Just to cause more frustration I have posted this video of what’s the limit? to share more about Zoology. In this clip we review a special insight to the thought process of excellence and my intent on the first post was to spark some thought about movement as a whole. When I view technique I like to create general motion patterns and a understanding of locomotion in general. Not just humans but nature. In the clip with Alex Popov they get into nature and some basic principals of why things work. I think stepping back and leaning in close you can see what needs to be done long tern and what needs to be done later that afternoon. Here is what I was observing in my Dunkin Donut Fueled Mind.
Some great observations by some of the elitetrack forum members. I will respond to the observations with my specific with the big cat link integrated into the training:In response to the tuck of the heel (RussZHC), a part of hurdling described by Steve in tucking the heel his website I asked the question myself before…When do we worry about the lead leg? The answer many times is about biomechanics of getting faster or how well the athlete learns and sustains technique. My worries come from injury patterns of athletes over the years and realize that swinging the lead leg early becomes a habit and this overloads the flexors of the hips. I verbally coached what he needed to do by relaxing the lead leg and trusting that the foot will whip and swing from the knee like a crane kick in Karate Kid. Hurdling efficiently is also about training in a way that allows the best growth over the season and is based on factors like injury patterns, even if they are in a sequence that at first is not intuitive. This small investigation will in turn look at training hurdles from an orthopedic perspective as a whole. What aspects of hurdling are likely to injure an athlete in regards to technique and loading?
When training hurdles I look the physics first. Gravity governs what we do much in the sport but the evolutionary adjustments made by nature are the sensory organelles of the body. Stretch receptors and various proprioceptors create a mirrored and balanced harmony to those vectors. Instead of looking of what we have to do technique wise I look at what anatomical structures and neurophysiology was in place for us already.
The serape effect RussZHC shares is real as the body wants to stay balanced in terns of spinal motion in the transverse plan. The cause and effect action of any change will ripple down and the readjustments will need to be guided later. I have to look at the biggest fish to fry in a session but the strength training, therapy, and conditioning effects will allow me to keep the other needs improving indirectly. If one’s static posture has a forward head position and his spine is in kyphosis do you fight his alignment and overcoach it or leave it alone for a while and work on that outside the track so I falls into place later? Some times you may do a little workaround to keep the errors stemming from physiological restrictions (weakness, conditioning, mobility impairment) and scaffold the skill in to place hold the entire process a bit (like a spare tire). Today we will do some general speed work as the weather looks a bit wet and it’s time to get out of the learning stereotype and train.
PS: The link to the big cats is a lot of fun to watch
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