Improving Skill By Sensing Differences.

 Improving Skill By Sensing Differences.

 


Many animals, especially four legged animals, are born with the ability to run faster than humans. Humans have immense adaptability.  No other animal has the ability to refine movement, and develop their movement repertoire to the extent that humans can. For a humorous and informative look at this watch . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wbVIgVi66k  

 

In fact you could say that what defines us as humans is a complex nervous system that makes possible a vast amount of learning. You could say that to learn and increase skill is to be human or to demonstrate humanness. To be sure, animals can learn self awareness. The ability to observe ourselves and abstract reasoning are more highly developed in humans. 

So what is it that improves our running or any other skill or function? Is it 10,000 hours of practice? That number has become a popular part of the discussion of the subject of mastery. Is it 10,000 hours of practice? The answer is both yes and no. Yes it probably does take that kind of commitment over time to really master something. Think of the number of pole vaulters who start very early in life to learn the skill of vaulting . But 10,000 hours of mindless repetition is probably not enough. Learning is about making distinctions. We do something, observe what we have done, note the result, and compare to what we want. Then we make changes. Over time this kind of experimentation, this process of differentiating between one thing and another produces learning. 

In language we learn to distinguish the word an from and. In math we learn to distinguish between the number 1 and the number 2.  These things seem simple once achieved but there is an immense amount of learning involved in order to make these simple distinctions. We learn ever more complex distinctions for instance 1 + 2,  ½,  2/1  and so on. We learn to walk and then we learn to add a further skill, one that requires more confidence, the skill of running. At some point most of us stop and say good enough and the learning process stops or slows.

But it could continue on closer and closer to mastery.

Here is a beautiful example of great alignment and self usage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWp-b3e2bZAyou

 

The picture above and the youtube video show great use of the hips and great coordination of the entire person to move forward with power. Note the

·         huge stride angle, the angle between the thighs

• ·          the rotation of the pelvis, the counterbalancing use of the arms

• ·          the use of ground forces, the horizontal running

• ·          the non compressed spine

• ·          the freedom of movement in the spine

• ·          the way the head follows and helps the running movement and yet is carried in a stable manner.

• ·          Note the flopping of the head from side to side in a less coordinated movement manner of one of the other runners.

• ·         Note the difference in skill level between Masterkova and the rest of the field.

• ·         Note the difference in the use of the hips in the rest of the field.

 Perhaps Masterkova is a good name for this master of the mile. (sorry about the pun) 

Try this

•  Do a short version of your normal speed or distance workout. Wait one day and repeat the same workout. Do it in the same way you always do it. Wait another day and warm up and do the following mini lesson. 

• ·         Lie on your back with your legs stretched out long on the floor. Squeeze your glutes powerfully. Now squeeze only the right glute.  Now squeeze only the left glute a number of times. Which one is more powerful?

• ·         Now squeeze both glutes again a few times. Can you feel the muscles thicken and the pelvis rise?  What do your knees do? Do they move inward or outward?

• ·         Come to tall kneeling, and place your hands on your buttocks. Squeeze both buttocks powerfully a number of times. What happens in your pelvis. If there were a pencil in your navel can you sense that the tip of the pencil would rise when you squeeze your glutes?

• ·          Squeeze only the right glute a few times. Squeeze the left glue. Which one is more powerful. The stronger one will produce more movement in the pelvis.  If the right glute is more powerful the pelvis will turn more to the left. Pay attention, can you tell any difference?

• ·          Now kneel on the right knee and place the left foot on the floor in front of the right knee with the knee bent and the sole of the foot flat on the floor. Squeeze the right glute. Notice that it is not possible to completely contract the left glue in this position. Switch the position of the legs.

• ·         Now stand and squeeze the glutes powerfully. Squeeze them powerfully and hold them that way for a few seconds. Which direction do you knees want to go, the outside or the inward?  The glutes are powerful extendors of the hips.  The knees will want to rotate outward when you squeeze the glutes. Notice that the knees straighten they do not bend when you squeeze. Where does the weight go on your feet when you squeeze the glutes?

• ·          Intentionally shift your weight to the outsides of your feet , turn your feet out slightly and allow the arches of your feet to rise as you squeeze your glutes.  Squeeze the glutes very quickly and lightly. Go fast. Now squeeze them powerfully a large number of times. Now squeeze and hold.

You have given your brain a lot of things to notice and compare. Now go for a short version of your normal workout. The one you did the first time. Notice any changes. To learn we need to make comparisons.  The learning process goes on….

If you are serious about improving your running and moving toward mastery click here

Have fun with this article – best in your running – Scott

If you would like to read the free e-book The Runners Body/Mind click here

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scottforrester@transcendent-running.com

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Running Injury Tips: Part Two

This week I am going to repeat the tips from last week. However we will switch to using examples of some other lower extremity injuries suffered by runners.

I recently read some advice on-line related to specific running injuries. In almost every case the commentary started out with the suggestion to begin taking ibuprofen, icing, and resting, and then following that up with a program of stretching and strengthening exercises. While all of that can certainly help, it is not a substitute for learning to improve what we are doing.

The common assumption is that the problem is in the tissues, or in the joints, but I want to show that the real problem is not that at all. Why will a running injury often come right back after rest? The answer is that learning occurs in the brain, not the muscles, or joints. The way we do things is the real problem. The human nervous system is capable of a great deal of learning. When we are injured the brain goes into protection mode. We often maintain movement patterns designed to protect us long after the need to protect is gone. But the brain always wants to organize our actions in the most pleasant, strong, efficient, and pain free way possible. That is why we can improve by paying attention to the little things.

Running injury tip # 1

Try running by feel, instead of just thinking in terms of technique. Pay attention to what you are doing and how the overall body pattern feels. Shift your attention back and forth between the parts and the whole. This will have at least two benefits. If you are training or running in a race remember, you can always change something, you are not just a creature of habit. There is not just one way to do things. Some little change or change in emphasis can make all the difference. A problem that is beginning to develop can end up not being a problem with a slight shift. The second reason to run with awareness of the overall balance and feel of what you are doing is that if you do have a problem, and if it appears that you are courting an injury after you are done running or on the next day, then you have filed away a memory of the exact body pattern that you used the day before. That is a huge clue about how to shift your emphasis. If you are stressed in a particular area you can remember exactly how you produced this discomfort. So tip # 1 is about developing a new kind of awareness of the feeling of the details of what you are doing.

Running injury tip #2

Continue to improve your overall awareness of, alignment and form. Simply put the better your overall skill level becomes the stronger and more injury proof you will be. Notice I have used the words skill and awareness rather than technique and form. You might be able to recite elements of good form but we really want to go beyond that and experience good form, so that we “know” what we are doing and can feel it too.

Applying this to real and specific injuries:
This time let’s talk more about lower extremity injuries.

Here is a picture of an extreme heel strike. This is a topic that has been discussed a lot in the last couple of years, and I have picked an extreme example here. It is obvious that there is tension in the anterior muscles of the shin. These are the muscles that are used to hold the foot in this position with the front of the foot pulled up before the foot lands. This is extra muscular tension and it is not necessary to hold the foot this way in order to run. Now let’s look at pictures of the other extreme. These pictures are not discussed as often.



The runners in the pictures above are also using excess muscular energy to run. Have you ever seen runners who stay on the balls of their feet and never quite bring their heels to touch the ground at the mid-stance phase of running? This kind of running can be very hard on the Achilles, and calf musculature, as well as an inefficient overall use of energy. Now we can look at two short video clips.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsUfo_jHQ60




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB4j76D1rx8

In these two video clips above notice the lack extra tension in the lower leg. There is no excessive dorsi- flexion (the front of the foot held up prior to ground contact) and there is no attempt to stay on the balls of the feet. Good skeletal support is used rather than excessive muscular tension. In the second video clip don’t focus your attention on whether there is a forefoot or heel strike but rather on the fact that the whole foot is involved, the outside of the foot, the entire center of the foot and the inside of the foot. If you look carefully you can see the arch collapse since you are watching in super slow motion. The design of the body is being used without the hindrance of extra effort.

There are a whole host of lower extremity injuries that can crop up and I have not attempted to address them all. There is much that you can’t see in the still pictures. They are for illustration only. For instance you can’t see how smoothly each of these heel striking runners moves over their foot strike. But the real point is that we can over emphasize or learn to de-emphasize parts of our stride. To learn, to improve and to move on to something that is more appropriate for our own running is possible. The pictures we have used emphasized the lower extremities, but change always involves re organizing the entire pattern. Foot strike, by itself is overemphasized.

Keep addressing overall form, and shift your attention between the details and the overall feeling of the movement.

All of these pictures combine running injury tips # 1 and #2. They show concepts combined with real world skill through increased sensitivity and awareness.

I hope this article has been fun and useful. Enjoy! But remember, it you need help with specific injuries, I would be glad to help. If you want to learn at a deeper level and are committed to doing the work to improve, then Transcendent Running lessons are for you. To learn more click here.

To get the free e-book, The Runners Body/Mind click here.
Thanks and take care - Scott