ACHILLES TENDON AND RUNNING
 Let's
begin with a simple fact - 99% of people (coaches, athletes,
doctors, physical therapists, almost everybody...) do not
have a proper understanding of the role of the achilles in
running. We all know what it is and where it's at, but not
how it works. We're not talking about observing achilles at
work and then describing what we think we see, we're talking
about knowing it's intended function and how it's supposed
to work in running.
When a doctor writes: "The Achilles tendon, the largest
tendon in the body, is vulnerable to injury because of its
limited blood supply...", it becomes clear how runners
get injuried in such large numbers, if docs don't know - what
are the rest of us supposed to do?
Anatomy 101 - achilles is a tendon. The LARGEST tendon. It
is an extension of calf muscles and is attached to the rear
part of the heel bone. It serves as a connection, that's it
(for the purpose of this article, we're simplifying the role
of the tendon. There will be more information on this subject
in forthcoming books by Dr.Romanov). If it is allowed to function
correctly, it can handle running for a lifetime, regardless
of it's "limited blood supply"...
Compared to muscles, it cannot really become bigger and stronger.
It is simply there. It is there only to perform it's function
of connecting muscles to bones. Being the largest tendon in
the body, it does a great job but only if not abused. What
is abuse? Wrong or improper use; misuse (dictionary.com).
So the next logical step is to learn how to not abuse the
achilles tendon.
By learning the proper running technique you will learn how
to properly operate your body during running, so you're not
abusing any of your extremities and their comprising parts,
and not fighting anything but smoothly flowing in synergy
with all forces at play.
Achilles typically gets injured when healstrikers straighten
their knees and do the roll and do the push off, paw back,
etc and forefoot landers land ahead of the body and keep the
heel too high off the ground in rigid position at a fixed
angle... all of that puts a tremendous load on the achilles
tendon.
In Pose Method® of Running we skip the maddness by simply
lifting the foot off the ground and striking a pose, then
falling forward, lifting the foot up again and back in pose,
and so on... When the foot is simply lifted (Pull)- THERE
IS REDUCED LOADING ON ACHILLES THUS LESS POTENTIAL OF INJURY.
The S-shape of the Pose Stance, the first ingredient in the
"Pose Formula of Running" also allows for better
use of achilles by helping to evenly distribute the body weight
load between three major joints involved in running - hips,
knees and ankles.
While the famous "Reduced Eccentric Loading of the Knee"
study have concluded that "Pose running is characterized
by shorter stride lengths, lower magnitudes of the vertical
impact forces, greater knee flexion in preparation for and
at initial contact, and less eccentric work at the knee and
more eccentric work at the ankle compared with midfoot and
heel-toe running", it didn't get the big picture where
all work is evenly distributed and no body part gets overloaded.
That's why the vertical impact forces are lower.
Pose
running website
PoseTech
shop |
