POSE running

[Bronan the Barbarian]

I haven't thought about or done much running since I ran a marathon last fall and then switched over to barbell training exclusively. But now that I am doing Justin Lascek's GPP program and my wife is training for a half marathon, I've been thinking some more about POSE running form.

At the moment I am trying to encourage my wife to buy a pair of flats, watch some POSE videos, and adopt that form. So this is my question: Is it really as complicated as its proponents make it out to be? Does one really need to buy a book, go to a "cert", do special drills, obsess, etc.? Or can you simply buy the right shoes, try to keep your feet under you, and try to keep your turnover up? This is all I did back when I was working on it, and things seemed to come together pretty well for me. I felt much more fluid and efficient, and I actually enjoyed running. I remember thinking, "man, get rid of the heel and the stride just sort of fixes itself." Will somebody who knows more about the intricacies of this stuff either tell me I'm right or set me straight? I suspect that the people who are hawking the educational stuff are dressing it up to make money. Any contrary opinions?

[Greg C]

yes it's hard to change years of habit. Especially if it is ingrained into muscle memory. The cert may not be worth your time/money, but spending time on the forum (plenty of vid of the drills there), doing the drills and following his plans to help you break those habits are probably not bad ideas. If it was so easy to run "right," everyone would, and there'd be no need. You already have an obvious level of interest/knowledge that led you to it, and asking the question indicates you see some level of truth there. For what it's worth, the book, video and drills helped me cure about 15 years of dealing with recurring shin splints.

Think of it this way: you learned to squat here, and found it valuable. Go over there, read, try the drills and see where it takes you.

[Skuhr]

Check out Chi Running. It is basically the same thing and you can get a nice instructional vid from Amazon.

[Anson]

Get some Vibrams, it will take months but you'll get used to it. Take it slow running in the beginning, it's worth the effort.

[OCG]

I don't see why you need special shoes for this. There is nothing preventing you from ball striking in normal running shoes.

[Greg C]

I don't see why you need special shoes for this. There is nothing preventing you from ball striking in normal running shoes.

Not true, and the lighter, minimalist shoes are a forcing function -- I guarantee you won't heel-strike more than once when wearing them. In addition, the full heel shoes so prevalent today actively prevent a flatter foot landing as recommended by both Pose and Chi. That big blocky heel will almost always strike first in any but the most up and down stride.

[zzt]

beware with this new Pose running thing...I do not run, but my phisiotherapist, who is a keen distance runner, said he has seen a massive increase in achilies related injuries since the start of the pose running craze...said its been great for business

[Subsistence]

I do recall Lyle Mcdonald dismissing POSE as alternative quackery at one point. I haven't looked very deeply into it, but I wouldn't doubt this being the case.

[MazdaMatt]

What's the premise? Just don't land on your heel? that isn't exactly new... nor are injuries resulting from drastic change in one's running style.

[Evan: Now With Food]

beware with this new Pose running thing...I do not run, but my phisiotherapist, who is a keen distance runner, said he has seen a massive increase in achilies related injuries since the start of the pose running craze...said its been great for business

If you start running with a forefoot strike in minimilist shoes after spending your entire life in traditional shoes with arch support and/or running with a heel strike, you'll probably sprain your Achilles on your first run at best. At worst, you'll tear it and it'll roll up like a window shade and then you're proper fucked.

But if you do it right, minimilist running has a lower injury rate than running in traditional shoes. You don't throw 300 on the bar the first time you squat, and you don't run 3 miles the first time you put on Vibrams. Start by going for a short walk, and progressively increase the distance and speed, and your body will adapt. Eventually you can run without needing any cushioning at all in your shoes. And because you've forced your feet and legs to get stronger and more flexible, they're less likely to get injured.