Proper Running Posture and Mechanics Must Be Developed
Bowerman's Training Principles
7. Proper running posture and mechanics must be developed.
Posture is a misunderstood concept.
When thinking about posture, most coaches and runners imagine what constitutes good posture is some “correct” positioning of body parts.
But that is not posture.
Posture is a dynamic, responsive, and adaptive system.
If you try to forcefully correct the position of your body parts, you will interfere with the ability of the postural system to function properly. It will become rigid, losing its suppleness and responsiveness. The approach of “correcting” posture can lead to many problems, resulting in overly effortful running and increased injury risk.
The postural system allows the whole body to adapt constantly to forces (both external and internal), in such a manner that effort is efficiently distributed throughout the body.
All parts of the body function together. It is impossible to isolate one part of the body from another in a full body movement like running.
We can compare our muscular system to a three-dimensional spider web, in which all fibers are interconnected. Lengthening or shortening any fiber will affect all other fibers. Every movement made by the body involves the entire muscular system, and because all movement changes balance, thus changes posture.
For example, if you raise your right arm parallel to the ground, every major joint in your body must adapt to support the change. If any articulation is stabilized, then this work of adjustment becomes more difficult. So the notion that there is one constant “right” position for the head, for the arms, for the hands is wrong.
Maintaining any part in a position makes global adaptation necessary to support all action more difficult. In running, the proper functioning of the bi-articular muscular system requires that no joint is “stabilized”. In order for all leg muscles to retain the same length throughout leg extension requires that no joint is stabilized.
Which brings us to the concept of “core stability.”
The myth of core stability is founded on faulty notions as well.
There are no isolated “core” muscles. The body works as a whole.
Therefore, it is artificial — and wrong — to imagine that some muscles are “core” and others are not.
Further, the idea that you can willfully “activate” certain muscles to the benefit of overall functioning needs correction.
For example, if you consciously contract any muscle, that muscle becomes less adaptable in that position. Certain large muscles, like the rectus abdominus (the “abs”), must constantly change length and tone in all actions, including running. Consciously contracting the abs while you run just interferes with their ability to function properly.
For runners who think a group of muscles are weak, the solution is rarely to strengthen them in isolation. There is nothing dynamic about a plank or sit-ups which will transfer to help a runner in the brief moment (>1 second) of unilateral (single leg) stabilization in the stance phase of running. When you train a muscle in isolation, the muscle gets stronger but that isolated strength has little transfer to a dynamic, holistic movements, like running.
So what's the best way to increase the stability of your “core”?
Sprints — both short (4”-10”) and long (10” - 60”), on the track and uphill.
Sprinting is perhaps the most specific “core” exercises runners can do.
When we sprint, our entire body (and postural system) is at work in a dynamic, synergistic manner. Our bodies are placed under demand to create moments of unilateral stability in the face of transferring high forces throughout the kinetic chain to sustain fast velocities.
Finally, a quick word on running mechanics:
When it comes to running mechanics there are notions which exists that suggest we need to maintain certain positions to achieve “good” running form: positioning the head over the shoulders, keeping the shoulders over the hips, making a light fist with the hand, maintain a 90 angle at the elbows, etc.
This is wrong. It is more fluid than that.
As internal and external conditions change, like speed or incline for example, so does our entire postural system. Under different conditions there are more and less efficient and advantageous patterns of movement. The degree of optimal trunk flexion will differ depending on both the running speed as well as the environment such if you’re running uphill, downhill, turning a corner, or down a straightway.