I have a problem with the concept of high hips. If I run stride that don’t require me to sprint at full speed I can “run tall” but If I try to accelerate I don’t run as tall because I am afraid of standing too tall too soon. Is there a way to run tall and still be in good acceleration position? How soon should you start thinking about getting tall?
Running Tall
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Participant
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Participant
If you are truly accelerating out then you shouldn’t be completely tall or at least your shins won’t be vertical since you are still gaining momentum and pushing back. The thing I try and cue people on(myself included), is to think about each step getting you taller. If you are keeping your head neutral through the whole entire acceleration phase then you will gradually push your line of vision up with each step until you are upright and tall. If you are stuck in a certain body position for too long when accelerating and not getting tall then you aren’t going to run as fast or you will be wasting energy in the long run. I think too many people have this misconception about the drive phase and they think keep the head down and just keep driving and then maybe 30-40m in pick your head up and you are good to go. I think you can fake being tall and still be accelerating but it isn’t as efficient since you are upright and pushing out more therefor not pushing through your entire body and thus wasting energy. I don’t think you should think “get tall.” I think you should think about each push getting your body more upright and if you are faster then it will take a little bit longer to do so but you are still trying to achieve vertical position with each push. It’s not just flipping a switch but a gradual process. When you are finished accelerating and at the middle/last portion of your race, do you find that it is still difficult to be tall?
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Participant
If you are truly accelerating out then you shouldn’t be completely tall or at least your shins won’t be vertical since you are still gaining momentum and pushing back. The thing I try and cue people on(myself included), is to think about each step getting you taller. If you are keeping your head neutral through the whole entire acceleration phase then you will gradually push your line of vision up with each step until you are upright and tall. If you are stuck in a certain body position for too long when accelerating and not getting tall then you aren’t going to run as fast or you will be wasting energy in the long run. I think too many people have this misconception about the drive phase and they think keep the head down and just keep driving and then maybe 30-40m in pick your head up and you are good to go. I think you can fake being tall and still be accelerating but it isn’t as efficient since you are upright and pushing out more therefor not pushing through your entire body and thus wasting energy. I don’t think you should think “get tall.” I think you should think about each push getting your body more upright and if you are faster then it will take a little bit longer to do so but you are still trying to achieve vertical position with each push. It’s not just flipping a switch but a gradual process. When you are finished accelerating and at the middle/last portion of your race, do you find that it is still difficult to be tall?
In all of the videos I have posted I seem to have the same problem and that is low hips which is causing me to over stride and never fully get into the proper max velocity posture. I will post forum links to all of the videos. I feel like I run too squatty. I have made numerous posts about these issues but just can’t seem to really solve them. I will post the videos in order from oldest to most recent.
09/09/2010-https://elitetrack.com/forums/viewthread/9441/
09/28/2011-https://elitetrack.com/forums/viewthread/10273/ -
Participant
When I think of someone running squatty, I think of them past there acceleration phase and thinking they are tall but there butt is sticking out and there hips aren’t underneath them. You posted links of you accelerating which I don’t really think of as someone being able to run squatty for just not having there body in line to push properly. I think that is more of what you are talking about since you are posting links of you accelerating? It’s almost like your upper body is trying to stay down and in a lower more drive phase like position but your lower body is pushing tall, so I think the issue lies partially atleast in opening up your chest so that if you paused a run and looked at your feet,hips,head,they would all make a straight line as apposed to a 145 degree angle. Maybe some others will have some insight here?
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Participant
Agreed with Eric,
In your other thread I mentioned you had a bit of a posterior tilt which will cause this “squatty” look amougst a few other things. What I would try to do is record yourself running a bit longer distance ie; past 30m because I feel from the videos you just may be stopping your run just short to really transition from acceleration mechanics to MaxV posture.
What I think you can try since it seems like you workout by yourself is to do a few submax flys where you have a run-in (submax) and you have a fly zone (still submax but a bit faster than the run-in) where the focus is on MaxV posture. Then while in that fly zone try leaning the shoulders back gradually. Again, the fly zone should not but all out because running at 100% makes it hard to concentrate on posture until it because an unconsious activity.
Tape each run and review after each run and see if your posture is getting more inline with what you believe to be proper posture for you. What you will find is that on a few runs you may lean back too far but the idea is to calibrate with immediate video feedback.
From my experience, you can hardly run with your shoulders back and butt out at the same time. Its really about calibrating!
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Participant
When I think of someone running squatty, I think of them past there acceleration phase and thinking they are tall but there butt is sticking out and there hips aren’t underneath them. You posted links of you accelerating which I don’t really think of as someone being able to run squatty for just not having there body in line to push properly. I think that is more of what you are talking about since you are posting links of you accelerating? It’s almost like your upper body is trying to stay down and in a lower more drive phase like position but your lower body is pushing tall, so I think the issue lies partially atleast in opening up your chest so that if you paused a run and looked at your feet,hips,head,they would all make a straight line as apposed to a 145 degree angle. Maybe some others will have some insight here?
Wow very good point! I never really thought about it that way. Maybe I am just being too lazy with my body position and forcing myself to “stay low”
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Participant
Agreed with Eric,
In your other thread I mentioned you had a bit of a posterior tilt which will cause this “squatty” look amougst a few other things. What I would try to do is record yourself running a bit longer distance ie; past 30m because I feel from the videos you just may be stopping your run just short to really transition from acceleration mechanics to MaxV posture.
What I think you can try since it seems like you workout by yourself is to do a few submax flys where you have a run-in (submax) and you have a fly zone (still submax but a bit faster than the run-in) where the focus is on MaxV posture. Then while in that fly zone try leaning the shoulders back gradually. Again, the fly zone should not but all out because running at 100% makes it hard to concentrate on posture until it because an unconsious activity.
Tape each run and review after each run and see if your posture is getting more inline with what you believe to be proper posture for you. What you will find is that on a few runs you may lean back too far but the idea is to calibrate with immediate video feedback.
From my experience, you can hardly run with your shoulders back and butt out at the same time. Its really about calibrating!
I’m going to try some longer runs today and really focus on posture. Thanks
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