The ACTION CONCEPT

January 11, 2005

The ACTION CONCEPT

From my clinic experience and e-mails of our students I picked up one big problem in learning the Pose Method technique. Despite there being only three major elements of the Pose Method our students are having difficulty in mastering them and even more then this, they complain that it is a problem for them to keep those right during longer running. Indeed, the Pose Method of Running consist of 3 major elements of technique: Pose-Fall-Pull. On the surface it is a very simple combination of elements and it makes us wonder why is it difficult to maintain it over the time and distance.

And really, why it is a problem to operate with just three elements? The answer is not so obvious and to find it we have to go to the depths of philosophical aspects of our life, described in ancient times by Aristotle.

In his reasoning about movement ("The motion of animals") he comes to the conclusion that movement of biological species is governed by specific patterns of thoughts-desires-action, where the action is actualization of thoughts and desires, or the final point of this pattern.

These ingenious thoughts of the incredible philosopher more then 2000 years ago, allow us to gain some insight into the origins of problems we dealing with in modern times.

So, why do the problems, we mentioned above, arise? Why does the execution of 3 simple elements present a problem in running? And they are not even 3. In reality we need to execute only one action in the Pose Method, but nevertheless it is still very difficult to get that.

As I mentioned many times in different discussions and presentations, the only and therefore, the most important element to be executed in the Pose Method, is the pull of the foot from the ground up. The Pose itself is a static position. Falling forward or leaning forward is more of a psychological action rather than physical. It unleashes the gravity force through release of the muscle tension that holds the body in balance. So the pull of the support foot from the ground is the only real action we have to do.

Nevertheless, this simple task is always under- or over-done. Why is that? Why not just do something which is most efficient and simple? At this point we have to come back to the classical Aristotle's formula: thoughts-desires-action. If our thoughts and desires do not coincide with our actions, the latter just never happen. What does it mean? If our thoughts and desires are not followed by our actions, they will not happen.

For example, if our only supposed action is the pull of foot from the ground, but our actual thoughts and desires are all devoted to landing, then how can you expect the pulling action to happen?

And these separate ways our thoughts, desires and actions go, present a major problem in producing a proper neuro-muscular pattern. In layman terms, we only think we want to pull the foot from the ground, but in reality all our thoughts and desires focus on safe landing on the ground. Most people don't even realize that this substitution of thoughts and desires is actually happening.

We are looking for the proper pattern of the thought: "pull the foot from the ground", the desire: "pull the foot from the ground" and then the action: "pull the foot from the ground". What we have in reality is: the thought: "where is my support?", the desire: "I want a stable, safe support!" And the action goes accordingly.

As you see, there is no magic transformation of our thoughts of landing into the action of pulling, we receive the landing action. Our actions simply reflect our thoughts. That's why our behavior is a reflection of our desires and thoughts, as we know from our life experience.

Why does such a substitution happen? Mostly it is caused by such factor as fear, which dictates us what to do, and which happens on a deep subconscious level, where we don't even realize it. In order to stay in the proper action sequence, which in our case is pulling the foot from the ground, we need to keep our thoughts precisely on the pulling action, and never slip to its opposite landing and pushing. Certainly it'll require mental concentration and focus in every step of our run. Sure it is not an easy task, but it is not different from everything in our life: business, science, acting, etc. It is all the same: thoughts-desires and action, one thing at a time.

Dr.Romanov

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Comments

Dear Dr. Romanov
Thank you for an inspiring article!
I do not know if you find this interesting or helpful to other students. But I think : there seems to be a paradox in thinking-action - or rather from consciousness to action - as this process lasts too long. (E. G. Boring:"To be aware of a conscious datum is to be sure that is has passed"). So one has to be thinking ahead always - like when reading - the eyes will always be ahead of what one is "hearing". I find that if I think (consciously) pull when pulling I am simply to late and my movement is not well coordinated and free (this results typically in the fact that the leg will not get anywhere near the buttom even if one pulls hard) - but if I feel a quick impulse-release pattern gravity will automatically let my legs go (and after the release the leg will continue freely up towards the buttom in an appropiate way depending on the speed) . These thoughts are only linked to the initial training... of course, when it all becomes more like a reflex than a conscious action the body/mind problem changes and a new and hopefully "natural" pattern arises. To put it simple: one can´t analyze and run freely at the same time.
Yours sincerly,
Michael Norman

Posted by: michael Norman at January 14, 2006 08:23 AM

What I have found, is that my nirvana of POSE is a "feel of gliding thru the air" because of the reduced time on support and reduced muscle involvement. This is in contrast to the feeling of "pounding", or worrying about when I will land and regain my support. I am off support quickly so I am off the ground more! I just ran a 1:22 half marathon at RNR Arizona using POSE and the only key I gave myself during the race was "quiet torso" and glide. My assumption is that once my torso starts working then I am either overstriding or pushing. Its at that time that I run through the POSE checklist. So as long as I am floating along then I am runnng effortlessly and everything is working. I have only been experimenting with POSE since the October 2004 Runner's World Article which caught my attention when it claimed ITBS relief. So, I am no expert but it has been a great ride so far!

Posted by: David S. Edwards at January 13, 2005 02:01 PM

I agree with Miran. I have just began to experience the real beauty of POSE by just that one thought. Pull the feet. I ran a pb 3:18 marathon without a complete understanding of the method but I thought one thing pull up although I recognize now I was still worried about the landing. By the end however, I was worried about only one thing, 'pull.' As a musician and teacher I remember something a great player told me once. Learn all you can, practice and learn all technique, study and learn licks of all the greatest players, and then forget all that crap and just play." I finding if I isolate me POSE technique practice to work on individual elements I improve my overall technique and strength. But when I go for a free run I most successful if I have only one thing in mind. Pull up that foot.

Posted by: Scott at January 13, 2005 11:09 AM

In my past I achieved with pose my personal best for half marathon (1:18) and 10k (34 min). Only about what I was thinking, was pulling the foot from the ground. Then I decided realy to teach Pose method and emphasize on other aspect of Pose such as landing on the ball of the foot, running in frame, high frequency, leaning, .. One months later I raced again in half marathon , in race I was over thinking about all concepts and my time was only 1:20 - 2 minutes slower, and I was tired more than when I achieved PB.
I think that especially in races is not good to much thinking about technique. Maybe only one aspect and by my experience thinking only about pulling is realy good working advice.
Thank you dr. Romanov for such great and simple advice.
I'm triathlete and I'm waiting for your book about triathlon. :))

Posted by: Miran at January 11, 2005 06:04 AM