A Short Running Lesson With Dr. Nicholas Romanov, Part 1: Falling Position

I'd like to see how this transfers to sprinting. The concept is the same right? But there's never a demonstration of it. It's always the slower pace. Which makes it easier to see. But I can't visualize pulling fast enough to make it a sprint.

Thanks... another great lesson on a simpler and more natural running style.

There's a lot of good stuff on running faster, including sprints, in Journal videos by Brian McKenzie, and in Dr. Romanov's books and CD's. There's no real difference, you just lean a little more and let the speed of falling move you forward faster.

It actually works.

James - watch any great sprinter in slow mo and you can see the elements; feet land under the GCM, legs never fully extend because the runner pulls prior to knee extension, runner strikes the ground with the mid foot, it's all there.

Better yet - go to a POSE class! Let them teach you how to conceive of running, then show you how to use drills to give yourself accurate perception of where your body is so you can reduce the amount of effort you spend working against gravity.

I attended the POSE SME training with Dr. Romanov a year ago and have thoroughly enjoyed working on what he taught us this year. More running, less pain, less frustration, and a 3.11 800m, likely the fastest timed 800 I ever ran (age 48, severe knee injury), and definitely the fastest in the last five years. I am very eager to get to another!! He's a great gentleman, and gracious as a coach, I learned very much from him on both fronts. He started by inviting us to be his students. It was so simple but so significant. I've used that idea - inviting those attending to take the role of student - in every class I've taught since then.

Paul, I went to one of his certs a year ago also - at CrossFit Akron. That introduction speech stood out to me also.

"I need to ask two favors of you. Accept me as your teacher, and accept yourselves as my student"

Unbelievable experience. Dr. Romanov, Severin, and Peter were all excellent instructors.

Any thoughts on learning the technique on a slight downward slope? I feel it's a good progression again using gravity to our advantage.

Thanks for posting this. It's something I'm trying to pick up just from the Journal videos, so the more the better. Getting the feel for pose just from watching videos is hard I find. Having more videos like this helps.

i want to know who makes that sweet OD green hat he has

I too am trying to learn this POSE running simply by the videos. I am a larger guy(250), in my mid 40's, that has had tons of ankle injuries from football in my past, so running is very painful. I have noticed in warm ups, that when I run backwards, I have very little to almost no pain in my ankles?

I would love to go to one of these seminars, so I can "feel" the difference instead of trying to "guess" if I'm doing it right.

Thanks for the post!

Rusty, walk like a Zombie.

Go rent NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or better yet, SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Imagine you're being cast in one of these movies. Let your jaw go slack, your head roll to one side, and stagger down the street in search of human flesh.

When a zombie walks, he has to lean forward and let one leg basically swing forward or fall in front to catch him. You'll be straight legged - not stiff kneed - and every step will stop you from falling on your face.

That straight legged catching of your weight stops your motion briefly and is what gives a good zombie that lifeless shudder on every step. It also gives the Pose runner a genuine sense of falling, yet in controlled fashion. (Keep the steps slow: one every second, counting - or moaning - 'one one thousand, two one thousand' as you go. The steps don't have to be long; in fact, they'll be pretty short, but they should catch your weight.)

The beginning Pose uses the exact same amount of falling. This time, however, don't catch yourself. Don't commit your weight to that leg (and get the resulting full body zombie shudder.) The instant you start to feel any weight on your foot, pull it up - just a little. Very quickly, with just a little bit of Zombie lean, you're going to get a very quick and very small stride, almost like you're riding a tiny bike.

If you keep leaning and keep not committing weight to either foot, you should be able to outrun a zombie, at least.

James - Yes, concept is the same. One nuance, think about leaning incrementally more to increase your speed rather than pulling faster. Remember that the crux of POSE is to let gravity do the work, so unless you change how much gravity can act on your GCM (based on how far you lean) your speed should be constant. And, you're still striking under your GCM (rather than taking longer strides as so many do). So, you just adjust the pull-speed to keep up with your fall rate.

Rusty - you have no ankle pain running backwards because you must land with mid or fore-foot strike eliminating impact. (just try to heel strike going backwards). Once you get to similar form moving forward it'll feel just as good. And, so much easier! One good "measuring stick" I was taught is the amount of sound you're making. good running is quiet. If you're thwapping or smacking loudly, you're almost certainly heel-striking.

btw all, there are a number of good videos on the CFE site as well.

Rob (42, one bionic knee, 1 CFE seminar)

Dr. Romanov states numerous times that Usain Bolt naturally uses the Pose method. If that's not sprinting...

This is great... I'm gonna work at this tomorrow, thanks for the post.