Also by Dr. Nicholas Romanov:

A New Paradigm of Running

Pose Methodof

Running

Dr. Nicholas Romanov's

Book:Dr. Nicholas Romanov's Pose Method

Strength ConditioningHamstring and Hips Exercises, © 2002

Video Companion Book:D,: Nicholas Romanov 's Pose Method

a/Running, © 2001

DVD:pose Method 0/Running, © 2001

Video:pose Method a/Running, © 1997

Printed in the United States of America

Published by PoseTech Press

Library of Congress Catalog Number 2004091106

To my beloved first-born daughter, Marianna, who wantedus to reach the stars, but left us so unexpectedly early.

To my grandmother, Maria, my dear Santa Maria, whoseaffection and kindness I'll always cherish and remember.

To my wife, Svetlana, whose love and faith in me havealways guided me through this journey, called Life, andwhose constant support has helped me realize my dreams,this book always being the best of them.

Text and Concept: Nicholas Romanov, Ph.D. with John RobsonEditing: Svetlana Romanov, Ph.D.Cover Photo & Design: SunnyWorld Productionsphotography: Lana RomanovIllustrations: Andrew Pianzin, Ph. D. & Sylvia CorbettBook Design: Severin & Marianna Romanov

For Info about PoseTech clinics, call 877-POSE-TECor visit our website at: www.PoseTech.com.

For Information, contact: PoseTech Corp.,1211 Venetia Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33134,Or e-mail: Info@PoseTech.com

Dr. Nicholas Romanov's Pose Method of RunningCopyright © 2002 by PoseTech Corp.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying, printing, recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system, without prior written permission fromposeTech Corp.

ISBN 0-9725537-6-2

Section One: Beginnings

Section Two: The Case ForThe Pose Method

CONTENTS

iiivixxi

23333741

97

The Quest for Perfect Running Technique 1My Philosophy of Running 9The Best Time To Learn The Pose Method 17Before You Start: A Simple Test 19

Eliminate Injuries From Your RunningImprove Your PerformanceThe Freedom To Run Your BestThe Incredible Lightness of Running

Teaching Yourself The Pose Method ofRunning 45Thinking ...Seeing ...Feeling 51The Running Pose 55The Free Falling Concept 61Alternating Poses 67The Wheel Concept 73Muscular Elasticity 79The Importance of Rapid Stride Frequency 83Don't Just Run: Do Nothing! 87The Framing Concept 93

Integrating the Components of the PoseMethod Into Your New Running Style

Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4

AcknowledgementsPrefaceForewordIntroduction

Section Three: The Concepts of The Pose Method

Section Four: Moving From Thought To Action

Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25

Mastering Running TechniqueRunning SensibilityLearning The Running PoseLearning To Free FallDeveloping Sensations of Free FallingGoing For a Run

103107111115121131

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is almost impossible to mention everyone to whom I would like toexpress my gratitude for helping me to bring the Pose Method ofRunning to you, my reader. Nevertheless, I want to mention thosewithout whom this book would never have made it to print.

ii

Section Six: Refining Your Running Technique

To my co-author and friend, John Robson, whose brilliant writingtalent made those ideas an easy and enjoyable reading. To mystudents and friends, Dr. Andrey Pianzin (Russia) and SylviaCorbet (Canada), for their beautiful illustrations, which made myideas visual.

To Milton Ferrell Jr. and Phillip Wolman, for their incredible supportof my family, which made my life more stable and secure in mynew home country. To Stefan Hunter, for his spiritual and materialinput to Pose Tech Corporation, which helped to promote the PoseMethod around the world.

iii

To my family (AKA Team Romanov) for their unconditional loveand uncompromised dedication to my ideas throughout my life.To my wife, Svetlana, whose masterful translation, helped meexpress these ideas to the world.

To Pasquale Manocchia, one of the first professionals in Americato accept and support the Pose Method, whose friendship hadalways combined for me business and pleasure.

To professor Tim Noakes and his colleagues from Cape TownUniversity, for their open-mindedness and greatest support of thePose Method.

To my dear friends and associates Graham Fletcher and ConnieSol, for working with me in science, education, and coachingrunners and triathletes of all levels around the world. To mycolleagues and friends from USA Triathlon Coaching Committee:Cyle Sage, George Dallam, and Joe Friel, for their acceptanceand promotion of the Pose Method for the sport of triathlon.

137147167189

199205209215219223247

259267291295

301

305307311314

Strength Conditioning For RunningDeveloping Muscular ElasticityExercises For HipsExercises For HamstringsIntegrating Strength Conditioning Into YourTraining ProgramRunning On SandUphill and Downhill RunningTrail RunningRunning BarefootDeveloping FlexibilityOvercoming The Fear of Running

Recognizing and Correcting ErrorsCorrecting Errors In Legs MovementCorrecting Errors In Trunk MovementCorrecting Errors In Arms MovementRetaining The Pose Technique In YourTraining

Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28Chapter 29Chapter 30

Section Five: Building A Runner's Body...And Mind

About The AuthorsAppendix A Definitions and ConceptsAppendix B Common Errors in RunningAppendix C Recommended Reading

Chapter 31Chapter 32Chapter 33Chapter 34Chapter 35Chapter 36

Chapter 37Chapter 38Chapter 39Chapter 40Chapter 41

B 't' h li 'athlon Association and its Performance Director,To the n IS n ,Maw as well as elite athletes, Tim Don and Andrew

G~eme , d t' IJohns, for their great work in bringing the Pose Metho to prac Ica

success,

Dr. Nicholas RomanovMiami, Florida, October 2002

PREFACE

This is a book quite unlike any other you have ever read aboutrunning, Why? To begin with, it starts with the assumption thatthere are only four reasons you might pick up another book aboutrunning:

1) You want to run faster,2) You want to avoid injury.3) You want to lose weight.4) Someone who had no clue what to give the runner in his or herlife gave it to you.

Now, here's why this book is totally different from any other runningbook out there: it assumes that you don't know how to run, indeedthat very few runners know how to run.

Most running books proceed from the assumption that running isnot a skill sport but instead is a training sport. These books centertheir advice on training information -- how much to run, how hardto run, how to cross-train, what to eat, etc. All of which is valuableinformation, but doesn't address the central issue of how oneruns.

Let's say that you wanted to take up a new sport such as skiing,tennis, golf, ballet or martial arts. Before you got into training forthose sports, you would be expected to learn how to do them.It would be the most obvious thing in the world to sign up forlessons or perhaps enroll in a one-week introductory course toget started.

By contrast, the advice given most beginning runners can besummarized as follows: 1) buy a good pair of shoes & 2) don't runtoo hard at first. And even if a novice runner did feel the need toseek out professional guidance on running technique, as opposedto training routines, where would he or she turn? Local runningclubs? Personal trainers? High school or college coaches? In theabsence of any generally accepted theory of how to run, the oddsagainst finding informed, reliable advice are astronomical.

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Pose Method ofRunning

1. Benyo, R. 1983, The Masters of the Marathon, New York,Atheneum.

2. Clayton D., 1980, Running to the top. Anderson World,Mountain View, California, p.62.

3. Lydiard, A, G. Gilmor, 1962, Run to the Top, Wellington,AN. and A Reed.

4. Nitro, A, Summer 1987, "What is Correct Technique?",Track Technique, Vol. 100, P. 3195-3205.

16

The Best Tillie to Learn the Pose Method

Chapter 3

II'S never/oo lale 10 learn

Proverb

THE BEST TIME TO LEARN THE POSEMETHOD

For most runners, regardless of experience or ability, adopting thePose Method of Running wiil represent a major change in runningstyle. And because runners tend to focus on weekly mileage andP.R.s (personal record times) it can be very tempting to ignorethe technique to "get a long run in" or "run a quick 5K." Thus, youshouid schedule your conversion to the Pose Method when yourexpectations for performance are the lowest - your off-season.

Like swimming and cycling, the very simple movements thatcomprise your running style have been reinforced throughoutliterally millions of repetitions. The oid saw "you never forgethow to ride a bicycle" applies equally to running. Once youhave developed a personal style, generally with no instructionwhatsoever, the process of repetition called "overlearning"cements that style as a part of you, every bit as distinctive as yourown signature.

17

Pose Method of Running

In your efforts to change that style, you will find that any attemptto run either hard or far will cause you subconsciously to revert towhat feels normal to you. This effect is increased as your fatiguegrows. The farther you go, the more you will tend to run like youused to, thus compromising your efforts to imprint the PoseMethod as your new style.

This is very difficult for most runners to accept. They naturallyfeel that they will lose fitness if they don't get in their weekly 40miles. If that's the case with you, find something else like cyclingor swimming to do to maintain your fitness as you focus yourrunning efforts on the drills that will make the Pose Method yournew running signature.

By starting your Pose Method transition when your expectationsare lowest, you'll be able to adapt to the new style with minimalanxiety and be ready to fly when it's time to step up your mileage.And, as a side benefit, your replacement exercise will havestrengthened your whole body and freshened your mind for thehard work of running hard.

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Before YOIl Start - a Sill/pie Test

Chapter 4

The Racers run smoothly,with afine lUlled stride

like a Wankel IV/my engine.No wasted energy.

110 jightillg the streetor bouncing along like ajoggel:

These people flo,""all" theyJlow "ely fast.

Hunter S. Thompson

BEFORE YOU START ­A SIMPLE TEST

Whether you're an experienced runner seeking greaterperformance or an absolute neophyte just starting out in thiswonderful sport, there's a simple test to try before proceeding withThe Pose Method of Running. It's absolutely free and it doesn'tcost anything, except perhaps a couple of hours of sleep on aweekend morning.

Locate a running race in your community, a 5k or 10K will suffice,and plan to attend as a spectator. For this test, you won't need a

19

Pose Method of Running

stopwatch or a roster of the competitors; all you'll need are youreyes and ears. What you'll be testing is the widely held theory thatthere is no one correct way to run.

This theory holds that running technique is personal and uniquefor each individual. In fact, in some variations of this theory, itis even considered dangerous to attempt to modify a "natural"running stride and that to do so will invariably wind up resulting ininjury or diminished performance.

For the start of the race, position yourself perhaps a half mile fromthe starting line, at a point where the early showboaters havefaded from the front and the "real" runners have assumed the lead.As the front-runners approach, watch them as a group. Note theeconomy of movement, the benign expressions on their faces, thealmost Zen-like concentration.

As the lead pack gets to your position, switch your focus from whatyou see to what you hear. The collected footfall of the leaders issoft, so soft in fact that sound of their breathing may be louderthan that of their feet hilling the ground.

20

Before YOII Slnrl- n Sill/pie Test

Keep listening as the back markers approach. Where the leadersswept past with only a whisper of rapid foot taps, you now hearmuch more recognizable thuds. The collective breathing is morelabored - and this only a half-mile into the race - but the dommantsound is now the thumping of feet on the ground, pavementpounding at its best (Fig. 4.1).

Journalist Hunter S. Thompson, whose quote from his book TheCurse of Lono opened this chapter, vividly described this transitionfrom "The Racers" to "The Runners" as he described the HonoluluMarathon:

The Runners are different. Very few of them flow, and not manyrun fast. And the slower they are, the more noise they make. Bythe time the four-digit numbers came by, the sound of the racewas disturbingly loud and disorganized. The smooth rolling hissof the Racers had degenerated into a hell broth of slapping andpounding feet.

With that image in your mind, make your way to a point about aquarter mile from the finish line, a spot too far from the line for wildsprints to start but where the full effects of the race are clearlyevident in the form of the runners. At the beginning of the race,you immersed in a group image of fast versus slow runners. Now,with the pack being spread out, you can pay more attention toindividual styles.

The first thing you may notice is that the runners whose form hasdegenerated the least over the course of the race are the oneswinning the race. And while their rhythm may have deterioratedsomewhat, they're still moving economically, still devoid ofexpression and still concentrating. Despite the great efforts theyhave made, the winners tend to show the least effects of the race- at least while they're still running.

As the rest of the pack proceeds toward the finish line, begin towatch the running styles of the various entrants. You'll see all kindsof wild stuff - flailing arms, stumbling feet, twisting bodies. Some

21

r-.<

Pose Method of Running

runners are clearly landing on their heeis; others are all the wayup on their toes. The struggle is much more evident on almost allthe faces.

What conclusions can you draw from this test? While we shouldn'texpect any blinding flashes of insight, it's fair to say that the bestrunners run more like each other than the worst runners. You couidalso say that the best runners appear to be more efficient andmore focused. But most importantly, given the wide disparity ofrunning styles on display, it is clear that human beings aren't giftedby nature with an innate, correct running stride. To get that is goingto take a little work.

22

Section II

THE CASE FORTHE POSE METHOD

I--

Eliminate Injuries from Your Running

Chapter 5

The third law ofrunning injuries:Each running injwy indicates

thaI the atlilete has reached hisbreakdmvn point.

Tim Noakes

ELIMINATE INJURIES FROM YOUR RUNNING

Why should I bother learning a new way to run?

That's a fair question and if you're not convinced that there isvalue in learning the Pose Method, then you're certainly not goingto follow through on the process of changing your running style.The value of anything is determined by its practical applicability. Inother words, how does the introduction of something new improveour ability to accomplish a given task? What does it give us thatwe didn't already have?

Ask just about any runner what they would like to see happenin their running and the answer you'll get would likely be somevariation of, "I'd like to run faster, farther, with less effort and fewerinjuries."

25

Pose Method of I,unning

The answer you won't get is, "I'd like to become a more efficientrunning machine," but that's really the ultimate goal, to turn yourselfinto a swifter human being, impervious to the nagging injuries thatdrag all of us down. No, I'm not going to say that the Pose Methodwill instantly turn Joe or Jane Average Weekend Warrior into aworld record-setting Olympian, but it will give you that knowledgeand the mechanics to significantly enhance your performance andreduce your injuries.

There are three primary limiting factors in our running performance:injuries, technique, and personal limitations. Before actuallyintroducing you to the technique of the Pose Method, I want to talkabout how it was designed to address each of these limitations. Inthis chapter, I'll start with the big bugaboo - injuries.

Given that consistency is the most important component ofany training regime and that injuries are the biggest enemy ofconsistency, iet's talk a little about just how big of a problem injuriesare and see how the Pose Method addresses that problem.

Anyone with running experience knows that injuries are asmuch a part of the sport as running shoes, socks and shorts. Itis just generally accepted that injuries like stress fractures, soreknees, tweaked ankles, strained Achilles' tendons, lower backpain and plantar fasciitis are part of the total running experience.Interestingly, this situation with running injuries doesn't seem tohave changed since the beginning of the running boom in 1970 upuntil the present time, despite vast resources devoted to improvedrunning shoe design and the eVOlution of theoretically smartertraining regimes.

The same sad statistics crop up in article after article. Back in1977, an article in "Runner's World" magazine noted that two outof every three runners suffer injuries every year which lead tointerruption or reduction of training and racing activity (2). Twentyyears later, Gary Guten wrote in his book Running Injuries thatmore recent studies found "the relative incidence of runninginjuries similar to that of earlier studies" (1). Given that there arean estimated 33.7 million regular runners in the U.S. alone, this is

26

Eliminate Injuries FrOln Your Running

an astonishing situation (5). Run the numbers and you see thatsomething like 22 million American runners have their trainingslowed or interrupted by injuries every year. Ouch!

While the number and frequency of running injuries remainedconsistent over the years, they seem to have migrated up theleg. In the 70s, the greatest proportion of injuries seemed to beconcentrated in the feet and lower leg (3). As we moved Into the'90s, those injuries were reduced, but that reduction was offset byan increase in problems with shin splints and knee injuries (4)

If we accept that improvements in shoe design and technologyexplain why foot and lower leg injuries were reduced, what arewe to make of the corresponding increase in shin and kneeproblems?

In Gary Guten's book, he notes the four factors that contributeto sports injuries: change, alignment, twisting, and speed. Thefirst one, "change", is very common with runners and refers to asudden increase of mileage, distance, frequency, or intensity oftraining by more than 10% per week. In other words, the runnerwants to see some fast improvement and instead commits themost basic training error of all, overdoing it and winding up injuredinstead offaster.

Factor number two, "alignment", literally means "arrangement in astraight line" and describes what kind of anatomical structure theathlete has. Well aligned athletes, born with straight legs, straightspines, and straight arms, tend to have fewer injuries. The thirdfactor, "tWisting" is less relevant for runners, but a major factor forgolfers, gymnasts and volleyball players. The fourth one refersto fast running, often a major culprit when a runner makes a tooquick transition from a distance base phase to interval training.

Additional specific factors in running injuries include the surfaceand the shoes. Taken together, all these factors can workseparately or together to cause or intensify injuries. So there's alot out there that can do us in and create problems when we'rerunning, but I think that all these factors are still missing the point.

27

Pose Metllod o[Running

In all these studies, there is virtually no attempt to correlaterunning injuries to running technique. In a racquet sport such astennis, a teaching pro might spot a flaw in a student's serve andquite quickly say that the flaw will lead to a shoulder problem. Inrunning, where there is no consensus about proper technique, itis very difficult to establish correlation between a certain runningstyle and a likely injury that will result.

Further, given that the vast majority of amateur runners are self­coached, there are few opportunities for even obvious flaws to becaught and corrected. And even when a runner is working witha coach, the teaching tends to be eclectic and depends heavilyon the personality of the coach, his knowledge, experience, andpersonal preferences.

It all adds up to a very strange situation. There have beencontinuous studies of running, running shoes have been vastlyimproved, the average runner knows more about training andracing than ever before, yet the frequency of running injuriesremains unchanged! Doesn't it indicate the absence of somethingimportant in the preparation of runners?

And just on the levei of common sense, it shouid be ciear that acorrect, perfect model of technique would influence directiy notonly the level of running performance, but would aiso serve asan effective means of injury prevention. Let's proceed from theassumption that while an injury may be specific to a certain bodypart, it really constitutes a failure on the part of the whole body.When the body is functioning properly, with all systems operatingin the correct alignment and in unison, there should be no injuries.However, when something in that movement is incorrect, thebody breaks out of the framework of its normal operation andsomething "breaks."

It could be a simple situation like a stubbed toe. Havingaccidentally kicked a table leg with a bare foot in the morning, therunner assumes that his $100 pair of training shoes will provideample protection and heads out for the normal evening five-miler.

28

Eliminate Injuries From YOllr RlInning

A week later, the pain in the toe has sUbsided, but guess what, anew, much more insidious pain has entrenched itself in the knee.A minor problem combined with our runner's insistence on stickingto a normal training routine has now led to a potentially seriousinjury.

What happened, of course, is that our dedicated runnersubconsciously made very slight alterations to his normal runningstride to minimize the impact on the sore toe. Over the course ofa week's training, just this slight aiteration put undue pressures onthe opposite knee, resulting in connective tissue damage.

When you look at it from an engineering standpoint, the humanbody really is a marvel, able to sustain a variety of smoothmovements both over land and in the water. To do so, all the variousparts and systems in the body have to work both individually andtogether to support that movement.

As we have seen with the above example, when just one of thoseparts or systems gets slightly out of whack, the entire body isthrown out of balance and there is a risk of injury. The running"machine" has gone out of tune and is at risk of breaking downcompletely.

The technique of any movement, Including running, is the sumtotal of all of the elements of the training process. Whatever wedevelop, be it muscle groups, the heart, the respiratory system,the psyche... all this potential and effort is aimed at performinga simple, repeatable movement. Whether this training is focusedon a specific singular motion such as a high jump or a repetitivemotion like running, it all boils down to perfecting the art ofmovement.

So, all roads lead to Rome. If we are going to run injury free andeffectively, then we must develop a technique that is most efficientfor the human body. And if we allow that technique to deteriorate,this will both lead to greater energy expenditures necessary tosustain the intended pace and increase the likelihood that therunner will suffer injury.

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