THE POSITION OF YOUR HEAD AND SHOULDERS
To keep it simple – relax your shoulders and neck and you'll save energy and prevent pain and cramping in your shoulder region.
To relax the head and shoulders when running is a skill and takes practice. Try to let your arms hang loosely without hunching your shoulders and allow your mouth, jaw and neck to just “go with the flow”.
CLICK HERE to see a video of Paula Radcliffe's unique head nodding motion – seemingly a huge waist of energy. But considering the fact that she's the female Marathon World Record holder, apparently the characteristic style works for her and trying to correct it could possibly cause her to tense up and effect her running in a negative way.
Again, every individual is different so a standard position that applies to everyone is impossible to give. Although exercise physiology (and common sense) shows that relaxation of the head and shoulders is desirable for optimal running performance.
More on running technique and the role of your ARMS when running will follow soon!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Great posts Hank, although we all know you're a guru in this area (I feel a little funny writing in English, but I guess when in Rome). It seriously took me about 1-1,5 years of running before I realized the above and changed my technique. I'm already waiting for your next post in this series...Oh, and hope you're enjoying MN :)
ReplyDelete