RUN LIKE A POGO STICK FOR BETTER FOOT STRIKE!

Written By: Alan Couzens, MS

In my last article I compared Bruce Lee’s one-inch punch with the running foot strike to highlight the importance of the rapid application of force, i.e. power, to distance running. But the effectiveness of this powerful “ground strike” is largely contingent on the body being appropriately positioned to allow for maximal elastic recoil within the running stride. I only briefly mentioned this important factor in that first article. I will address it in depth here. LINK

So where does the required energy needed to maintain stride length and frequency come from?

The answer is that, rather than being the result of a strong push-off, the required propulsive energy is generated through the re-cycling of stored elastic recoil energy. Consider, for example, a pogo-stick. When a pogo-stick lands on the ground the combined downward descending mass of the person and stick causes the tightly coiled mechanical spring to be compressed. As the spring is compressed, resistance to downward momentum gradually increases until such time as the downward motion is arrested. At this stage the by now tightly compressed spring has stored, within its coils, much of the energy imparted by the collision between the falling mass (the person and pogo stick) and the ground. And it is the re-utilisation of this stored mechanical energy, through the rapid restoration of the spring to its preferred dimensions, which provides the necessary energy to power the subsequent hop.

Thank to Steve Magness for the following Link LINK

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