Running Without Using the Muscles in the Lower Legs and Feet

In this blog I’m going to explain how Chi Running eliminates the use the muscles in you lower legs and feet to push you forward when you run. This significantly reduces the amount of running effort required, and also significantly reduces the chance of lower leg injuries. In a separate blog I’ll explain how Chi Running also eliminates the use of the muscles in the upper leg.

In Chi Running your momentum is created by falling forward rather than by using the muscles in your lower legs and feet to push you forward.

Whenever your feet contact the ground during running, the muscles in the lower legs and feet are first used to support your body weight. Then they are used to push your whole body weight forward from the ball of the foot. The amount of muscle effort required to just support your body weight is quite small to that required to push your body weight forward.

If you want to feel the difference just relax all the muscles in the lower legs from the knees down and simply pick up your lower legs and feet from the knees. Now run in place and notice how much more effort is required. This is the extra effort that is eliminated in Chi Running.

To fall forward you first align your posture so you can draw a straight line through the center of your shoulders, hips and ankles. Then you lean your whole posture forward from the ankles with completely relaxed lower legs.

The ankles form a hinge between your aligned posture and your feet. If the muscles in the lower legs and feet are not completely relaxed they tighten this hinge and resist the forward fall.

The concept can be demonstrated using a broomstick. The straight shape of the broomstick represents your aligned posture. The hinge point between the base of the broomstick and the ground represents your ankle. If you can balance the broomstick perfectly vertical it will not move. However, if you lean it slightly it will begin to move by falling.

Now imagine we add a foot to the broomstick. If there is any tension in the lower legs or foot this tension locks the hinge point at the base of the broomstick and the ground (your ankle) and resists the forward fall.

The muscles in your lower legs have to be completely relaxed throughout your whole stride. Any tension in your lower legs or feet resists the forward fall.

Running across sand can be used to visually demonstrate whether or not you use the muscles in your legs and feet to push you forward. If you only support your body weight without pushing forward you create footprints with even depression that result from even pressure throughout the bottom of the foot. If you push forward you’ll see the footprint deepen under the front of the foot resulting from pushing forward from the ball of the foot.

When Chi Running you concentrate on continuously recreating the conditions for the forward fall and forward movement happens as a result. Your concentration is on maintaining aligned posture, relaxed lower legs and feet and leaning your posture in front of your ankles.

Eliminating the use the muscles in you lower legs and feet to push you forward significantly reduces the amount of effort required to run, and significantly reduces the chance of lower leg injuries.