A few postural tweaks can have an amazing effect on short bursts of speed and long range resilience on the flats. Ray Zahab a highly decorated Ultra foot racer says, most people have developed the bad habits of putting their heads down to grind it out when they are tired and stride out when they want to go fast.

Posture wise, when you hunch over you are directing your weight downward instead of forward. And when you lunge out and land on your heels you are throwing your weight back behind you.

Zahab’s technique builds on the forward lean and flat-footed landing of “Chi” a style developed in 2002 by Danny Dreyer, which is said to improve speed and reduce injuries. Imagine you are riding on a Segway. To speed up, simply lean forward from your ankles, instead of bending forward from your waist. The change in posture will create a controlled fall and you will naturally start to kick back with your heels instead of continuing to pound the pavement with a series of muscle-intensive push offs.

Besides going faster with less effort, you will preserve your legs by stacking your weight over the arches of your feet instead of crashing down on the sensitive nerves in your heels or the fragile tendons in your toes.

Tilman von der Linde, RMT.

Muscles in Motion – Vancouver