How’s Your Push Off Part I?

I bet you’ve never heard this question before, but improper or poor push off is one of the most common issues I see with runners that walk through my door. Most of the time they either cut this part of their stride short or they use improper muscles to achieve push off. So why is push off important? To really understand this question, we need to have a really quick discussion about gait (basically your running stride). Gait basically consists of two parts, the stance and swing phases. The stance phase is the part of gait where your foot is in contact with the ground. The swing phase is the part where your leg is in the air. For this post we are just going to discuss the stance phase.

The stance phase of gait can be broken down further. For the reason of this discussion I am going to oversimplify my explanation of this phase of gait. Picture yourself running, imagine you have just stepped forward with your right leg and you are about the strike the ground with your right foot. In general, your foot will land slightly in front of your body. As you move from this foot strike position to the point where your leg is directly under your body (mid-stance), you are in the energy storage phase of gait. Basically, when you strike the ground, the ground strikes back with the same force. Yes, I just made you think back to high school physics. Are you trying to figure out which one of Newton’s law this is? I’ll save you the time it took me to look it up, it’s his third law. Anyway, back to our gait discussion. So during this energy storage phase, the force being driven into your leg from the ground is stored in the elastic tissues in your leg (your muscles and tendons).

Now, from the point where your leg is directly under you (midstance), until the point where you push off (toe off phase) you are in the energy releasing phase. All of the force that was driven into your leg from the ground is released from your tendons and delivered back into the ground. Are you starting to see why it would be important to have a strong and effective push off? If you can’t effectively push off, you are leaving a lot on the table performance wise and you are likely running with some compensatory mechanics. Now that you understand the importance of having a good push off let’s discuss what you need for a good push off.

So what is required for a strong, effective push off? Well, there are two main things: (1) hip extension flexibility and (2) gluteus maximus (booty) and hamstring strength/control. We are going to discuss number 1 in this post and will get to number 2 in the next. So, what do I mean by hip extension flexibility? This means having the flexibility to bring your leg behind your body. You might be surprised, but a lot of people have difficulty getting their leg behind their body. Why does this happen? I want you to think about what you do during the day. Do you spend a fair amount of time sitting? I would bet you do. I know I spend a lot more time sitting than I would like to each day. So why is this important? It all has to do with your iliopsoas (hip flexor muscle). This muscle runs from the side of your spine to the top of your femur (upper leg bone). So, when you’re sitting your hip flexor is in a shortened position; it’s not stretched out like it is when you’re standing. Over time, as you sit day after day, your hip flexor gets used to being in a shortened position and becomes so tight you lose the ability to move your hip behind your body. You run into a mechanical stop that prevents you from moving your hip back, no matter how strong the muscles on the back your hips are. What’s worse is if you continue trying to extend your hip in this situation you will generally compensate with other muscles that are not made to do this job. One of the most common ways people do this is by overusing their low backs.

Let’s get to the important question: how do I know if this is my problem? The best way to find out would be to undergo a gait evaluation, however I know this is not an option for everyone, so I will share a simple clinical test which comes out of Jay Dicharry’s Running Rewired book. To do this test, you will need to get into a half kneel or lunge position in a doorway. Make sure your back is flat against the wall and that your leg is directly under or slightly behind your body. Perform a posterior pelvic tilt by tucking your hips under you. You should feel your black fully flatten against the doorway. Do you feel a good stretch in the front of your hip? If you do, your hip flexor muscles are probably too tight. If you don’t feel a stretch, good for you, this isn’t your problem. 

So, if the front of your hip feels tight, what do you do? The answer is simple. Get in the same position you were in to test for hip flexor tightness. Perform a posterior pelvic tilt until you feel a stretch in the front of your hip and then hold this position for 60 seconds. Repeat this simple exercise 3 times, one or two sessions per day, until you no longer feel a stretch. When hip flexor tightness is a problem for you and is limiting your ability to push off, this is a really simple way to start addressing the problem. If you have tightness, continue to work on this until our next post where we will address the second common issue limiting your push off: lack of hip extensor control or strength.