Pose Method Running (on Your Hands)

While I was coaching yesterday, I had a wonderful coaching moment occur out of the blue. Let me paint the picture for you. Class is currently working their way through a skill progression, specifically surrounding handstands and handstand walking. The final iteration of the progression called for athletes that have achieved a free standing handstand and all of the steps leading up to it.

It’s during this skill work time, where a student had an epiphany. It sounded like this:

Stephen: “It feels like on the good ones, that you’re just kind of falling and your hands just have to keep up. Is that bad?”

Me: “No, actually this is great. Michael, you’ve been through the Endurance program. Tell this man about sustainable locomotion on your feet.”

Michael: “Well, that’s just it. Their methods say running is more like a tall body position that’s falling forward and you just pick up your feet to stay in motion.”

Eureka! Walking on one’s hands has brilliant carry over elements to running. The idea of grabbing the ground and displacing it behind you to move forward seems ludicrous, extremely difficult, or both. Conversely, a neutral body position with some lean and natural pulling turn over feels effortless and intuitive. 

It seems as though spending so much time on our feet, we’ve either forgotten how to move, poor habits are unrecognizable, or both. Don’t understand our commitment to Pose Method running? Try Pose upside down.

 

Logan Gelbrich