THE SKILL OF BAREFOOT RUNNING & ATHLETE PERFORMANCE

Welcome to the Barefoot Performance Academy’s Blog.

 

We are very passionate about athletic performance and how running skill is the benchmark to Rehabilitation and Performance to all athletic abilities.

 

So much so, that we have challenged many sportsmen/women and coaches this very point.

 

We show them how the skill and training to running well, improves all sports performance.  Why?

 

Running with good form utilises the natural strength of the body through balancing the load through the whole kinetic chain.  Running with bad form and the training associated with this only strengthens you in isolation.  This only makes you as strong as your weakest link, which limits your movement skill and therefore your boundaries.

 

Training your kinetic chain with its primary design in mind (running), strengthens the whole body as it was intended.  This lays the foundation in efficiency and then gives specific performance movement a proper leg to stand on.  

 

George Stoy is a private Ski and Surf coach.  He is a trusted colleague, friend and dedicated athlete and coach.  We spent a few hours together filming and in the process showed George the power of learning how to run well, which transforms all sports performance.

 In the picture of George running, the yellow line represents the (gravity vector) line of action.  This is where our body weight, through it’s general centre of mass, is being forced into the ground by gravity.  The further away the foot is from this line the greater the load is experienced in joints.  In this case the hip.  With this style of running (heel strike) the body also has to deal with breaking forces.  This is the ground reaction force travelling back up the leg (backwards to the body’s forward momentum – hence the breaking force). Through poor running skill there is more likely hood of injury and immobility.

It is interesting that even in barefoot running George is unconscious to his aggressive heel strike.  

George then shows us that his skill in running (the long stride and heel strike) is associated with a poor mechanical squat.  George is not a runner but this still shows us that his skill in motion (running gait in this example) is closely linked to his skill in movement (the squat).

His squat is an exact representation of how the body has had to lock up to deal with such isolated strength to action such poor movement patterns.  As a rule of thumb his squat pattern would be seen in most heel strikers - lack of mobility through ankles, hips and thoracic spine (upper back).

By changing his squat pattern by simple cues and postural feedback of a bar the skill of his squat was immediately changed.

This provides better balance and engages more muscles whilst being super efficient in postural alignment, limiting wasted energy as associated with an over compensatory squat as shown in George's first squat. 

 

Once this squat is perfected then this gives the opportunity to push specific performance training.  Without this foundation, injury will catch you up as will fatigue.

 

What George needs to work on to improve this squat is on mobility exercises for his Ankles, Hips and Thoracic spine. Once the Barefoot Deep Squat is correctly action (body weight through the ball of foot, heels kissing the ground, unweighted through the whole squat action) then everything will be working in his favour.

 

This then provides

Efficient strength foundation

Powerful legs

Improved reactions

Faster recovery

Greater stamina

Better balance

Stronger mobility and flexibility

whilst minimising injury

We transformed George's running out from the braking effect of heel striking and transitioned him to a mid-foot striker in a session.  Through better skill, a new awareness of one’s general centre of mass (GCM), George will be able to utilise this energy to building better strength and better awareness to improve all round performance.

Before and After.

For George skiing and surfing is no different.  It is the skill of utilising his GCM in motion to direct his expression on the slope or the wave. 

The skiers & surfers who make it look so beautiful and easy have this natural ability.  It is an ability we can all tap into and improve with a little better coaching.

George sent us this a few days after the session - "A quick email to say thanks for working on me the other day. I felt like I’d been hit by a bus for a few days after! The difference is amazing!  My only sadness is you are based in London – I’d be surfing and skiing so much harder if I could train with you more often!” 

Join Rollo Mahon an injury and athletic performance specialist for a 6 week course that will transform your movement skill.  

 

For more information go to http://www.barefootperformanceacademy.com/ and get in contact to book your course.

About the Author

Rollo Mahon has an academic background in Sports Therapy.  His academic journey has led him through various athlete performance accreditations where he has specialised in the science and biomechanics of barefoot running.  His search has been to find the solution to injury free biomechanics and therefore better performance, which has been cemented by the science of barefoot