Anterior chain and posterior chain in running and walking.

[@Ed7-zz4jk]

Wish I'd watched this years ago when I stupidly took on a blinkered focus on changing to a more forefoot strike for supposed benefits and maybe ever faster running. Big injury problems came along as you predict here - in my case crippling, entrenched lower back spasms. Lots of business for physios, deep tissue massagers, ordinary chiropractors etc but I ended up giving up running. Happy holistic Innerunnering in a swaggering angel new era nowadays. Thanks Lawrence.

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Thank you. Well received ❤️

[@lov2playtn]

Wonderful video! My understanding is growing with each of your videos on this subject. Thanks!

[@jseales86]

Dude, I'm learning so much from your videos. Slowly trying to incorporate the tools. I never realized how anterior dominant I am and now trying to get the balance to posterior that you talk about. It's certainly a process. I'd love to see a video of how well this translates to mountain ultra running.

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Firstly, thank you. Mountain ultra running will require you need all the skills. Anterior chain is necessary for accelerating, steep heels and sprinting. Generally we want to extend from the hips in running, back of the horse. If you are deficient in posterior chain it suggests you are painted into a corner, or limited in some way. Generally running downhill is more posterior chain. Gradual hills in an ultra you probably want to be balanced or slightly posterior chain as for flats. Steep hills are a compromise. Some can run them from the hips others use quads, some flick feet out to side to use hips. Definitely you will be very rewarded from mastering a sense of being centered, stacked, moving from the center out and using hips to extend first

[@jseales86]

@@LawrencevanLingen Thanks for the quick reply. I will play with those points once I figure this new running style out. I really like the idea of fluidity and creativity in running. It's such a breath of fresh air. I will take it as a chance to start over, working through the videos and doing the daily exercises. If you have any recommendations of the best way to slowly master this balance, please do share. Thanks again for the videos.

[@LawrencevanLingen]

@@jseales86 e-mail me at Lawrence at innerunner dot com

[@carloskraaij1636]

Love your videos. Thank you! It changes my running. Posterior running made me feel that my left leg is shorter and my legs have a different 'step'. But there is a video for that too :-)

[@LawrencevanLingen]

You're so welcome! Best wishes with your running.

[@tvbuster]

I’ve realized my glute medius is very weak and causing IT band syndrome when running. The posterior chain is fascinating. You have made me very curious to learn how to use it and strengthen it. Like you mentioned, the timing is difficult.

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Hey thanks for the support and good luck with the IT band. Watch the video on contralateral and homolateral gait that will really help you make sense of the timing and is excellent for glute medius. A huge part of rehab or strengthening is the transference of the strength into the actual skill of running. The timing is the reason your glute medius won’t fire when you run. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpbYn4CnrKmjrsk The hip articulation you need for the soft marching can be learned with penguins and or synchronous hips

[@roksted6877]

"Nervous System calms down.....". 😌Thank you for this Elixir. Am Healing at the Speed of Love from a brain thing. Am re-membering from square minus 1! Crazy , interesting and Liberating ourney. Your videos are Gold 🌈🧡😃

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Oh wow. Best wishes and good luck

[@jeffbailey6622]

I've danced tango for 10 years. Contra lateral walking is a big part of what I was taught.so what you discuss is very familiar. The interesting thing doing it with someone walking with you, torso to torso, is the syncing needed between the partners. Not easy. I hadn't thought of it pertaining to running. I think I tend to keep my sternum centered. Tried control lateral with loose limbs. Feels really good.

[@MelanieSakowski]

I’d love to know about the nervous system in anterior chain!

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Short answer it seems to increase sympathetic nervous system and increase respiration rate and compresses the spine so an increase in Neural tension

[@MelanieSakowski]

@@LawrencevanLingen fascinating. [not short reply] I’m curious how this translates into yogic physiology around postural mind-states (Bhavas). Eg. “Back bending vs forward folding: Forward bending postures (bowing) symbolize surrender, whereas backward bending represent self-reliance and willpower which help increase vital capacity and give a sense of achievement and inspire confidence.” an example is that of picking up an object that is in front of you vs behind you: “If I have to lift a chalk fallen in front of me, I can bend and pick it up. However, if I have to pick up a chalk that has fallen behind me, it will require tremendous amount of confidence in me, that my spine and body is flexible enough to pick it up from the back.” Quotes from “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali- stray thoughts of Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra & Hansaji” Totally my own curiosity, I’d love your feedback, but understand if it’s out of scope.

[@markjohn9615]

Loving this new content. I have found that practicing these movements and drills over several months has increased my cadence by at least 10 steps per min (from 170 to 180), without me making any special efforts to achieve this. Running certainly seems more therapeutic now, both mentally and physically. I'm hoping increases in pace will follow in the spring. Thanks

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Nice work Mark and thank you for the kind words. Will post more conetent shortly

[@-g-l-i-m-p-s-e-]

That was amazing!!!

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Thank you

[@kevindoherty01]

Love it.. Good clear explanation🙂

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Thank you! 😃

[@MelanieSakowski]

Rewatching 🙏🏻 I’m struggling with an imbalance of sorts that I feel I’m playing whack-a-mole by chasing root cause. I feel like it’s an interplay between: digestive issues (large & small intestine, stomach, bladder, reflux) (thoracic dysfunction + therefore also hip dysfunction), breathing, neural tension (fascia), metaphysical emotional distress. Showing up as my right leg just doesn’t have the stability of my left. So frustrating. Very much in my head. Your work is brilliant. The understanding you have of what it means to be a human in the modern world, moving through space is quite extraordinary. I’m going to study your works in hopes to understand myself. Sawubona 🙏🏻

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Thank you Melanie. Good luck. Try believe your body wants to heal if you can let it. Keep letting the pieces unwind and fall into place.

[@MelanieSakowski]

@@LawrencevanLingen thank you deeply, I listened to two of your podcasts today while commuting- you sing life and prana. I am starting to feel and believe in the unwordly body of mine. I do believe that the most powerful healers are guided by being mirrors. Bless you, with love.

[@DaveIrish66]

Very interesting, I have issues with engaging my glutes when trail running. My front is always tight and sore (tfl , quads, psoas) I attributed it to anterior pelvic tilt from my weak core . It's all confusing and not as simple as one would think. I'm about to find someone to help access whats going on? Mechanical limitations can cause issues as well? Hip osteoarthritis, hip impingement? Wish you were near me Haha. Thanks for the videos

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Check out my more recent videos and will also post way more videos shortly. Anterior pelvic tilt is highly improbable and no it’s not your “weak” core. Walk backwards. Play with the flow rope and later do resisted walking.

[@DaveIrish66]

@@LawrencevanLingen 🙏🙏🙏

[@endurancefrank-nonelite2227]

Excellent information, would love to join that running community can you share the link. Thnak you!

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Hi Frank. Thank you for this lovely response. I am busy finishing up with the setup. Won’t be long and the. I will let you know 🙏🏻

[@endurancefrank-nonelite2227]

@@LawrencevanLingen Many thx, looking forward to it!

[@gbocsardi]

Hi Lawrence! Your videos were very eye-opening for me and I started working on correcting my homolateral gait, getting my hips moving again. One thing tho, you talk about running/walking more in extension, and I notice that that easily leads me into an anterior pelvic tilt, and my low back hurts after even a short run. Is the anterior tilt the result of a movement restriction somewhere else, or will it perhaps go away as the hips get up to speed? Thanks a lot!

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Yes, you are trying too hard. You can open up your hips with backward walking and strengthen your hips with Tyre walking

[@lov2playtn]

I am wondering about the hip action during walking. Your opinion is highly regarded!

[@LawrencevanLingen]

You want to try walk from the hips. Will be uploading more content on this soon.

[@lov2playtn]

That would be great!

[@lov2playtn]

Can't wait for your next video about the hip action while walking...

[@18swimming]

Helpful! So for all of the heel strikers out there, though, what is the best way forward (pun intended!). Since it sounds like they are more posterior chain types, which is a good thing it sounds like from this video...and we do not want them focusing on too much anterior chain exercises... is it more of just a "timing issue" (e.g., they can do exercises that form more organic rhythm...one and two, one and two) and not necessarily bad to be a heel striker? Thanks!

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Hi Libby. Many heel strikers are stuck on anterior chain. Posterior chain runners are extremely rare. Maybe 1:1000 or more. Especially in North America where almost all running drills are anterior chain biased. A string anterior chain will through your foot forward past your knee, kicking the soccer ball as it were. Then heel hits the ground in front of you. In order to keep cadence up that runner usually picks their foot up long before their posterior chain is loaded. The heel in posterior chain needs to happen behind the hip, not in front. Hope this makes sense.

[@18swimming]

@@LawrencevanLingen Yes, this all makes sense. I wish I could blame my soccer background but there is probably more to it than that lol. Thanks again :)

[@michaelmackenzie2569]

Lovely, thank you 🙏

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Thanks for listening 🙏🏻

[@terance9551]

Have I being walking / running the entirely wrong way my whole life?!? My hips swing away from the leading leg. Are you saying I must swing inwards towards my leading leg? WOW!

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Yep, probably not your whole life though. Many people lose the ability to move well in their teens. Some never have adequate function from a very young age tho. You can blame chairs and excessive flexion often.

[@ernestmabaso9267]

A number of running coaches emphasise 'forward lean' posture. Seems to bias runners towards antrerior chain.

[@pentaxin]

it is very bad when there is a struggle between the right side and the left: the back line works on one side, the front line works on the second side. This leads to distortions.

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Yes. And probably safe way to get out of this is to realize, tension causes a twist and a twist causes asymmetry.

[@pentaxin]

@@LawrencevanLingen Have you ever thought about breaking down such a complex movement as walking or running into many separate component movements, having learned which you can then move correctly? I'm watching your lessons and almost all of them are focused on the movement of the turn, while the step involves the movements of the legs, arms and body.

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Yes but for most it’s a distraction. And if you don’t have proper hip function you have nothing. If you do, then often extremity issues fall away

[@Raucherbeinknacker]

I also made a discovery on a recent running session: I ran like somebody was holding me at my waistline to slow me down and my body produced exactly that feeling and my hamstrings had to fight against it to further propel me. On the contrary I ran like somebody was pushing me from behind and it also felt like I was really pushed, this had an enormous relaxing effect on my legs, there was less strain at all and my quads were relaxed to let my heels swing up freely. Before I wondered why they didn't come up and I felt they were blocked by my tense quads, so fighting it by deliberately pulling them up wouldn't have make sense. Does these two opposite effects have to do with this posterior and anterior balance?

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Yes it sounds like it. Sounds like you learned to shift your hips forward. Really nice awareness. How you place your center of mass is huge. Will do more videos on walking backwards and then resisted walking and you will probably be able to really nail things down .

[@Raucherbeinknacker]

@@LawrencevanLingen Hi, Friendo, greetings from Germany!😀Seen the beautiful landscape in your rope video. 👍 To me it looked like I changed the timing of a major moving part - the pelvis. Before the legs were the leading parts and the pelvis followed by a rolling movement. But when I got pushed, the pelvis was like to speed up an became the leading part, which dramatically changed the legs reaction by its automatic muscle reflexes. I think that's the matter. It's like changing an ignition's timing, concerning the gait cycle. The first to play like being held, this is maybe a good drill to train the hamstrings and the forward propelling muscles and of course to engage the nervous system to do so. The other, the imagination of being pushed can be very carefully dispensed, so that the legs are running easier or the heel swing is OK. Another trick I found is the imagination of a rope attached to the sternum to pull the whole body upwards. It will not only raise the chest but your body will also pretty much produce a pull from chest to feet while running which is straightening and realigning all the body in the best way. After getting tired it can make running easy again and prevent further fatigue because of deficient posture. I use it pre running and during the run.

[@LawrencevanLingen]

@@Raucherbeinknacker tire walking will teach you to step into your hamstrings and use them as spring. Absolutely we should move from the center out and the rope helps us do that. Love your cues and curiosity 💪🏻

[@Raucherbeinknacker]

@@LawrencevanLingen I don't know why not 20 years earlier.... Today I'm 47, but maybe if you start training again then you perhaps do it with greater awareness. But how often did I begin again with training?🤔🤣 My awareness started with dedication to tempo, I began to understand that a pro runner mainly sustains his running effort because he relies on elastic recoil, therefore you need strong tendons, otherwise you're like running on sand. And few weeks ago I was on an easy run and felt like my steps are not stiff enough and in fact I landed on a little to much flexed knee, so I had to squat up with each step. When I moved my feet faster to the ground, I felt the real elastic recoil, I knew what I was looking for and so I found it. With getting used to run like that I will inshaallah be able to sustain higher paces, maybe my 10km pace of 2009. I was not as heavy as today but my technique was a real crap... I was forefoot striking running like a stork with passive low arms, but 4:16 min/km pretty fast. I didn't even train like that but on a race decided to save energy by relaxing my arms😂 15 years ago

[@LawrencevanLingen]

Many very good runners run with a low arm carry and many children instinctively run like that. Careful of trying to run on your forefoot. Mostly it is not sustainable

[@storydujour]

Lol, the YT AI Transcript suggests you're creating "a community on KGB"

[@LawrencevanLingen]

LMAO 🤣🤣

[@MelanieSakowski]

3:20 lol

[@dariosoliven9498]

Why not teach therefore how to run, pls show how to run

[@LawrencevanLingen]

To learn to run you need to understand the components of running and make sure that your body is able to run properly. You can’t try to run properly if your body does not allow you to

[@dariosoliven9498]

A massive improvement on my running by your exercise on walking backwards with ang without a rope. I am aware now of my heels should touch the ground. Alsow, with looking on the gum on my soles exercises, help move my hips and pelvis on rhythm movements. Thxs

[@LawrencevanLingen]

@@dariosoliven9498 well done. All the best.