BACKWARD RUNNING
This topic popped up on our website seemingly from nowhere,
with an attempt to give an explanation for its use as a facilitator
of the Pose Method. Some description of backward running came
from an article on our website and gave an idea of using its
biomechanical similarities as the base of positive implementation
of backward running into teaching Pose.
Certainly I am familiar with this article, but I never paid
any attention to this similarity and never saw backward running
as a facilitator of the Pose Method technique, even though
I occasionally used it myself in teaching and training of
my students. So I never gave any "deep" thoughts
to this matter, but now I have to do it due to its sudden
appearance on our website and some special interest in it.
Yes, the existence of some biomechanical similarities is
quite a good reason to see if this exercise could be used
for our needs, which consist of perfecting the running technique
among other things. There are several positive characteristics
in backward running, which could be potentially beneficial
to us in this respect, such as "an initial contact with
midfoot" (even though I do not accept the term "midfoot"
as a proper name for this type of landing), "the knee
is more flexed in terminal swing, initial contact, and stance",
"the peak ground reaction force is only 25-33% of that
measured during forward running", "the peak patellofemoral
compressive force is also reduced with backward running (3.0
± 0.6 body weight (BW) compared with 5.6 ± 1.3
BW for forward running)". Consequently this lead to speculations
that "these biomechanical characteristics of backward
running could make it more beneficial in the treatment of
running injuries" than any other method with no real
scientific data backing up this conclusion.
On the opposite, that same article admitted that "backward
running is an impractical method for the treatment or prevention
of running injuries". Indeed how long can we run backward
to get any positive effect?
So, the question is: do we need to use backward running in
our "arsenal" of treatment and teaching tools, and
if yes, then where are the limitations of its use?
As a treatment tool it is very unlikely to become anything
of importance because of unknown effects of backward running
and absence of more profound studies on this matter.
As a teaching exercise it is a possible venue for sharpening
our perception of support on the ball of the foot and pulling
the foot from the ground. Using these aspects should be accompanied
by a proper understanding of certain anatomical and physiological
restrains such as falling capacity, elasticity and neutral
foot positioning on landing.
So my conclusion would be as follows: please use all positive
sides of this exercise, but do not forget about its limitations.
Dr.Romanov
Pose
running website
PoseTech
shop |
