it is what you do with your feet when you run. The pull is a lift of your foot off the ground in a direction directly upwards under your hips. You do not push your foot back and then swing it forwards. Your "action" is to just lift your foot up so that you get back into the next Pose position and hence back to the next Pose-Fall-Pull cycle which is running. Although you pull your foot directly upwards, when running this will actually look like a circular motion since your body is moving forward.
The one thing we don't teach in Pose running is how to land, and that is for very good reason; it happens correctly and directly under your body if you just focus on pulling your foot upwards and then forget the foot i.e. don't interfere by pushing your foot to the ground. So the forefoot landing that is often talked about for Pose is actually a result of doing other things correctly and not something you aim for by actively doing it.
The benefits of Pose are greatly reduced risk of injury and increase in running efficiency. If you are a heel runner then you are actually putting a straight leg out in front of your body to stop it moving forward (you're applying the brakes). When this happens, all the force of your bodyweight goes up through your leg and hits the weakest point - your knees. That is why runners suffer knee problems; almost all the landing force is directed up to your knee. With Pose because our foot is landing naturally under our body (which is continually falling forward with every step) with a bent knee, then the force is distributed evenly correctly. Imagine your are a boxer and your opponent throws a punch, you can stand there and take the full force or you can shift your body position and redirect the force so it becomes a glancing blow. That is the essence of pose, redirecting the force of gravity to let it work for you. There is much more technicality regarding muscle and tendon elasticity, ground reaction forces etc but it is not necessary to know unless you are just interested for the sake of the science.
Pose Method is a method, and as such doesn't just describe how to run, but also teaches it. This is done through a set of special exercises called drills that break the Pose-Fall-Pull into small chunks and allows you to "learn the moves" outside of running, (a bit like what you do when you learn to swim) so that with practice you learn to run more efficiently and with reduced risk of injury.
Here is a video clip of Usain Bolt winning the 100m Olympic gold. At 1min in there is a nice slo-mo section. It looks like Usain is striding out in front, but watch the point where his foot actually lands - it's right under his body. Also see how his body is all lined up at this very same point in the "Pose" position.
Usain Bolt 100m final Beijing 2008 WR 9.69 Video Compilation
Here is a video clip of a Pose trained runner (but not Olympic athlete!). See the similarities to Bolt's style.
Pose - Dr Mike
These two are sprinting, but the technique is exactly the same for all speeds including jogging; you just keep your body alignment and use less intensity to pull your foot up off the ground.
Here is an example of slower Pose running:
http://www.posetech.com/video-old/drromanov_slow.mov
- like is it a case of standing up straight when you run cause the more tired i get , the more i lean forward and crouch - so i have been making a conscious effort to run tall and upright to open my lungs etc.
