Relaxation and bending knees

b.o.b

Barefooters
Jul 26, 2012
17
13
3
Germany
Hi everyone,

I've got two questions:

1. Am I bending my knees enough?

vlcsnap-2012-08-20-21h58m55s164.png
vlcsnap-2012-08-20-21h59m48s229.png
vlcsnap-2012-08-20-22h00m14s22.png


2. I know that relaxation is very important for barefoot running. But I don't understand how to do so. Should I completely relax my calves muscles too, when I'm bending my knees like Barefoot Ken Bob (Video here)? When doing so, I feel that achilles tendons are permanently stretched and begin to hurt.

Please help an absolute beginner :)

Thank you!
 
With any change in technique just remember to take things slowly, if something hurts back off for a while. It can be very easy to over-think things when you're first starting out so just take things slowly and your form will come naturally.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Barefoot Dama
I think its easier to use the cadence as a goal. I find as I run and keep
my metronome beeping at 180 that I can play around with all sorts of
"micro" adjustments to my form, more knee bending is one. But just
trying to bend you knees more in isolation from the whole form might
be a bad idea anyway.

As skedaddle said, take it slow :)
 
Basically, if the foot is landing just in front of the center of mass, as it is in Ken Bob's video, you're bending your knee properly. The two main cues are this, proper foot landing, and good posture. Most things will fall into place after that, or require minor tweaking. Trust your soles to tell you how to run. They either know already, or will figure it out faster than you (conscious brain). Meanwhile read up a bit, intellectualize the process a bit, and start to self-critique your form after you've established some kind of base--like when your pads are developed and you can run at least three miles comfortably.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jaybird
Personally, I think the whole 180 thing is just a good place from which to deviate and not a hard and fast rule.
Right, stride rate and stride length should co-vary according to pace. Let your body figure it out. The 180 figure came from observing elite runners running at elite speeds. They all had a cadence of over 180, but they were also running very fast. There is no reason to expect cadence to remain constant at different paces, although a higher cadence at lower paces may help prevent injury, but it may also provoke them. No one seems to know.
 
Oh no! Not another cadence thread!! :eek:
 
I wasn't advocating some rule, just saying what I've found helpful.
The part I find odd is the people that get all up in arms when cadence
gets mentioned :p Try it, if you like it use it, if not, change it. Only
truth is your own running.
Right Jaybird, I wasn't responding to you. I'm just on a bit of a crusade against some of the weakly supported notions floating around in the bfr world, now that I've studied up a bit and have found that some of the ideas I first came across in 2010 are either questionable or wrong. The absurdity of picking a nice round number out of the blue is just one of them. Pose's Looney Tunes physics is another. The 10% rule, however, is golden, as I've found out the hard way.
 
Er, why is the 10% rule golden? I think you are counter-marching against your own crusade. :)

Right Jaybird, I wasn't responding to you. I'm just on a bit of crusade against some of the weakly supported notions floating around in the bfr world, now that I've studied up a bit and have found that some of the ideas I first came across in 2010 are either questionable or wrong. The absurdity of picking a nice round number out of the blue is just one of them. Pose's Looney Tunes physics is another. The 10% rule, however, is golden, as I've found out the hard way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bare Lee
Er, why is the 10% rule golden? I think you are counter-marching against your own crusade. :)
Nice turn of phrase though!
But yah, nice even numbers, set something2something plans, exacting training protocols, may have some use as idealized notions, but must be understood as such, as Pilot and Jay pointed out. Even more qualitative notions like forefoot landing and bending your knees, stated as absolutes, can be pretty pernicious if misapplied.
 
Guidlelines like the 180 cadence, the add no more than 10% per week, or the "bend your knees" suggestion are perfectly legitimate goal posts to help people who are learning how to run. It's when they are taken as absolutes (of which there are very few) that things gets squirrelly. The world we live in (the online world especially) seems to think that everything must have a binary answer. It's either true or false, yes or no, I'm for or a'gin it. Somehow the principle gets lost in the literal (mis)translation of the thought.
 
Guidlelines like the 180 cadence, the add no more than 10% per week, or the "bend your knees" suggestion are perfectly legitimate goal posts to help people who are learning how to run. It's when they are taken as absolutes (of which there are very few) that things gets squirrelly. The world we live in (the online world especially) seems to think that everything must have a binary answer. It's either true or false, yes or no, I'm for or a'gin it. Somehow the principle gets lost in the literal (mis)translation of the thought.
well put Hawkbilly :barefoot:
I like your style
 
I think in addition to the influence of memes online, you also have a lot of people piling on right now with dubious running/coaching qualifications, trying to brand themselves as barefoot gurus, bloggers, or authors, a process in which certain shibboleths or rules may help with the branding. A pet peeve perhaps, but I think real harm can be done with these misunderstandings and half-baked theories. I know it took me a while to sort through the cummulative bs (oh no, am I pushing off?!?). It really does all seem to come down to letting your soles decide via proprioception, while remaining mindful of good posture, and then after a while if you like, go intellectualize the process and tweak things through experimentation.
Anyway, sorry to get caught up in this again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DNEchris

Support Your Club

Forum statistics

Threads
19,094
Messages
183,434
Members
8,688
Latest member
Jojo9090