"The actual act of running and how each
individual sequence of limb movements
come together to carry us smoothly
forwards is more attuned to ballet
dancing than it is to anything else. "
THE ART OF
BY HANNY ALLSTON
I
s running really as simple as we make it out to be? The motion of
pulling on your shoes and stepping out a door anywhere makes
it appear simple. Once out the door we take one step forward,
push strongly, move our other leg forward... and away we go. As
we warm-up, we begin to exert a little more effort and our speed
gets faster and faster. Simple! But is it really the case? Research
shows that the answer is a loud and definitive NO.
As I open my eyes more and more to the world of running I
am continually amazed by how complicated the sport is. The
actual act of running and how each individual sequence of limb
movements come together to carry us smoothly forwards is more
attuned to ballet dancing than it is to anything else. Where we
place our feet, the landing point, the subtle shifting of our weight
and the counterbalances we put in place are all unconscious things
that keep us in a state of running harmony. Further to this, the
ground isn’t always flat nor the surface we are running on smooth.
And what happens if you need to accelerate or decelerate? Go
uphill or downhill? Or even crash through the bush with a map in
our hand?!
In this article we explore the science behind running propulsion
and discuss some amazing research recently released on flat,
uphill and downhill running. During the article I will also try to
highlight some important running technique tips that might help
to make you faster and more efficient.
To run across flat terrain we need to utilise energy to move us
forward. There are two types of energy at our disposal; the energy
that we hold within our bodies, stored as glycogen or fat (protein
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can be used but is the least preferred source of fuel); and gravity,
our free energy source. When we run on flat surfaces, the energy
that we need to put in is directly proportional to the amount of
forces opposing us.
PROPULSIVE FORCE = BRAKING FORCE
The greatest opposing force that we have is the braking forces we
generate when our foot hits the ground. There are other opposing
forces such as wind resistance and how much lateral movement
we get from our running style, but where are foot strikes makes a
considerable difference.
Studies have shown that if our foot lands directly under our
centre of mass, then we have a lower braking force than if it lands
out in front of us. Further to this, if our torso is gently pressing
forward and giving us the appearance of a lean then we are more
likely to have our feet landing under our centre of gravity. In this
position we are also tapping into the energy of gravity that will
help us to move forward, thus reducing the amount of energy we
have to put in.
Interestingly, the metabolic energy we have to put into running
on the flat falls into three different categories:
• 2/3rd of the energy we expend is to maintain vertical force to
support our body weight
• 1/3 energy is expended in propulsion to move us forward