The Jack Nirenstein Gravity Running Technique We all run with the same technique which we learned subconsciously as a
baby. We first learned to balance our upper body directly over our feet to stand in place. We then learned to shift our upper
body ahead of our foot and hop from leg to leg. That led to us being able to walk, run and sprint faster with that same gravity
technique. I discovered the gravity technique we all use and developed it to make us more efficient with it than we can make
it without knowing what we are doing. Here are the three stages we use for running. The first stage is the speed pickup stage
where each step is faster than the previous one. It is impossible to increase speed to get up to a fast steady pace any other
way. The first stage is to pick up speed with each step The feet land behind the upper body's center of balance (approximately
navel high) and keep dropping behind until you change to a steady pace. You can feel it dropping behind, but it is hard to
see.
The second stage is a steady pace where the feet drop out front of the upper body's center of balance
and take off behind
In the steady pace stride there is a slight slowdown when the feet are in the air and
more at landing behind the vertical line of gravity. Then there is a speedup when the upper body's center (yellow dot) passes
the vertical line of gravity. Dropping the feet as little ahead as possible will hold the pace steady. It is hard to see that
the steady pace is forward weighted and off balance for gravity to keep you running. Tilting the
upper body is not a
lean for speed because the center of balance (yellow dot) does not shift. The balance only changes by the slant of the leg.
Animals run the same way humans do with gravity as the only exerted force. At a steady pace the feet land our front of the
vertical line of gravity and take off behind. The Third stage of running is the slowdown stage where the feet land far out
front and take off less out front. I taught my running technique to a high school cross country runner, Donald Stouffer. He
never trained as a sprinter because he was not fast enough. Three weeks after my lessons he entered in four events in one
day for his high school team, North Myrtle Beach High in South Carolina. He swept all four events including the mile relay
in which he ran the fourth leg. When he got the baton the sprinter from another team.
If the cheetah and girl pictured below were toys they would fall forward all the way down ahead of the grounded foot.
They are alive so they can jump and gravity will pull them straight ahead. While they are jumping their foot/feet are still on the ground at an angle to
gravity so they get pulled ahead because gravity will not let them stand still off balance.
