Consider Chi Running

[NoLongerN]

Guys, I wanted to post some videos about Chi Running. It's a technique some distance runners passed on to me that has kept me injury free. Consider driving a car with wheels that are not balanced properly ... how long will those new tires last and what problems occur from the imbalance and then start to affect other aspects of the car? Well, this is the problem most runners have when then run.

Chi Running taught me a good technique to run injury free, more efficient and has helped me to increase my pace and my distance. I've taught over 25 people this technique and have yet to have anyone not like it. Actually, I use to hate running, along with my wife, however, once I learned this technique I discovered that I was actually trying to pull myself down the road and also moved much of my weight side to side. Once I learned to fall forward and how to catch my weight rather then trying to move it running became easy. I started running around a 15:00 pace and now run a 9:00 minute pace comfortable.for 15-20 miles.

So, give these four (4) video's a look and feel free to ask questions. The guys name is Danny Dreyer and he has a book using the name Chi Running. You can find Danny on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/danny.dreyer and his web site is http://www.chiliving.com.

 

[NoLongerN]

If you are running on a treadmill when applying Chi Running I would suggest running on about a incline of 2. This will simulate a hill a bit better and allow you to fall forward better. Remember, your feet should catch you below your center of gravity rather then your legs/feet getting out in front of you and pulling you.

 

[4skers89]

A friend gave me one of his videos and I seriously practiced the exercises over a summer. Good stuff. It helped me realize my hip flexors were overly tight and some other things that I had to work on. Even made me conscious of my foot position when driving. Now I chi drive

I don't run much anymore but when I do I try to recall the salient points such as good posture, the lean that you mentioned, not doing the heal toe thing... etc. Seems like a must watch if you're into long distance running.

 

[NoLongerN]

Danny Dreyer, creator of the Chi Running technique, how to avoid the injury through heel striking. His principle of the midfoot strike makes impact-caused injuries a thing of the past.

 

[NoLongerN]

A quick look into "What is Chi Running?" The pioneer of natural running technique, ultra runner Danny Dreyer and his wife Katherine founded Chi Running in 1999. Take a look to see what it's grown into today.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Interesting. I have always been a heal striker and never understood how not to be one. When younger, I always had coaches tell me to not run hitting my heals first but never could.

I'm going to try some of this on my run today.

 

[TonyStalloni]

At age 62 I'm training to learn how to sprint after being a heel strike distance runner in high school and college. Heel strike is like putting on the brakes every time my foot hits the track but it's very hard to unlearn. Going to watch this and see if I can unlearn a bad habit.

 

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I didn't watch the videos, but I get the impression Chi running is running with a forward leaning posture? I ask because I've noticed when I run up slight inclines, I have less pain and discomfort in my knees.

 

[NoLongerN]

I didn't watch the videos, but I get the impression Chi running is running with a forward leaning posture? I ask because I've noticed when I run up slight inclines, I have less pain and discomfort in my knees.

Yes, correct, a forward lean. This doesn't mean your back is arched. Your back should be straight with weight evening proportioned. You are "falling forward" and then your legs catch yourself. In essence, you feet come up behind you. The traditional approach has your feet going out in front of your body and then pulling yourself along. The traditional method causes your weight to be behind your center of gravity and thus the weight of your body and the lack of form cause injuries and pain because of the extra unnecessary pounding the body takes.

As you apply this concept you will see less pain in the knees, hips, lower back and ankles.

 

[NoLongerN]

At age 62 I'm training to learn how to sprint after being a heel strike distance runner in high school and college. Heel strike is like putting on the brakes every time my foot hits the track but it's very hard to unlearn. Going to watch this and see if I can unlearn a bad habit.

If you practice on a treadmill that will help break the habit. If you will get your tummy up into the the bar on the treadmill then your feet can't go in front of your body. On my treadmill it would cause me to hit the plastic area of the treadmill instead of the moving base. You want your feet moving behind you, not in front of you. The picture in post #1 is how it should look. Notice how the feet come up at the back. Your heal strike comes from you placing your foot out in front of your body and pulling your body weight along. If you "fall forward" you can't heal strike. It might also help you to think of the concept of beats per minute. What I mean is that a good stride count will include about 180 per minute. The more steps per minute mean your body weight is getting more stability in each stride as you have it centered better rather then getting out of balance and then pulling it. Post #4 will really help you Tony.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Just watched all the videos, I'm definitely going to try this. I'm a heel striker, no doubt about it and it's caused me back pain, shin splints, knee pain, etc in the past when I do run. It's also caused me to hate running with a passion, but with my adventure race coming up, I have to start running for that so there is no time like the present to try and change things. Good thing is with it being crappy out I can practice this stuff on my treadmill like you mentioned. Thanks for posting this, I hope this changes things for me. Actually excited to see how it goes!

 

[NoLongerN]

BigRedIowan, the Chi Running thread will be the most significant thread impacting this Fitness section. I promise.

I would encourage you to consider the Walk/Run/Walk method by Jeff Galloway as well. It will help the issues you have encountered in the past.

Another thought is to build your miles slowly over a period of time. I recommend to new runners to add a half mile every week onto one of your days.

This would look like this:

Week 1

Monday: 2 miles

Tuesday: 2 miles

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 2 miles

Friday: 2 miles

Saturday: 2 miles

Sunday: Off

Week 2

Monday: 2 miles

Tuesday: 2 miles

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 2.5 miles

Friday: 2 miles

Saturday: 2 miles

Sunday: Off

Week 3

Monday: 2.5 miles

Tuesday: 2 miles

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 2.5 miles

Friday: 2 miles

Saturday: 2 miles

Sunday: Off

Week 4

Monday: 2.5 miles

Tuesday: 2 miles

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 2.5 miles

Friday: 2 miles

Saturday: 2.5 miles

Sunday: Off

So each week you add .5. Eventually you will get to 2.5 on all days and then you introduce going for 3 miles the same way. You can increase or decrease as you feel your body is adjusting.

I would also work into these runs some variety. One day a speed run, one is a tempo run, a hill run and the others are recovery type runs. I usually do a recovery type run after a speed work run.

Enjoy.

 

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I didn't watch the videos, but I get the impression Chi running is running with a forward leaning posture? I ask because I've noticed when I run up slight inclines, I have less pain and discomfort in my knees.

Yes, correct, a forward lean. This doesn't mean your back is arched. Your back should be straight with weight evening proportioned. You are "falling forward" and then your legs catch yourself. In essence, you feet come up behind you. The traditional approach has your feet going out in front of your body and then pulling yourself along. The traditional method causes your weight to be behind your center of gravity and thus the weight of your body and the lack of form cause injuries and pain because of the extra unnecessary pounding the body takes.

As you apply this concept you will see less pain in the knees, hips, lower back and ankles.

Thanks. I started running again a few weeks ago but had to stop because my knees and ankles were killing. I may start back up and try this method and see how it goes

 

[BigRedBuster]

I didn't watch the videos, but I get the impression Chi running is running with a forward leaning posture? I ask because I've noticed when I run up slight inclines, I have less pain and discomfort in my knees.

Yes, correct, a forward lean. This doesn't mean your back is arched. Your back should be straight with weight evening proportioned. You are "falling forward" and then your legs catch yourself. In essence, you feet come up behind you. The traditional approach has your feet going out in front of your body and then pulling yourself along. The traditional method causes your weight to be behind your center of gravity and thus the weight of your body and the lack of form cause injuries and pain because of the extra unnecessary pounding the body takes.

As you apply this concept you will see less pain in the knees, hips, lower back and ankles.

Thanks. I started running again a few weeks ago but had to stop because my knees and ankles were killing. I may start back up and try this method and see how it goes

Make sure you have good shoes. As we get older, these are even more important.