本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Foot Strike Under Your Center of Gravity
Did you ever try to drive your car while pressing on both the gas and
the brakes at the same time? Probably not. If you did you would be
slowing yourself down and wasting a lot of energy. Running with your
foot strike in front of your body is the same thing. When you plant
your foot in front of your body you’re putting on the brakes with
each step you take. You’re slowing down and wasting valuable energy.
You’re making it harder to run. Your foot should strike the ground
directly under your center of gravity. That way you will avoid the
“braking” effect and will take full advantage of your forward
momentum.
Flat Footed Touchdown
You have four choices for your foot angle at touchdown. Heel first, toes
first, ball of your foot first or flat footed. Forget toes first,
that puts
way to much stress on your calf muscles and uses too much energy. Heel
first landings cause the dreaded braking effect as well as
increasing the impact stress on your ankles, knees and hips. Landing
on the ball of your foot isn’t a bad technique expect for two things.
You are still putting some unnecessary stress on your calf muscles and
your foot both absorbs and wastes energy as it flattens out. That
leaves your best choice – flat footed touchdown. Landing on a flat foot
helps avoid over striding, eliminates the braking effect and doesn’t
waste any energy.
High Cadence
One of the most noticeable differences between recreational runners
and world class competitive runners is cadence. Top level runners use
a cadence of around 90 to 100 full strides per minute, compared to a
rather sluggish 75 to 85 strides per minute for recreational runners. A
higher stride rate encourages a shorter more efficient stride. Low
stride rates are usually associated with over striding and spending too
much time on the ground. Try to maintain a stride rate of at least 90
strides per minute at all running velocities. You’ll run easier and
more efficiently.
Dorsiflexed Foot
What is the first stride key you think about during the drive phase of
your running stride? You probably think of either lifting, driving or
pulling your knee up and through. That is a good stride key but there
may be a better one. How about first raising your toes? When you
raise your toes you are dorsiflexing your foot at your ankle. If you
concentrate on dorsiflexing your foot you are putting your foot in the
proper position for a flat footed touchdown, pre stretching your calf to
maximize energy return and are also encouraging a “triple response”
in which your knee and hip flex into proper running stride position.
Low Ground Contact Time
A great deal of your running efficiency and running velocity does not
come from active muscle contraction, Instead, it comes from the
elastic recoil of your leg muscles. Your muscles will store and return
energy much like a rubber band when you stretch it and let it fly. In
order to maximize the energy return from your elastic muscles you need
to reduce ground contact time. The more time you spend on the
ground, the more energy the ground absorbs. To decrease your ground
contact time you should dorsiflex your foot and land with your foot
directly under your center of gravity. Strong powerful muscles will also
decrease your ground contact time. Include a properly designed
strength training program with both running specific strength
exercises and plyometrics.
High Heel Kick
It’s been a long time since I took my beginning physics class in
school, but I still remember the lessons about lever length. It takes
less energy to move a short lever than a long lever. That lesson can be
applied to running mechanics. If your heel kick is high your leg forms
a short lever that you can move faster using relatively little energy.
In contract, if your heel is kept low, your leg is straighter and
forms a longer lever. That type of lever moves more slowly and takes more
energy
to move. You don’t need to artificially pull your heel high. Just
stay very loose and relaxed. Let the natural motion and momentum of your
stride pull your heel high.
Backward Arm Drive
Contrary to popular belief, I think that the most efficient arm drive
for a distance runner is a very relaxed backward arm drive, not a
powerful forward arm drive. Driving your arms forward tends to encourage
a reaching out with your legs – over striding. In addition, a
powerful forward arm drive wastes a lot of energy. Instead drive your
arms backwards with relaxed compact motion. Drive them back to
the limit of your natural range of motion and let the elastic recoil
of your shoulder and pectoral muscles bounce them forward. This type of
arm drive puts allows both your upper and lower body to assume the
proper position for an efficient stride.
Bent Knees
A common mistake many runners make, especially when trying to increase
their speed is to reach out with a straight leg. A straight leg will
cause the braking effect as well as drastically increasing the amount of
impact stress on your knees and hips. Keep your knees soft and
slightly bent. That will encourage a smooth, fluid and easy stride
that will minimize stress and take full advantage of your forward
momentum. It will also help keep your foot touchdown under your center
of gravity, where it belongs.
Slight Forward Lean
Running totally upright can cause a number of form flaws such as over
striding and “sitting in the bucket” in which you run with a lot of
vertical motion, which wastes energy. A slight whole body forward lean
will take advantage of the forward momentum you have built up
and keep all of your energy moving forward, not up and down. Your
forward lean should involve your entire body, beginning at your
ankles. Don’t lean forward at the waist. An upper body lean only can
cause a stumbling, high impact stride with a lot of wasted vertical
motion.
Run Easy
You’ve seen world class distance runners at running events. Despite the
blistering paces they are running they seen like they are running
easy – almost effortless. They look that way because they are running
easy. They are completely relaxed and they are allowing the elastic
energy of their muscles do most of the work. They are using the full
potential of their forward momentum. How can you run easy? First of
all stay completely relaxed. Any tension will work to destroy the
ability of your muscles to automatically return energy. Next, take full
advantage of your forward momentum. Don’t allow over striding to
cause a braking effect. Maintain an efficient, compact stride with a
high cadence. Just allow your body to fly forward with as little effort as
possible.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
Did you ever try to drive your car while pressing on both the gas and
the brakes at the same time? Probably not. If you did you would be
slowing yourself down and wasting a lot of energy. Running with your
foot strike in front of your body is the same thing. When you plant
your foot in front of your body you’re putting on the brakes with
each step you take. You’re slowing down and wasting valuable energy.
You’re making it harder to run. Your foot should strike the ground
directly under your center of gravity. That way you will avoid the
“braking” effect and will take full advantage of your forward
momentum.
Flat Footed Touchdown
You have four choices for your foot angle at touchdown. Heel first, toes
first, ball of your foot first or flat footed. Forget toes first,
that puts
way to much stress on your calf muscles and uses too much energy. Heel
first landings cause the dreaded braking effect as well as
increasing the impact stress on your ankles, knees and hips. Landing
on the ball of your foot isn’t a bad technique expect for two things.
You are still putting some unnecessary stress on your calf muscles and
your foot both absorbs and wastes energy as it flattens out. That
leaves your best choice – flat footed touchdown. Landing on a flat foot
helps avoid over striding, eliminates the braking effect and doesn’t
waste any energy.
High Cadence
One of the most noticeable differences between recreational runners
and world class competitive runners is cadence. Top level runners use
a cadence of around 90 to 100 full strides per minute, compared to a
rather sluggish 75 to 85 strides per minute for recreational runners. A
higher stride rate encourages a shorter more efficient stride. Low
stride rates are usually associated with over striding and spending too
much time on the ground. Try to maintain a stride rate of at least 90
strides per minute at all running velocities. You’ll run easier and
more efficiently.
Dorsiflexed Foot
What is the first stride key you think about during the drive phase of
your running stride? You probably think of either lifting, driving or
pulling your knee up and through. That is a good stride key but there
may be a better one. How about first raising your toes? When you
raise your toes you are dorsiflexing your foot at your ankle. If you
concentrate on dorsiflexing your foot you are putting your foot in the
proper position for a flat footed touchdown, pre stretching your calf to
maximize energy return and are also encouraging a “triple response”
in which your knee and hip flex into proper running stride position.
Low Ground Contact Time
A great deal of your running efficiency and running velocity does not
come from active muscle contraction, Instead, it comes from the
elastic recoil of your leg muscles. Your muscles will store and return
energy much like a rubber band when you stretch it and let it fly. In
order to maximize the energy return from your elastic muscles you need
to reduce ground contact time. The more time you spend on the
ground, the more energy the ground absorbs. To decrease your ground
contact time you should dorsiflex your foot and land with your foot
directly under your center of gravity. Strong powerful muscles will also
decrease your ground contact time. Include a properly designed
strength training program with both running specific strength
exercises and plyometrics.
High Heel Kick
It’s been a long time since I took my beginning physics class in
school, but I still remember the lessons about lever length. It takes
less energy to move a short lever than a long lever. That lesson can be
applied to running mechanics. If your heel kick is high your leg forms
a short lever that you can move faster using relatively little energy.
In contract, if your heel is kept low, your leg is straighter and
forms a longer lever. That type of lever moves more slowly and takes more
energy
to move. You don’t need to artificially pull your heel high. Just
stay very loose and relaxed. Let the natural motion and momentum of your
stride pull your heel high.
Backward Arm Drive
Contrary to popular belief, I think that the most efficient arm drive
for a distance runner is a very relaxed backward arm drive, not a
powerful forward arm drive. Driving your arms forward tends to encourage
a reaching out with your legs – over striding. In addition, a
powerful forward arm drive wastes a lot of energy. Instead drive your
arms backwards with relaxed compact motion. Drive them back to
the limit of your natural range of motion and let the elastic recoil
of your shoulder and pectoral muscles bounce them forward. This type of
arm drive puts allows both your upper and lower body to assume the
proper position for an efficient stride.
Bent Knees
A common mistake many runners make, especially when trying to increase
their speed is to reach out with a straight leg. A straight leg will
cause the braking effect as well as drastically increasing the amount of
impact stress on your knees and hips. Keep your knees soft and
slightly bent. That will encourage a smooth, fluid and easy stride
that will minimize stress and take full advantage of your forward
momentum. It will also help keep your foot touchdown under your center
of gravity, where it belongs.
Slight Forward Lean
Running totally upright can cause a number of form flaws such as over
striding and “sitting in the bucket” in which you run with a lot of
vertical motion, which wastes energy. A slight whole body forward lean
will take advantage of the forward momentum you have built up
and keep all of your energy moving forward, not up and down. Your
forward lean should involve your entire body, beginning at your
ankles. Don’t lean forward at the waist. An upper body lean only can
cause a stumbling, high impact stride with a lot of wasted vertical
motion.
Run Easy
You’ve seen world class distance runners at running events. Despite the
blistering paces they are running they seen like they are running
easy – almost effortless. They look that way because they are running
easy. They are completely relaxed and they are allowing the elastic
energy of their muscles do most of the work. They are using the full
potential of their forward momentum. How can you run easy? First of
all stay completely relaxed. Any tension will work to destroy the
ability of your muscles to automatically return energy. Next, take full
advantage of your forward momentum. Don’t allow over striding to
cause a braking effect. Maintain an efficient, compact stride with a
high cadence. Just allow your body to fly forward with as little effort as
possible.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net