Matt Metzgar: Deceleration

Matt Metzgar: Deceleration

July 16, 2011

Deceleration

I wanted to throw out some wild speculation about running. Sometimes you see a runner with good form and posture lose that posture when they start to decelerate. An example would be a baseball player racing to first base. After they hit the bag, some players kind of let their bodies go and their limbs flail a bit. Another example would be a runner hits the finish line and then loses his posture for the next few meters or so.

I wonder if this deceleration period has a greater potential for injury. During the high-speed running, the core is probably engaged and therefore the body is protected to some degree. But if that protection is disengaged immediately after the goal is reached, there may a be a brief window where injuries are more likely.

Posted at 10:36 AM in Exercise | Permalink

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Comments

josh said...

I own CrossFit NYC, and get to see a huge number of athletes at all levels working hard.

There, I've anecdotally noticed exactly this sort of effect on the deadlift - atheles tends to use their best form through the majority of a set, yet a sizeable percentage then go totally limp while lowering the weight at the end of the set.

Inevitably, it's in that poor form, no core engagement final movement that they end up tweaking their backs.