Master of your own physiology

You don’t need perfect mechanics to win. Look at these fine gents and take note.

On the left we have Kenensia “Canny” Bekele, world and Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder, who sat back as Mo Farah and Haile Gebrselassie set the pace for most of the race, and then sprinted at the end and won by 1 second. Note the crossover and lack of space between his thighs. Note also the internal tibial torsion of the left tibia and slight head tilt to the right.

In the middle is Mo Farah, the current 10,000 meter Olympic and World champion and 5000 meter Olympic, World and European champion. look at the pelvic dip on the right..and the valgus angle of the left knee…and external tibail torsion of the left tibia…and the differing arm swing (right side abducted).

Finally, on the right,  we have Haile Gebrselassie, an Ethiopian like Bekele, who won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 meters and four Wld Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon.  At 40, he is the eldest of the group, with his right lower extremity external tibial torsion and subtle dip of the left pelvis on right sided weight bearing.

So What? All these great athletes have mastered their own physiology and overcome any biomechanical faults they may appear to have. Could they be faster? Maybe. We think so.

Your body will find a way to compensate. That does not mean you will be slower. It means, like each of these men, that you will probably be injured at some point.

In the words of Big Z from Surf’s Up “Winners find a way”. You can too and so can your clients and athletes. Skill, endurance and strength. The big 3. Make sure you an the folks you care for have them.

We are The Gait Guys. Teaching you more with each post we write and helping you sort through the sea of information out there.