|
|
POSE METHOD® BOOK CHAPTERS Popular among medical and healthcare professionals, this book is an incredible source of information on running technique and running in general, that you won't find anywhere else. Thus we've decided to publish certain chapters in our Library to introduce everyone to Dr.Romanov's approach to running.
If you want to be healthy - run,
if you want to be handsome - run,
if you want to be smart - run.
Ancient Greek aphorism
|
MY PHILOSOPHY OF RUNNING
from "Pose Method of Running", Section I, Chapter 2
By Nicholas Romanov, Ph.D.
May 2, 2004
If you thought that headline-sized promises of health, beauty and overall well being were an invention of the popular press the late 1900s, the above bit of Greek wisdom should dispel that notion. People have always sought “magic pills” to make their lives better and the Greeks were no exception. Still they had the essence right, for there is probably no other physical exercise as simple, accessible and so beneficial for human beings as running. Running is good for you, and when incorporated into an overall balanced lifestyle it really can go a long way toward making you healthy, handsome (or beautiful) and more thoughtful.
As an enlightened civilization, the ancient Greeks were the first to recognize the importance of running which they reflected both in their love of sports and in their art. Illustrations of runners on Greek vases portray the inherent emotional and aesthetic value of running. On these elegant vases, the artists may have been illustrating proper technique for athletes preparing for the Olympic Games or may simply have been paying homage to great heroes of the Games (Fig. 2.1).
Regardless of their purpose, it is certain that these drawings are not merely flights of artistic fancy. Quite detailed in their depiction of running technique, the drawings clearly demonstrate the difference in various athletes’ efforts while running different distances at different speeds. Interestingly, they depict a general similarity of their running styles. Whether sprinting or running long distance, the actual running technique is the same.
I believe these similarities were not simply the emotional or aesthetic fantasies of various Greek artists. The running movements of the athletes on these vases have convinced me that the ancient Greeks intuitively or observationally had found effective elements of running technique that are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago.
|
Fig. 2.1 (a)
Ancient Greeks’ vision of running in art
|
Look at these drawings and you’ll see quite clearly that all the athletes run on the front part of the foot without landing on the heel. As barefoot runners, this was the obvious technique for efficiency and to prevent injury. To my mind, this barefoot running style of landing on the forefoot is the purest example of the proper nature of running…and the Greeks knew it centuries ago.
I don’t believe the Greeks lacked the knowledge to comprehend the essence of running. While they may have lacked underlying scientific knowledge, they displayed a strong grasp of reality, sharp minds, and that most uncommon of virtues, common sense.
As acute observers of the world, the Greeks recognized and appreciated the harmony of human interaction with nature. With their holistic approach, they valued mankind’s integral role in the world. It was a time when purity of thought and action were held in high esteem.
As the Golden Age of Greece passed, mankind appeared to leave these values far behind. For a very long time, it seemed as if the value of running for running’s sake was lost. Only with the revival of the Olympic Games at the end of the 1800s did we seem to return to an understanding of the value of this elemental human activity.
While both the Olympics and the Boston Marathon emerged as the 19th century gave way to the 20th, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the first hint of a broad-based running boom appeared with the successes of Australian and New Zealand runners, especially after the books published by the famed New Zealand coach, Arthur Lydiard (3). In the United States, the running boom was triggered by the 1972 Olympic victory of the marathoner Frank Shorter (1).
Running no longer was considered a scholastic indulgence to be left behind at adulthood but instead came to be regarded as key component of a well-rounded healthy lifestyle. In some quarters, it was viewed almost as a panacea, a cure-all for the ills heaped upon us by modern society. As with all first loves, it seemed to have no drawbacks, only merits.
As running became a mass participation sport, it permeated all aspects of society. Where before only a lunatic fringe of adults would be caught dead running in shorts and sneakers, running shoes suddenly became de rigueur footwear for daily life. Running shoe companies blossomed overnight into marketing goliaths. Huge fields took to the streets of major cities in 5Ks, 10Ks and marathons. Running, it seemed, was on the verge of becoming a national religion.
As the first flush of the running love affair began to subside, there were the inevitable questions. If running’s so good for you, people asked, why are runners always limping? If running 30 miles a week is good, won’t running sixty miles a week make me even faster? The inevitable backlash came. To the sedentary, the image of a runner as a hobbled, emaciated, worn-out wreck was welcome confirmation of the couch potato life. Good thing I never started running, a “potato” could say smugly. Look what it does to you.
Rather than kill the sport, this new view of running led to sober studies of the negative and positive aspects of the sport. The newly acquired love for running didn’t die. Instead, as with all great love stories, it matured into a relationship that could last a lifetime.
|
Fig. 2.1 (b)
Another vision of running
|
When the platonic stage ended, the development of running got a new healthy impulse based on the combined influences of scientific study and commercial interests. While there was now a more balanced view of the role of running in a well-rounded lifestyle, problems remained and some became quite urgent.
One of the most global challenges -- determining how to make running a truly efficient means of getting healthy, maintaining the human organism in a good condition and ready to race -- was put onto the agenda for coaches, scientists, doctors, and amateur runners themselves. The simple fact was that as running continued to grow in popularity, the incidence of running-related injuries continued to grow in lock step.
Isolating the causes of injuries and developing the means to prevent them became the topic of numerous studies, which will be discussed in subsequent chapters. While much of this discussion centered on the development of better shoes or the design of more sensible training regime, it was clear that the time had come to discuss a much more central issue. To wit, is there a universal proper running technique?
While to an outsider this might seem to be a perfectly reasonable and obvious question, within the ranks of the running community it became a hotly debated issue. The question was extensively discussed and studied from the viewpoints of common sense, coaches’ experiences, and scientific research in hundreds of articles, books, and dissertations. But even as this is being written, neither scientists nor working coaches have come to a consensus on what constitutes proper running technique, much less how to teach it.
In one camp were those who believed that running is second nature, and in principle, everybody can run. Typifying that attitude is the following quote: “Through miles and miles of training I honed my leg action…” (2). In other words, the technique forms itself with significant mileage. You might call this the “presto!” school of thought. Run enough, and – presto! – you will run correctly.
Wouldn’t that be a beautiful thing?
A second camp admits the existence of proper running technique, yet states paradoxically: “There is no scientifically founded ideal technique, that suits everyone... no possibilities of evaluating individual dispositions for a certain event. Absolute postulations that “this is wrong” and “this is right” are only revealing the coach’s lack of insight into technical evaluation... a good coach should have insight into the theory of movement of kinesiology and ...be able to transfer observations over to an individually adapted technique”. (Arno Nytro) (3). In other words, the coach has to conjure up the perfect running style unique to each individual runner.
If I were to agree with either of these points of view, I would have to admit that nature “doesn’t care” how the movement of running is performed in relation to the force of gravity and the human efforts applied. But I can’t agree because I believe that within nature we can find guidelines and principles that show us the proper way to perform all natural activity. I accept the philosophy of the wholeness of nature and the existence of humans as a key element within nature, which sets limits on our physiological and biomechanical functions.
Rather than accepting that there is either no correct running technique or that correct technique is unique to each individual, I felt that by studying the natural forces in which we humans exist, I could find the principles that would lead to the discovery of an ideal running technique for all humans, regardless of size, shape, age or gender.
I started with the concept that a human being, born, developed and existing within Earth’s gravitational field, operates most efficiently within a certain biomechanical framework dictated by gravity. Our movements should be an integral part of this environment, organically united with it and using gravity as their source of energy, only minimally resisting its influence. Conversely, inefficiencies and injuries are caused when we break out of this framework of organic interaction with the forces of gravity and work against, rather than with, gravity.
Gravity’s great power is amply demonstrated either in natural phenomena or in man’s efforts to defeat it. In nature, a single misstep can trigger an avalanche and send a mass of snow sliding down a mountain at speeds of 80 mph or more. On the launch pad, we’ve all witnessed the tremendous power deployed by rockets seeking to escape Earth’s gravitational pull. Imagine how it would affect your running to be able to transfer gravity’s tremendous energy into your personal forward momentum.
To achieve the optimum running technique, the key is to make the greatest possible use of terrestrial gravity. A skilled, knowledgeable runner should be able to work with the force of gravity just as a yachtsman gains energy from the wind. A good sailor can use a headwind to move forward; a good runner taps the power of gravity to gather speed with minimum impact and expenditure of energy.
In over 25 years of studying, teaching and coaching running, I have devoted myself to taking the essentially limitless source of energy from Earth’s gravity and devising a running technique that channels that gravitational energy into low impact, injury-free and, most importantly, fast running. I call my running technique and the method of teaching it the Pose Method of Running. Whether you are a beginner runner hoping to start out on the right foot or a veteran of 30 years on the roads and trails, this book is designed to help you run faster and more efficiently while minimizing injury and overall impact on the body.
But even more, I want you to become a complete runner, working in harmony with nature to softly and swiftly pass over the ground beneath your feet, loving every stride just as our Greek friends did so many centuries ago. When you reach this point, running becomes more than a sport, it becomes an integral part of your life. You may not instantly enjoy the Greek ideal of being healthy, handsome and smart, but you’ll be well on your way.
- Benyo, R. 1983, The Masters of the Marathon, New York, Atheneum.
- Clayton D., 1980, Running to the top. Anderson World, Mountain View, California, p. 62.
- Lydiard, A., G. Gilmor, 1962, Run to the Top, Wellington, A.N. and A. Reed.
- Nitro, A., Summer 1987, “What is Correct Technique?”, Track Technique, Vol. 100, P. 3195-3205.
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
|
