Posts Tagged ‘Pose Method’

What’s the difference b/t the two?

Posted: April 26, 2012 in CrossFit
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The top video is former 100m WR holder Asafa Powell. The second is marathon WR holder and distance legend Haile Gebrselassie. Especially focus on the last 1000m of the Geb’s 10k. Absolutely beautiful.

Now ask yourself, what’s the difference mechanically b/t the two? If you’re studying closely, you know this is a trick question. Mechanically, the answer is nothing. Both are deriving power from the hamstring, mid foot striking, landing on and letting their body pass over their COG (center of gravity). The ONLY difference is torque production from the hamstring. Asafa Powell is producing an exponential amount more torque from the hamstring AT A FASTER RATE than Geb. The result is greater foot speed and thus a harder foot strike.

So where do the hip flexors come into play? At the top of the pull, the hip flexors are driving the leg back down. It’s called the B-Skip drill in T&F and allows for a faster cadence. Notice the initial engagement of the hamstring and the return to the ground with the hip flexors allowing a rolling wheel image of the legs.

And so the “roadrunner wheel” image comes to mind. Hamstrings pulling up, hip flexors rotating back down. Absolute poetry in motion. When done properly, world records are broken…

 

Hips don’t lie

Posted: June 9, 2009 in CrossFit
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I’ve been out of commish for the past 2 days after my hip flexors completely locked up on me while I was out on a 9.5 mile interval run. I started the day with a modified “Fran”, subbing pushups for pullups. A few hours later I did my run, a hilly mostly single track trail through the Redwood hills of Woodside….and Fook me my hips locked up so damn bad I had to walk the last 3 miles. So the last 3 miles pretty much took me as long as my entire run…that bah-lows.

The cause was obvious. I had been in a moving truck for 3 days straight coupled by 3 days of sitting in the car, driving through the city, looking for places to live. By the time I did my modified “Fran” my flexibility and range of motion (ROM) was completely gone. Doing my WOD in conjunction with the run overstrained my hips big time.

The fix is not coming easy. I”ve seen my chiropractor twice due to an imbalance in my pelvis and leg length discrepency (caused by loss of flexibility and tightening of the low back). Sitting in a car not only destroys hip flexion it also annihilates hamstring function. Sitting for long periods of time will weaken your hamstrings. My problem was more of a loss of ROM. In searching for some help with this, I stumbled upon a great article by Jeff Martone. Jeff is owner of Tactical Athlete Training System, Inc and has extensive knowledge and training with kettlebells. I used some of his suggestions below for “opening up my hips” again and restablishing my range of motion.

Here are two great stretches that will help unlock the full
power of your hips. Tight hip flexors are reaching epic
proportions in twenty-first-century America. All the time
people spend sitting causes neural shortening of the hip
flexors, which in turn causes us to short stroke our swing.
The end result is loss of power. This drill will help you find
and get rid of these power leakages.

Stretch #1:
This drill will dramatically increase your ROM (range of
motion) and power output. The total time invested is less
than a minute. So, get ready to release the “parking brake”
and unleash the power.
1. Lie on your back, with your feet flat and heels close
to your glutes.
2. Place a small medicine ball between your knees and
squeeze hard.
3. Perform a shoulder bridge. Slowly raise your hips
toward the ceiling, keeping your shoulders and head
on the floor. Hold for five seconds, and then relax as
you return to the starting position.
4. Repeat 3 to 5 times.

Stretch #2:
Here is a more powerful variation of the previous stretch
and my personal favorite. However, if you have acute lower
back problems or are obese, you may want to stick with the
previous stretch. This type of stretch will yield better gains
in less time. Perform steps 1 through 3 as you did in Stretch
#1. This time, add a 5- to 10- second isometric hold at the
top position. More specifically:
1. When your hips reach the limit of your ROM, place
the fingers of each hand on the front part of your
hip bones. Keep your arms tight against your body
and apply downward pressure by driving your elbows
towards the ground. Maintain that position and be
sure to maximally contract all the muscles of your
lower body (i.e. glutes, quads, hamstrings, etc.) for 5
to 10 seconds.
2. Release your fingers off your hips and exhale (out
your mouth), while continuing maximal glute
contraction. Executed properly, your hips should float
to a new ROM. The harder you hold the isometric
contraction, the greater the ROM gain will be when
you release the hold.
3. Repeat this drill 3 to 5 times.
4. Immediately stand up. You should notice an immediate
change in your posture when standing. You will feel
taller as your posture returns to its original vertical
alignment.
5. Proceed to the deadlift.

Application: Deadlift
Deadlift the kettlebell for 5 reps, actively engaging your hip
flexors. Now proceed to the Russian swing.
Application: Russian swing
Perform a set of 8 to 10 Russian swings. Start with very low
swings and gradually build up the height with every rep. You
should feel an immediate sense of freedom of movement
and power from your hips. If you do not feel more power
from your hips, then repeat the above sequence then practice
a few standing vertical jumps. This should yield noteworthy
results.

“I wanna go fast.” CrossFit Endurance.

Posted: April 26, 2009 in CrossFit Endurance
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Foo

I just got done with the CrossFit Endurance seminar (www.crossfitendurance.com) over the weekend. My mind is still in high gear from all the crazy shit and amazing possibilities this seminar put in my head. In short, I’m f*ckin’ stoked about being an endurance athlete again. You may ask, “Hmm, Brendon, what ever do you mean, again? When did you leave…?” My answer would be something like, “Uhhh, well I pretty much checked out right after the 3rd corisone shot in my right plantar…that is after the three I had in the left plantar…and the tendonitis in my right knee that hurts every time I walk down the f’ing stairs….um, yeaahhh, that’s about when I checked out.” CFE is an elite program, infinitely scalable from beginner to advanced, to “go fast.” By the end of the weekend I had cleaned up my form, attained a more efficient stride, and regained my fire as a runner and endurance athlete.

Let’s start by addressing that even as an elite middle distance runner, no one has ever pulled me aside to work on stride mechanics. Of course I have worked on arm carry, head and shoulder position, and a little foot strike (mid/ball foot of course) but that pretty much covers it. This is through no fault of my previous coaches. Unfortunately there really isn’t a “proper” method of running that is universally taught or accepted. Running, according to the masses, is not a skill based sport (I heard that shit all the time in highschool and yes, I did see red every time I heard it). I was told, “the longer you run, the more efficient your stride will become.” The theory being more repetition causes your body to find its most efficient means possible to carry itself over a given distance. Ha! Screw that. The only thing that theory did was create more repetition of running incorrectly leading to more injuries and effectively running myself into the ground. But running is a skill. Using the Romonov “pose” method, taught by Carl and B-Mac of CFE, I finally learned why I was injuring myself.

Hip Flexors:I’ve always prided myself as a runner with powerful hips and quads…kinda like a T-Rex (minus the dinky arms flailing around)…that thought, to me, is pretty sweet. Unfortunately, pulling my “T-Rex” like hip flexors has been a common occurance. Actually, it’s what kept me from training further to race in Europe last summer. Thank you, T-Rex. I did realize the reason behind my big quads/hip flexors and my injuries was my running form…using my hips to pick my foot off the ground. Learning to pull with the hamstring fixed this problem, gave me a faster turnover and made a noticable difference in efficiency.

Cadence: For the life of me, I’ve never been able to comfortably run over 180 total steps/minute. I tried shorting my stride but it never felt right. I tried lifting my knees higher but that just got me tired, injured  and made me look like a T-Rex (see above). With the new method of Pull/Fall, I was easily hitting 200 total steps/minute and feeling much better doing it.

Foot Strike: I’ve had plantar fascitis twice, one in each foot. It sucks, big time and is stubborn as hell to get rid of. Simple cause, rolling (pronating) from the outside in as I stepped, slightly in front my center of gravity. Again, the “pose” method trained my foot to land directly under my CG, keeping me healthy, more efficient and faster. I now focus on “pull, pull, pull” with my foot and back down underneath, the shortest distance between me and the ground.

Nutrition: You can’t build an effective machine without the proper hardware. Same goes for nutrition and the athlete. B-Mac told us a story of an ultra-distance runner who went from top 40th percentile in the race to 10th overall the following year, adjusting nothing but his diet. Boom. Done. I learned once again how important diet is the basis of all athletic endeavors.

Last, and most importantly, I became “edge-a-muckated” on the philosphy of “more is not better” aka “train smarter and harder, not just harder.” In a bottle, that means CrossFit. CrossFit is your base sport, specialization of a sport comes after this and in moderate to small doses. For me, that means 2-3 running WODS a week. It also means I’m pretty fucking excited…less injuries, a longer athletic career, a stronger and more capable body, and the blue print for an athlete that will “eat lightning and crap thunder”…or staying with the T-Rex anology, eat other dinosaurs.