Running - A Year Round Plan

by Jeff Galloway

I. Posture Good running posture is actually good body posture. The head is naturally balanced over the shoulders, which are aligned over the hips. As the foot comes underneath, all of these elements are in balance so that no energy is needed to prop up the body. You shouldn’t have to work to pull a wayward body back from a wobble or inefficient motion. Forward lean—the most common mistake The posture errors tend to be mostly due to a forward lean—especially when we are tired. The head wants to get to the finish as soon as possible, but the legs can’t go any faster. A common tendency at the end of a speed session is to lean with the head. In races, this results in more than a few falls around the finish line. A forward lean will often concentrate fatigue, soreness and tightness in the lower back, or neck. Bio-mechanics experts note that a forward lean will reduce stride length, causing a slowdown or an increase in effort. It all starts with the head. When the neck muscles are relaxed, the head can naturally seek an alignment that is naturally balanced on the shoulders. If there is tension in the neck, or soreness afterward, the head is usually leaning too far forward. This triggers a more general upper body imbalance in which the head and chest are suspended slightly ahead of the hips and feet. Sometimes, headaches result from this postural problem. Ask a running companion to tell you if and when your head is too far forward, or leaning down. This usually occurs at the end ...