Bouncing Up and Down…Twisting All Around…

Calm down, this post is PG! So this is something that I had ready to fire out last week, but failed to do so. In light of the running that we do in warm-ups and the fact that we ran during Tuesday’s WOD, I figured it was still relevant. Plus, everyone “loves to run.” Well, the crazy do.
Without further ado:
I shake my head in disbelief at how ugly our running is during warm-up laps and WODs. Yes, this even includes my own! We see a marked improvement in running form after our clinics, but then it degrades as we forget to practice the skills and drills we learned in the fall. Since it’s been a few months, there are a couple of things we need to work on.
Vertical Oscillation: the goal of a run is to move from point A to Pont B as quickly as possible. It’s linear movement. Just like jumping over hurdles slows down a sprinter, your movement up and down slows you down in any run you do. If you move just 3 inches up with every step you take, you are running about 1400 vertical feet in every 5k run. That’s the equivalent of 140 flights of stairs- up and down- while you run just a 5k! That’s murder on your quads and knees. The numbers for a half-marathon are staggering. Stop bouncing!

Twisting: Your body is a finely balanced machine, or rather its designed to be. Those of you that cross your arms in front of your body as you step out (usually with a straight leg and a heel strike!) are twisting your upper torso. Since movement is linear and we have to stay straight, the result of that twist is a corresponding twist in your hips with the alternate leg. Twisting your hips puts your leg into a position where the knee isn’t pointed in line with the direction of movement, but across it. The shear force created by that sloppy landing, and the twist across your body/direction puts tremendous strain on your knees. They are the only set you have, please take care of them. They should be pointed toward the direction you are moving.
Fix both of these problems (and a slew of others) by resetting your posture, brushing your thumbs against your hip bones with your arms at 90 degrees and increasing your running cadence to what?…. yes, no less than 180 steps per minute.
Don’t think you do either of these? Ask me to show you video of you running…chances are I’ve got proof!
And then sign up for the next running clinic. Running is a skill. We need to work on it.