namaarie said:
I can't consider myself a runner, but I do run on occasion. What form for running are you talking about? I'm quite interested in this. Also, what system of breathing?
Of course, the glass is somewhat of a greater risk here in college: Beer bottles in the hands of drunks don't always stay in their hands, ya know? But I'd still like to try this!
Nam
There are several people who write about this running form. The one I like most is Danny Dreyer, in his book Chi Running (Chi as in the energy form from the Chinese beliefs.) There is also a writer, Romanov, who calls it the Pose Method, and it is substantially the same although I prefer Dreyer's book.
Here's the deal as far as I can explain it:
1. Stand upright with good posture (ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees, knees over ankles.) You should be able to stand against a wall with your heels, butt and head making contact, and without too much curve in your back. This requires you to actively use your abs to lift your pelvis up so it's level instead of tilting down and thereby exaggerating the curve in your lower back.
2. Bend your knees a little.
3. Lean forward just an inch or two, but lean at your heels. Don't bend your waist.
4. You will fall forward. You will naturally place your leg under you to stop the fall. This is now your supporting leg. Keep your knees bent. Continue falling forward.
5. DON'T push off AT ALL. Just let yourself fall forward. DON'T reach with your leg. Your supporting leg's foot should be under you, not in front of you.
The effect is sort of like this: have good posture, bend your knees, and pretend a cable is attached to your hips and pulling you forward.
People overestimate the issues of stepping on things. It is just not a problem. Your feet get tougher and you land on things lightly. I am forever landing on rocks and gravel and things, and the knees are bent, so my legs are absorbing the shock and making it smooth and light. It's like floating on water in a way, just amazing. So anything you step on rarely has a chance.
As for the breathing, that requires another explanation. It's been incredible. I have stopped snoring and I am convinced this is a cure for sleep apnea. As well as asthma. And it has resulted in my losing 14 pounds of fat so now I am lean, with no effort on my part at all.
It's like this: a lot of our problems come from hyperventilation. Chronically breathing in too much air. The Bohr effect in our bodies means that we are actually not getting as much oxygen when we hyperventilate, because we need CO2 in our bodies to be at a certain level for our respiration to be efficient.
The breathing exercises are based on the Buteyko method. You do sessions of reduced breathing and you try to breath more shallowly. Basically you try to have a slight feeling of suffocation. This conditions your brain and your body to hyperventilate less.
You measure all this with a "measurement pause." Exhale comfortably. Once you've exhaled, start your stopwatch and hold the exhaled breath. how long can you hold it?
5secs or less = you are very sick
15 secs = you probably have asthma, or sleep apnea or other
25 secs = you are probably healthy but if you have some challenges, you could get additional health problems
40 secs = very healthy
60 secs = incredible
I am in the 17 second range.
What you do is:
1. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS nose breathe. No matter what, NEVER breathe through your mouth. Your nose conditions air, and limits air intake making it harder to hyperventilate. When I lift weights, I nose breathe. When I run, I nose breathe.
2. Every night I tape my mouth closed. The first week, my really bad snoring ended and is gone completely. Night sleeping is a time when most of us hyperventilate. With the tape, I am always nose breathing even at night, minimizing the effects of this. Another great effect is weight loss, but they say if you need to put on weight, you will actually feel hungrier. And I know longer get up 2 - 3 times per night to urinate. It's an effect on the smooth muscles of the urinary tract and is a godsend as I sleep much better.
3. Practice sessions of reduced breathing. I practice 1.5 to 2 hours every day.
This is my worst time of year asthma-wise. I was always on several inhalers and medications and STILL had bad asthma. I haven't taken a single medication or puff of anything for weeks.
While I run, I breathe fairly slowly. I don't run so fast that I have to mouth-breathe. When I stop running, I breathe slowly and that is the key for me to now wheezing after a run. It's that 15 minute period after I stop that I have to breath shallowly and slowly, in order not to have any asthma whatever.
I hope this helps. Happy to answer any questions. I am really a novice at all of this and I would love to learn more.
