Running from the Pose Method Perspective

• 1. Running from the Pose Method Perspective Coach Greg Maurer

2. The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them. Sir William Bragg Coach Greg Maurer 3. History of the Pose Method Founded in 1977 by Dr. Nicholas Romanov No Commonly Accepted Model of Teaching Running Thousands of runners analyzed to isolate commonalities (Pose-Fall-Pull) among all runners The framework of the Pose Method is not about what all runners do differently, but what they all do the same Pose Method provides a new way to look at movement and running! Coach Greg Maurer 4. Perception Skill Development Pose teaches that this should be the central focus of all training programs With amateur athletes, focusing on skill development alone can yield significant improvement (Drills & Exercises) With elite athletes, skill development may be the only thing left to train to keep them sharp and prepared in their chosen sport Coach Greg Maurer 5. Elements of Movement Every movement consists of key Pose(s)/Postures that define the movement Precise Body Weight Application & Unweighting Followed by a focused and deliberate Action (like Pull) in a compound movement that initiates a Change of Support Coach Greg Maurer 6. Poses Key Positions Silhouette of Pose positions Coach Greg Maurer 7. Movement in the Pose Method Movement is changing direction and speed of a specific object relative to the existing movement. Movement is the result of force. The force is a magnitude of interaction between material bodies. One outcome of force is an acceleration of the body. The nature of the forces defines the nature of movement. In the Pose Method gravity is prioritized as the primary force for movement. Coach Greg Maurer 8. Gravitational Framework Pose sees the forces in running in two groups: 1) Gratuitous forces 1) Gravity 2) Ground Reaction Force 3) Muscle-Tendon Elasticity aka Stretch-Shortening Cycle 2) Those using the ATP breakdown energy (Muscle- Contraction) aka Active Contractions mostly concentric. Coach Greg Maurer 9. Gravitational Framework Coach Greg Maurer 10. Gratuitous Forces Gratuitous Forces Increased Mechanical Efficiency Improved Running Economy Utilizing more external forces along with the stretch-shortening cycle to our advantage leads to less use of active/conscious muscular efforts (non-stretch-shortening cycle concentric focused efforts) However in order to handle these forces the athlete needs strength and stability to avoid injury and redirect forces! Coach Greg Maurer 11. Transformation of Energy Gravity is a Constant force and a source of acceleration All forces on Earth are derivatives of gravity In fact in a low Gravity environment like the moon - muscles do not work well at all!! Coach Greg Maurer 12. Strength Development in Pose Model Recognizes the body has to absorb three - five times body weight on one leg repeatedly Therefore strength development is a major priority! In order to run faster, you must get stronger However from a Pose Perspective strength does not so much create horizontal movement, it allows the athlete to change the direction and speed of movement which is initiated by gravity! Coach Greg Maurer 13. Teaching Model Standard, and Deviations from the Standard Standard Elements of Running Pose Common Deviations: Arrive late into the Pose Position Fall Common Deviations: Bending at the waist, not falling forward, running with the legs only (like on a treadmill!) Pull Common Deviations: Full extension of the trail leg (indicates late pull), Cadence is not fast enough Coach Greg Maurer 14. Teaching Model Pose Concepts Hierarchy of Movement All forces on Earth are derivatives of gravity Role of Forces Action Cue Perceive that you are pulling your foot off the ground before you actually land on the ground Like loading a spring, to maximize effectiveness of Stretch- Shortening Cycle Coach Greg Maurer 15. Pose focuses on the three components present in all running and runners Page 15 Cardio | Strength | Power | Balance 7/24/2014 Three non-variable essential elements: Pose (Mid-Stance) Fall and Pull All runners display these three elements, and a key to improving running form is increasing perception of the Pose, Fall, and Pull and improving the timing of these three elements in relation to one another during running! The Running Pose is a whole body pose, which vertically aligns shoulders, hips and ankles with the support leg, while standing on the ball of the foot. This creates an S-like shape of the body. The runner then changes the pose from one leg to the other by falling forward and allowing gravity to do the work. The support foot is pulled from the ground to allow the body to fall forward while the other foot drops down freely in a change of support. 16. The Running Pose Coach Greg Maurer 17. The Running Pose AKA Mid-Stance All runners go through this position in some variation. It is unavoidable. This is the fundamental position of power and potential energy where we load the muscles eccentrically as the beginning of the Stretch Shortening Cycle Time on Support aka time in Pose Shorter Time = Fewer Injuries and Higher Speed Coach Greg Maurer 18. Foot Strike Varies Coach Greg Maurer 19. Foot Strike Varies Many Injuries occur in this Phase Coach Greg Maurer 20. Forefoot Landing to Pose Coach Greg Maurer 21. Prevent Injuries (Running Pose) Primary goal with any skillful activity is to avoid getting injured Most injuries occur from contact to the Pose The further ahead of the body the foot lands, the longer the support time, which exposes the joints, ligaments, and tendons to an excessive amount of load The quicker we get in and out of the Pose position, the fewer injuries we will have and the faster we will run! Coach Greg Maurer 22. Heel Strike Basics Critical Tend to Lock Joints Up to 3x Body Weight Absorbed by Joints Notable Longest Support Time Prone to Supination and Pronation Coach Greg Maurer 23. Mid-Foot Strike Basics Pose Critical of this concept Currently Defined as forefoot and heel touching the ground simultaneously Consistency Issue Excessive leverage on the knee Notable Same eccentric knee load as heel strike Braking effect every stride Coach Greg Maurer 24. How do we Define the Mid-Foot? Coach Greg Maurer 25. Forefoot Strike Basics Critical reduce eccentric knee load by 50% Allows athlete to use Stretch-Shortening Cycle most effectively! Notable Short support time More efficient running gait Coach Greg Maurer 26. Ground Reaction Force Lieberman GRF smooth graph line compared with heel strike, double peak graph line The forefoot landing does not have a double impact curve Coach Greg Maurer 27. Falling Motion is created by the destruction of balance, that is, of equality of weight, for nothing can move by itself, which does not leave its state of balance, and that thing moves most rapidly, which is furthest from its balance. of the motion and course of animals. That figure will appear swiftest in its course, which is about to fall forward. -Leonardo da Vinci Coach Greg Maurer 28. Fall Pose postulates that what separates elite athletes from amateur runners is Fall Angle Gravity accelerates falling object at 9.81 Meters/Second Squared so runners can use a fractional percentage of this acceleration based upon fall angle. Falling is responsible for Acceleration (0-22.5) Greater Fall Angle = Running Faster NOTE: Falling is NOT bending at the waist!!! Coach Greg Maurer 29. Coach Greg Maurer 30. Role of Arms in Speed/Acceleration Most people can achieve great arm drive while running in place, but by itself it does it does not directly contribute to acceleration or running speed Arm movement is necessary to provide balance and MUST stay in sync with leg movement to be helpful. Proper arm swing - maintaining a shorter lever by NOT extending the elbow is ONE factor in running speed but it is NOT one the most important factors fall angle is! Coach Greg Maurer 31. Stride Length vs Range of Motion Stride Length = distance between two points of landing Range of Motion = how far apart legs are during stride Stride length increases with increased running speed EVEN WITHOUT increase in range of motion. Telling athletes to focus on deliberately increasing stride length often results in overstriding let stride length take care of itself while running. Pose views stride length as an outcome of increased speed NOT the cause of it! Stride Length Range of Motion Coach Greg Maurer 32. Cadence and Running Speed Like stride length there IS a relationship between running speed and cadence. However cadence and stride length increase as running speed increases and are NOT the cause of higher running speed but rather an outcome of higher running speed which comes from fall angle! If someone is running properly cadence and/or stride length will increase in response to increased fall angle automatically! Coach Greg Maurer 33. Pull Coach Greg Maurer 34. Pull In Pose the pull is the main Active element element in running Falling is passive all you have to do is keep the body aligned And landing is reflexive using the SSC We pull at the end of the fall to recover the Pose position and repeat the process again This is where active muscle efforts play the greatest role How high we pull the foot under the hips is determined by our fall angle and speed higher speed = higher, faster pull. Coach Greg Maurer 35. Push-Off The premise is that, using the muscles in the trail leg, the runner will push off the ground and propel the body forward The main caveat is that maximum push-off can be achieved in the vertical direction with almost NO BENEFIT in the horizontal direction Coach Greg Maurer 36. Coach Greg Maurer 37. Extensors Paradox In 1990, a study was done to test the the level of muscle activity in the extensor muscles at the moment the trail leg would be used to Push Off the ground to propel the body forward The results indicated, unequivocally, that at that particular moment, the extensor muscles were completely inactive Coach Greg Maurer 38. Extensor Paradox Study Active During Landing No Activity Coach Greg Maurer 39. Kugler, F., Janshen, L., (2009), Journal of Biomechanics, Body Position Determines Propulsive Forces in Accelerated Running. Higher acceleration during running is mainly attained by applying similar forces to the ground at greater forward leans and not by simply applying greater forces. The reason for the low resultant ground reaction forces during acceleration is the dominant vertical force component which will become detrimental when greater forces are applied. Subjects with superior acceleration performance placed the foot further posterior (relative to the CM) at initial contact 14 Coach Greg Maurer 40. Pistons Analogy Common Error is to reach for landing with the swing leg do NOT focus on landing!!! Another error is focusing on pounding feet into the ground. Rather focus on pulling the foot from ground to under the hip since YOU MUST pull the support foot first! Think of legs as pistons with an inverse relationship Before one leg can land, the support leg must come off the ground Pulling the support leg is the initiator of the action Coach Greg Maurer 41. Cadence and the Pull The minimum cadence to effectively use the SSC is 180 steps per minute So many runners have cadence that is too slow and will benefit from deliberately doing running intervals at a higher cadence. Strategy for increasing cadence is to focus on the pull NOT push-off which is passive and involving the SSC and occurs automatically. After a 12 week period of adaptation to the increased cadence research has shown: Up to a 50% increase in mechanical efficiency Up to a 20% decrease in Oxygen consumption Coach Greg Maurer 42. No Active Push-Off in Running Ground Reaction Forces mostly provide the vertical support and friction that allow runners to fall through a usable range of anywhere past 0 up to 22.5 [12], without slipping [13]. Whats more, ground reaction is about the same for faster runners as for slower runners [14], at the same lean angles. Faster runners just fall through a greater range. Plus, maximum horizontal acceleration occurs before peak posterior ground reaction [15]. Coach Greg Maurer 43. Paw Back The main premise has been that you can actively land out ahead of your body and, using friction, pull yourself through the stride and thrust your body forward into the next stride. No amount of muscular effort can pull the body forward faster than the momentum of the body while running Coach Greg Maurer 44. Knee Drive In Pose the focus on actively flexing the hip to recover the rear leg is replaced with a focus on Pulling the foot directly under the hips and attempting to pull the foot BEFORE it hits the ground (not possible of course!) This shortens the lever allowing MUCH less energy to pull the leg forward which happens via the stretch- shortening cycle through the hip flexors which requires no active pulling by the hip flexors! Coach Greg Maurer 45. Running on Ice Coach Greg Maurer 46. Starting Blocks Lets look at how Pose views the start of Sprint out of the blocks. We start with four points of contact Lets assume for arguments sake that each point of contact has 25% of our body weight on it Coach Greg Maurer 47. Ready.. Set.. Coach Greg Maurer 48. GO!!! In an instance, 2 points of our support are gone and 100% of our body weight is now on our feet This will lead to an increase in the force graph reaction of the starting blocks this WILL happen automatically regardless of whether you push-off or not! Coach Greg Maurer 49. Coach Greg Maurer 50. First Step out of the blocks The back leg begins to move into position for our first step Now all of our body weight is concentrated on one leg, this will further lead to an increase in the force graph reaction of the starting blocks Additionally, our swing leg is approximately 20% of our body mass; its rotation at the hip and swinging forward into position comes at the expense of our general center of mass moving forward For our swing leg to move forward our GCM must be the support and thus creates a force opposite the direction of the swing leg, into the starting blocks Coach Greg Maurer 51. Coach Greg Maurer 52. Coach Greg Maurer 53. Coach Greg Maurer 54. Coach Greg Maurer 55. Coach Greg Maurer 56. In Conclusion All of the preceding factors contribute to an increase in the force reaction graph out of the starting blocks, not necessarily the presence of an active push-off in the way it is taught traditionally Pose contends that what the athlete really needs to focus on is pulling the rear leg forward to catch his falling body and that the increased fall angle NOT a better pushing position results in greater horizontal speed! Coach Greg Maurer 57. Anatomy of a Stride Locked: Ankle, Knee, Hip Joints Impact: Absorb Up to 3x Body Weight every stride Joints Absorb Impact Heel Strike Coach Greg Maurer 58. Anatomy of a Stride Joints Absorb Impact Braking Effect: Landing ahead of the body every stride Leverage on the Knee: Excess Strain on Tendons and Ligaments Flat Foot Landing: Difficult to Consistently Reproduce Excess Strain on Knee Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Coach Greg Maurer 59. Anatomy of a Stride Joints Absorb Impact Forefoot Strike Unlocked: Impact Redistributed Minimal: Braking Effect and Joint Strain Excess Strain on Knee Minimal Joint Strain Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Coach Greg Maurer 60. Anatomy of a Stride Joints Absorb Impact Forefoot Strike Excess Strain on Knee Minimal Joint Strain Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Coach Greg Maurer 61. Anatomy of a Stride Joints Absorb Impact Excess Strain on Knee Minimal Joint Strain Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Pose Position Forefoot strike to the Pose Position is the most efficient transfer of the body forward The Running Pose Facilitates Acceleration via Rotation Proper Alignment and Balance: Head, Shoulders, Hips and Feet are aligned Elasticity: S-Like Body Coach Greg Maurer 62. Anatomy of a Stride Joints Absorb Impact Excess Strain on Knee The Running Pose Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Pose Position Falling The degree of falling forward determines your running speed Falling in the Pose Position is the most efficient way to run faster Moving the swing leg forward slows you down Pumping of arms does not directly contribute to forward movement Running FasterCoach Greg Maurer 63. Anatomy of a Stride Joints Absorb Impact Excess Strain on Knee The Running Pose Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Pose Position Falling Running Faster Pulling Cadence: A higher stride rate can increase mechanical efficiency and reduce oxygen consumption With adaptation through training mechanical efficiency can increase running economy On Average, runners must increase cadence by 15 spm to begin to utilize muscle-tendon elasticity Magnitude of The Pulling Action is determined by the angle of falling (running speed) Running Longer Coach Greg Maurer 64. Anatomy of a Stride Joints Absorb Impact Excess Strain on Knee The Running Pose Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Pose Position Falling Running Faster Pulling Running Longer Coach Greg Maurer 65. Lets see it with a real runner Coach Greg Maurer 66. Fall Coach Greg Maurer 67. Pull Coach Greg Maurer 68. Usain Bolt Facts World Record 100m was 9.58 seconds His maximum angle of falling was 21.5 Also, not the highest in the field so potentially has more speed available His cadence in the world-record run was 257 steps per minute (spm) Cadence for sprinters up to 330 so if he increases fall angle cadence has room to go up! He was the tallest competitor at 65 Ten (10) centimeter advantage in leg length To a certain extent, height lends itself to sprinting Coach Greg Maurer 69. Coach Greg Maurer 70. Coach Greg Maurer 71. Coach Greg Maurer 72. Coach Greg Maurer 73. Coach Greg Maurer 74. Coach Greg Maurer 75. Kinematic factors affecting fast and slow straight and change- of-direction acceleration times. J Strength Cond Res What differentiated the faster sprinters from the slower ones? First, more steps led to faster sprints. And a tiny difference went a long way. Just an extra quarter step over the 2.5-meters differentiated the fastest sprinters. Im reminded of a coach who once told me, You cant move forward with your feet in the air. Next, shorter step length led to faster sprints. This makes sense when paired with the first tip - more steps. For any given distance, adding more steps means each step will be shorter. Torso angle was the next predictor of sprint success. Leaning forward just two degrees extra made the difference between the slowest and fastest sprints. Finally, the actual first step of the sprint was critical. Athletes who showed less knee lift in the first step turned in faster sprints. Less knee lift means a faster step, which means more steps. Coach Greg Maurer 76. Positive and Negative Transfer Drills are used to improve perception of certain elements of a skill. As such a drill or exercise can have three possible effects on the actual skill you are trying to improve: Results in improved perception and skill execution - in the scientific literature this is known as "positive transfer Results in no change in perception and skill execution Results in decreased perception and/or decreased skill execution - in the scientific literature this is known as "negative transfer" Coach Greg Maurer 77. Examples of Positive and Negative Transfer Playing squash actually interferes with the skill of hitting a tennis ball Using a weighted bat or weighted ball too much DECREASES skill performance with a real bat or ball When a skier tries to use their upper body to turn the skis we have them place their poles behind their back through their elbows so it is very difficult and noticeable when they try to rotate the upper body. While skiers hate this drill it always improves their skill performance by NOT allowing them to make the error Coach Greg Maurer 78. Designing Effective Skill Drills Effective drills: heighten perception of a mistake and/or do not allow the athlete to make certain mistakes and/or exaggerate mistakes so that the athlete perceives the error kinesthetically! Until the athlete can you perceive an error he cannot eliminate it! So we should always think about what is being transferred by a drill to the actual skill! Coach Greg Maurer 79. Negative Transfer from Treadmill Running Because the belt is moving at the runner they tend to land with the foot ahead of the body and also on the heel which is reinforcing the single biggest running error possible! For the same reason people cannot fall forward on a treadmill! People tend to extend stride length and slow cadence on a treadmill Coach Greg Maurer 80. Sproing emphasizes Pose/Fall/Pull! Pose/Mid-stance - improves perception and stability due to soft surface that increases stability challenge and demands more focus Fall - rear restraint system allows athlete to safely fall into belt. Allows trainer to coach athlete to NOT bend forward from waist rather than full body lean. Also allows athlete to experience different fall angles safely. Pull - because of the soft surface athlete must pull harder to get the foot from the surface (particularly on softer settings). Coach Greg Maurer 81. Sproing eliminates negative running habits Landing with foot in front of the body and worse yet on the heel in front of the body - is almost impossible to do on Sproing. Overstriding simply cannot occur on Sproing. Cadence to Slow Sproing tends to naturally increase cadence because Speed is a direct function of cadence on Sproing so people quickly learn to increase cadence in order to increase speed. Failure to full body fall/lean and tendency to bend forward from the waist - this error usually occurs because of an unconscious fear of falling. Sproing allows a person to feel completely safe doing a full body lean/fall and it is very easy to coach this while the person is running. Inappropriate arm swing such as extending and flexing elbow while running - very easy to coach this while the person is running Runner trying to push into ground and driving knee up and forward with hip flexors - a trained Pose Coach can easily see and correct this bad habit while a person is running. Coach Greg Maurer 82. Coaching Running on Sproing Hook-up and get person into forward full body lean WITHOUT bending at waist Start person walking, then marching with exaggerated arm swing, then jog, then run -- instructor faces client and mirrors desired activity. Insure person maintains full body lean Have them go faster and slower while watching their speed and cadence to see and feel the difference. If arms move with legs as opposed to in opposition tell person to relax arms at side and march or jog WITHOUT focusing on arm swing and they will tend to automatically pick up the correct pattern of opposition. Coach Greg Maurer 83. Coaching Running on Sproing Look for knee drive (particularly high knee drive) because it fatigues people too rapidly. Pull heel directly under the hip. Look for pulling heels up behind body which is also wrong. Rate of perceived exertion will be high initially because it is novel and new motor pattern but the RPE will drop with time and practice. Remember -all runners improve with higher speed/cadence so get them to a brisk pace without a high heel lift to avoid fatigue at first. As with all skill work it is essential to train in an interval pattern avoiding fatigue and allowing lots of recovery between drills and efforts when working on the skill of running -- remember this is NOT conditioning!!!! Coach Greg Maurer 84. Bibliography 1. Romanov, N. (2002), Pose Method of Running, p. 134. 2. Romanov, N. (2002), Pose Method of Running, p. 55. 3. Romanov, N.. (2009), Pose Method of Triathlon Techniques, p. 104. 4. Fukunaga, T., and Matsuo, A. (1981), Ergonomics, Vol. 24, No. 10, Mechanical Energy Output and Joint Movements in Sprint Running, pp. 765-772. 5. Lieberman, D. et al, (2010), Biomechanics of Foot Strikes & Applications to Running Barefoot or in Minimal Footwear, Biomechanical Differences Between Different Foot Strikes. 6. Morton, D. and Fuller, D., (1952) Human Locomotion and Body Form: A Study of Gravity and Man, pp. 28-29. Coach Greg Maurer 85. Bibleography 7. Brown, G., (1912), Note Upon Some Dynamic Principles Involved In Progression. 8. Morton, D. and Fuller, D., (1952) Human Locomotion and Body Form: A Study of Gravity and Man, p. 131. 9. Cavagna, G. Saibene, F., and Margaria, R., (1964), Mechanical Work in Running. 10. Newtons Third Law of Motion equal and opposite. 11. Wu, K. (1990), Foot Orthoses: Principle and Clinical Applications. 12. Romanov, N., Payanzin, A., (2006), Book of Abstracts, ECSS Lausanne 06, Geometry of Running, presented at 11th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (Switzerland) July 5-8, 2006. Coach Greg Maurer 86. Bibliography 13. Margaria, R., (1967), Biomechanics of Human Locomotion, Biomechanics and Energetics of Muscular Exercise, p. 128. 14. Kugler, F., Janshen, L., (2009), Journal of Biomechanics, Body Position Determines Propulsive Forces in Accelerated Running. 15. Fletcher, G., Marcus Dunn, M., Romanov, N., (2009), Gravitys Role in Accelerated Running A Comparison of an Experienced Pose and Heel-Toe Runner. 16. Romanov, N., (11/3/2009) Distinctive Characteristics of Usain Bolts Running Technique. 17. Romanov, N., (2009), Pose Method of Triathlon Techniques, pp. 335-354. 18. Cavagna, G. Saibene, F., and Margaria, R., (1964), Mechanical Work in Running. Coach Greg Maurer 87. Bibliography 19. Romanov, N.. (2009), Pose Method of Triathlon Techniques, p. 104. 20. Williams, M. and Lissner, H., (1962) Boimechanics of Human Motion, p. 136. 21. 2011 Marathon Statistics and Report. 22. Jere Longman, (4/29/2001), New York Times: Track and Field; 3 Sprinters Chasing New Goals. 23. Romanov, N., (2009), Pose Method of Triathlon Techniques, p. 92. 24. Rossi, W., (10/2002), Podiatry Management, Childrens Footwear: Launching Site for Adult Foot Ills, pp. 83-100. Coach Greg Maurer 88. Bibliography 25. Robbins S., Gouw G., (2/23/1991) Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Athletic Footwear: Unsafe Due to Perceptual Illusions, pp. 217-24. 26. Morton, D. and Fuller, D., (1952) Human Locomotion and Body Form: A Study of Gravity and Man, p. 33. 27. Howell, D. (2011), Foot Anatomy 101- Biofeedback. 28. Thompson, H., (1983) The Curse of Lono, p. 27. 29. Hewit, JK, Cronin, JB, and Hume, PA. Kinematic factors affecting fast and slow straight and change-of-direction acceleration times. J Strength Cond Res 27(1): 6975, 2013 Coach Greg Maurer