If you’re serious about CrossFit, you’re going to find yourself running up or down a hill at some point—perhaps at the CrossFit Games in Aromas, Calif. But how do you scale a hill quickly and efficiently?
According to Dr. Nicholas Romanov, inventor of the Pose Method, you only think about two things: falling and pulling. Stride length is completely irrelevant on a hill, and Dr. Romanov recommends athletes use his techniques to “fall forward” while pulling their feet off the ground. Gravity should take care of the rest.
Oddly enough, uphill running is easier because it forces heel strikers to inadvertently correct their mechanics and land on the forefoot. When running downhill, you keep your torso more vertical than you would normally with the Pose Method so gravity doesn’t overwhelm you and cause a fall.
The final part is to avoid mechanical and physiological changes due to the anticipation of hard work: see the hill without perceiving it. Then run.
Don’t think. Just run.
Video by CrossFit by Overload.
Additional reading: The Basics of Pose Running Techniques by Brian MacKenzie, published Dec. 1, 2007.