Hello everyone, this is Helen Huang @ Organizing, based in Beijing, China. In order to better learn and practice the YiXiaoNeng Time Management System, after finished publishing 100 Chinese articles, I decided to continue writing and publishing a daily English article in another 100 days based on the "YeWuBin Time Management 100 Episodes" audio program. Today is the 160th day.
Today's topic is: Reducing Injury with the JianAi Running Step
Today I will present to you the Jian Ai Running Step, which was founded by Wu Dong- my running coach.
Wu Dong developed the "Jian Ai Running Step" running after studying many theories on running form. The method is based on the idea that the most important aspect of running is preventing injury. Therefore, the overall recommendation is to run slowly!
There is a 5-phrase mnemonic that can help remember the key points of the method: stand upright, body lean, be soft, keep balance and be strong. One more time: stand upright, body lean, be soft, keep balance and be strong. The 5 words represent the key "postures" that you should adopt while running with the Jian Ai Running Step.
The first posture is "stand upright". It means keep your head up when running. Often, I go to the park and observe runners with their posture bent down and head dropped, as if searching for gold on the ground. This is the wrong posture to use.
The second posture is "body lean". It means we should lean forward slightly when running. Don't bend over at the waist, but rather lean forward while remaining upright. Leaning forward moves our center of gravity forward as well helping us run easier and faster with a speed that is proportional to the gradient of body.
The third posture is "be soft". Do a little experiment for me. Stand up with your feet firmly on the ground. Now jump straight up and land on the ground safely. When you landed, which part of your body contacted the ground first? The tip of your toes do!
In fact, our body is designed like a three-level spring, and the three points are the tiptoe, heel and knees. Many people are afraid of being injured after running, but why? Because we run with the wrong postures, and force the heel to the ground first. This is especially dangerous for heavy people because their weight will magnify the impact to the heels. This causes your knees to be easily hurt if you don't strike the tip-toe first. This is because the tiptoe will absorb the impact of your landing and help your knee act as a rebound spring rather than absorbing the full impact of the landing.
So, we advise beginner runners to either land on their whole foot or strike the ground with the forefoot but not the tiptoes. If we strike the ground with our forefoot and then proceed through the heel, we will great reduce the weight on the knees.
Also, don't run with long strides but rather with dainty short steps. Have you ever watched a chicken run? That's how should run in order to minimize injury. If you're familiar with Duan Yu's method "Sliding over the water" practiced in the Dragon Oath, that is also how you should run. When you run with small steps and fast stride frequencies, you won't feel so tired.
And remember, slow down when you start running. Your goal is to complete the run, not to earn an amazing time.
The fourth posture is: "keep balance".
First, keep your body aligned straight up and down and not off center to the side. Sometimes I watch runners from behind and I see that their spine appears to be bent to one side. This is totally wrong! Keep your body upright and balanced while running.
Secondly, it means the road surface should be flat. Sometime the roads are high in the middle and low on both sides, should let the waters spill over to the side. So our feet are at different angles when running. One will be higher up and one will be lower out. So imagine keeping this balance for 10 km, it will have dangerous effect on your legs. If you want to run on this kind of road, you should run half the distance on one side and then the second half on the other side, thus achieving a balance.
Also, do not swing your arms past the center of your body when running, and don't swing the arms with too much force. This exerts too much energy.
These are the three aspects of "balance": the body, the road surface and the oscillating arm.
The fifth and last posture is to "be strong". It means that we should develop our muscles so that we are strong and our core is rigid. Keep in mind, we won't build our muscles, particularly the important leg muscles, in just a few days of running.
Running is a slow and progressive process. We will be out of breath and feel tired easily when we first run. Therefore, we suggest those who are running for the first time or have been out of the sport for a long time should run slowly in the beginning. I suggest you to train for either the 3km or 5km distance. Run every day until the you have formed the habit.
You don't need to warm-up every day. You're better off just jogging more slowly in your first few kilometers. Jogging before running is the best form of warm-up.
The reason why you don't want to stretch before running is that your muscles are cold at first and your risk of pulling a muscle and injuring yourself is great. The body begins to heat up when you start jogging and you begin to adapt to the rhythm of running. After running 1km, begin to pick up your speed gradually.
Continue to increase your pace over time. For instance, if you run 10 minutes per kilometer in the beginning, you can increase it to 9 minutes per kilometer in a week and then several months later you'll be at 6 minutes per kilometer.
I don't suggest you run too fast, or else your heart will not be able to keep up. If you follow these simple strategies, you will greatly reduce the likelihood of getting injured.
In this lesson, we reviewed the five postures of the Jian Ai Running Step. These include: Stand upright, body lean, be soft, keep balance and be strong. Let's run happily and healthily everyone!
Thank you being with me together today. Have a wonderful day!
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