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Showing posts with label horizontal movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horizontal movement. Show all posts

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Cracking the tough nuts who CANNOT get their cadence up


Those of you that know my mechanics methodology will recall that I insist that an increased cadence should not be sought as a primary objective, but should rather be a result of the forward lean & the unloaded downward application of force, until the foot hits the surface. Thereafter loading takes place as momentum causes the pelvis to continue forward, but the foot is grounded & the psoas, hip & soleus, & associated tendons & ligaments load elastically. While this is still completely correct in my estimation – I have the hardest time teaching athletes to fire the glutes & not the psoas concentrically. Today I had something of a breakthrough – while working with an older marathon runner (not the lady in the pic - she is a pro IM athlete!) for about the 6th or 7th session, who has a very slow stride rate: Despite doing the intermittent application of resistance across the pelvis from the rear with a harness which, as usual, increased his power application correctly, as soon as I backed off, he again engaged the psoas & started lifting again.
So I went against my better judgment & ran next to him & told him to match my cadence no matter what – i.e. move up stride rate as a primary objective. He popped upright, lost power, but looked great & the level of dissipation (& consequent reduced impact sound) decreased dramatically & all I had to do was have him reinstitute the lean & voila he was a racing machine!
Conclusion: Metronomes work as cadence guides, as long as the forward lean aspect is addressed & upward oscillation is limited/eradicated.