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 Click Here to ask Herman Lenferink questions on our Running Forum
- Pose Method® Certified Running Coach Level I (2006)
- Master and teacher in history
- KNAU certified athletics coach
- Expert in the 'Verheul Method' of training
- Coach for middle and long distance competitive runners at AV Phoenix and LT Utrecht
- Expert in gymnastics for runners
- Author of articles on running history
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POSETECH.COM (USA)
January 30, 2007
THE VERHEUL METHOD. An overview. by Herman Lenferink
In 1979 two Dutch runners, Klaas Lok and Joost Borm of the Utrecht athletics Club Phoenix took by surprise the first and second places at the National Cross Country Championships. The day after, it was recorded in the newspapers that their running style was much suppler and more relaxed than that of the defeated favourites, Gerard ter Broke and Tonnie Luttikhold...
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After years of being a midfield soccer player, I switched to running in 1984 at the age of 25. That was in Utrecht were I lived since 1977 to study history. I was not superbly talented in running with personal bests of f.i. 15.50.3 on 5k and 2:01:3 on 800m. Nevertheless I enjoyed it and learned a lot of my coach Herman Verheul who (coach of the athletics club AV Phoenix, Utrecht) trained me during a period of sixteen years.
It was Herman Verheul who developed a specific Dutch way of training in the later 50ties. His philosophy lies somewhere in the tradition of interval training that was developed by Zatopek and coaches as Mihaly Igloí , Franz Stampfl and Woldemar Gerschler. With his method ('Verheul method'), based on gymnastics, intervals (15x200m, 10x400m and 6x1000m), fartlek and many races, he brought several Dutch runners to the top, like Klaas Lok and Joost Borm who were Dutch Champion on several distances. The method does not use endurance runs in training, nor very fast repetition runs (in the definition of Stampfl). Endurance and speed running is done in the many races over different distances, in fartlek and the warming up part of every training session.
In 2000 Herman Verheul stopped his career as a coach and I took over together with Klaas Lok and Joost Borm at the athletics club AV Phoenix (Utrecht). Looking for ways to improve the results of our athletes, somewhere in 2003 I met Ivar Brinkman who was selling Romanov's video during an evening clinic on heart rates at the small city of Weesp. I bought the video from him and later a friend of me - a triathlete - inspired me and gave me Romanov's book to read.
Since that time a lot has happened in the Netherlands. The publication of the book 'Hardlopen' ('Running') of Frans Bosch and Ronald Klomp (known as the 'BK-method') and 'Romanov's Pose method of running' in the same year (2001) have created in their aftermath a lively discussion on running technique. Today running technique today is seen generally as much more important than before, as was shortly expressed again on the Dutch congres 'licht op lopen' ('light on running'), that was organised in April 2006.
I came to meet Nicholas Romanov after Harry Jorritsma - coach of AV Horror in the northern city of Sneek - had invited interested runners to attend a clinic to explain the Pose method (2004). I went there with Phoenix athlete Bernard te Boekhorst and we met Ronald Cohen from Amsterdam. It was Ronald Cohen who a few months later asked me if I could organise accommodation for the first clinic of Romanov in the Netherlands. That was easy to do because of the quality of the accommodation of AV Clytoneus (an athletics club in the city of Woerden where I was coach then) and the readiness of Clytoneus to invite Romanov.
It was at this clinic in Woerden in May 2005 that I met Wouter Buist and Ruben Jongkind (the two others coaches who became certified Pose coach in Mars 2006) for the first time. After the clinic in 2005 we did some work to promote Pose in the Netherlands. In October 2005 we organised (together with Bernard te Boekhorst) a lecture on the history of running technique and the similarities and differences between the 'Pose-method' and the 'BK-method', followed by a Pose clinic. That was on the 'national running sports day' of the KNAU (the Dutch athletics organisation) in the city of Nijmegen. At about the same time I published two articles on the Pose method in 'Proloop' (the Dutch journal for running coaches). This was followed on 14 January 2006 by another clinic in Utrecht where we repeated and extended the presentation of Nijmegen for a smaller public. After Wouter, Ruben and I got our Pose certificates we held another successful clinic in May 2006 in the city of Emmen.
Personally I appreciate the Pose method as an important tool to improve the results of runners and I teach it individually to several athletes of AV Phoenix and LT Utrecht ('Lopers Team Utrecht', a new running organisation in Utrecht). Further I am doing research on historical aspects of running (training methods and running technique). After I published two articles on the 'Verheul method' (Proloop, 2005) I am working on a book on this method now. Besides I started a new project this year, together with Vivian Ruijters (a successful Dutch marathon runner). We commenced working on three historical books on Dutch and Belgium trainers and training methods.
RELATED ARTICLES:
ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD (NL)
March 21, 2006
STUITEREND OF VALLEND OP PAD by Cors Van Den Brink
AMERSFOORT - Hardlopen lijkt zo eenvoudig, maar nog altijd strijden deskundigen over de meest efficiënte techniek. Hoe kom je het best de marathon door? Laat je maar voorover vallen, stelt dr. Nicholas Romanov, bedenker van de Pose-techniek. Springend als een kangoeroe, beweert Frans Bosch.
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