Chi Running
PUTTING GRAVITY TO WORK DURING YOUR RUN BY MIKE STASHIN Imagine every time you ran there
was this invisible force available to help pull you forward. Align yourself with it, and relax
your leg and feet muscles to cut resistance to its pull. What a boost in running pleasure that would be – an invisible force doing most of the work. And less damage, since relaxed muscles can’t be worn and injured through overuse. Sound interesting? Well it’s easy
to experience, because the invisible force is gravity and you’ve already felt how it can pull you forward when you run downhill. Chi Running is a running style
developed by ultramarathoner and Tai Chi practitioner Danner Dreyer. Chi Running engages the forward pull of gravity downhill, uphill or on the flat. Here’s how. Align your posture to envision a straight line through your shoulders, hips and ankles. Then lean your entire posture forward from the ankles (not the hips or waist) to use gravity to propel you forward. It’s gravity,
not the muscles in your legs and feet that hauls you down the road. Legs and feet, simply go on supporting you the same way they do when you’re standing still. If you stood up right now, aligned your posture, relaxed all the muscles in your legs, including everything from the knees down, and leaned forward from your ankles ever so slightly, your body would start to fall forward and down. Instinctively you would pick up one foot and place it in front of you to keep you from falling on your face. That’s your first Chi Running step! If instead of putting that foot
down and coming to a halt, put it down just momentarily – you’ll start the forward fall again, so use your other foot for momentary support … and you’re moving forward in a controlled fall from one foot to the other using gravity, not your muscles.
Your angle of lean is your gas
pedal. If you want to run faster, lean more; run slower, lean less. In fact the more you lean and the faster you want to go, the more you have to relax your legs and feet to minimize the resistance to the forward pull of gravity. This is opposite from running techniques which use leg and feet muscles to move you, and where the faster you run the more those muscles work. Chi Running eliminates body
impact each time a running foot contacts the ground. This impact is a result of meeting the force of the road head on. It’s responsible for many injuries to the lower legs. Aligning your posture and leaning it forward from the ankles is key to minimizing impact. In a leaned position your feet contact the ground underneath or slightly behind your hips and move to the rear in the same direction as the force without opposing it. Feet making contact with the ground in front of the hips meet the force of the ground with impact of up to five to six times your body weight. How-to Chi Running books, DVDs and audio CDs are available through www.Chi
Running.com. It also lists workshops and instructors who can provide hands-on experience with the technique. I’m one of them and you can check me out at
www.runeffortlessly.com/. «oo ~ Mike Stashin is a certified Chi Running and Chiwalking instructor.
12 ottawaoutdoors
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
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