Pose Running

I noticed that the Pose running group recently had this article published in a scientific journal.  I am not fully convinced about Pose, but I do think it has value.  At the very least, it is helping some people run better and injury-free, and it is generating more discussion about proper running technique.

Pose would probably do a lot better without the language barrier that Romanov faces.  If you look at Chi Running, it is very similar in substance but it is packaged in a much more clever way.  When I go to the local bookstore, I always see Chi Running on the shelf.  I don't see the Pose book.

I came across this interesting link about Chi versus Pose versus other techniques.  It's done by a couple of Ph.D.'s in Exercise Science, and it makes for a good read.

Comments

[will]

Why not simply observe people running barefoot to determine what is natural and then design a minimalist shoe that maintains this natural form?

[Matt Metzgar]

I agree; this was the idea behind the Nike Free shoes from what I've read. They videotaped people running barefoot and then designed the shoe. But the subjects were people who had probably been running in shoes their whole life, such that their form was already bad.

[will]

Walking barefoot, I seem to plant the entire foot all at once, but once I start to run, even slowly, my heel no longer makes contact with the ground and I only land on the fore foot. Also, I find myself taking much shorter strides than when wearing shoes.

One caution: excessive running barefoot in sand can result in calf tears. This happens to me every few years when I forget and I limp for a week or two. This is evidently due to a shortened achilles tendon caused by upraised shoe heels and aggravated by the bare heel sinking in the soft sand.