POSE METHOD OF RUNNING; review, part 2

This is a continuing on the review of the book “POSE Method of Running” by Dr.Nicholas Romanov (see previous post; POSE METHOD OF RUNNING; review, part 1)...

"Here's good advice for practice; go in to partnership with nature, she does more than half the work and asks none of the fee.
- Martin H. Fischer"

CHAPTER 12 – THE FREE FALLING CONCEPT. The force of gravity is discussed and that gravity effects everything we do on earth but at the same time how it's something a lot of people hardly ever think about, it's just there and it does what it does.
The POSE Method uses force of gravity to the runners advantage, just like the sailor uses the wind to move forward:

“We must teach our bodies to free fall by:
1) allowing the fall
2) move the body from support
3) remove the foot from support.
Removing, or lifting, the foot from support (the ground) is often what requires most practice in mastering the POSE method. Put simply, starting to run I as basic as falling forward".

"Movement is a consequence of changing support and running is simply the changing of support from one leg to another as quickly as possible, moving forward at the speed of gravity".

Chapter 13 talks about "the importance not to straighten (unbend) your knee, avoid bouncing (vertical movement) and to use the muscles of the thigh to move forward. Instead, Dr.Romanov wants you, the runner, to pick up the foot under the body using the hamstrings only – all in of this to minimize wasted effort and energy".



The book use a unicyclist as an analog to explain how the running pose works and should look. In chapter 14 the reader is asked to visualize a unicyclist (knees always bent, foot directly beneath the riders torso, support on the ball of the foot, body in a straight line above the point of support) and the fact that movement happens when the unicyclist leans towards desirable direction is – just as in running – a result of gravity.

"The importance of good muscular elasticity in the legs to practice the POSE method is stressed in Chapter 15. “Keeping your joints bent facilitates muscular elasticity that indirectly conserves/saves energy and ultimately improves running performance”. In other words, the faster you pick the foot of the ground, the faster you will run. Specialized strength training (plyometric exercises) is recommended to take fully advantage of muscle elasticity during runs".

Next chapter (16), talks about “the importance of rapid stride frequency”. “A long stride requires the leg to thrust out infront of the body and remain planted on the ground until the entire body passes over it. That interrupts the pull of gravity, causes your leg to slow muscles to work harder and slows down the forward progress and wastes energy. The more you let gravity pull you forward (freefall), the faster you have to change leg support and the faster you run (stride frequency is directly related to speed)".


"In anything at all, perfection is finally attained when there is no longer anything left to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away".
Antoine de Saint – Exupery

All the principles, things to think of and apply when practicing the POSE method has one core message: do nothing! The “Do nothing” concept was born when Dr.Romanov was working on changing running technique with one of his athletes. Finally, the athlete got frustrated by all the corrections and dont's, and asked; “Dr.Romanov, are you asking me to run or are you asking me to do nothing?”. Of course, doing nothing isn't as easy as it sounds, but "the key is to let running happen by using gravity and poses, not to force it by trying to make running happen".

So, "avoid to physically put your foot back on the ground (let gravity itself return the foot back down)".

Avoid to drive forward with knees or hips (wastes energy).

Avoid to straighten your leg (increases impact on joints and muscle elasticity can't be fully utilized)".

Avoid to drive with your arms, instead remain relaxed and let your arms move in a natural, rhythmic flow that provides balance to your running pose".

Bottom line, sometimes the most important part of doing something right is to not do everything wrong. Simple, isn't it?=)



Now, time for me to call it a night. The review of the book “POSE Method of Running” will follow – stay tuned!

/Henrik