Welcome to Part 3 of our 4-part series on rounded shoulders & performance.  In Part 1 we discussed the 6 movements the shoulders (or scapula) make, the bones & muscles involved, the problems associated with rounded shoulders & a few tests to determine if indeed your shoulders are rounded.  In Part 2 we examined the 3 ways that rounded shoulders negatively affect your hydrodynamics thereby making you a slower swimmer.  (If you missed the videos, go back & take a look!)

• Part 4 will detail solutions to help you straighten up & get faster!

Today’s article will look at how rounded shoulders actually make you a slower runner.  “Crazy!” you say??  Not really.  Read on!

Posture = Power

As in most sports, our ability to go faster is directly related to our ability to generate force.  Running is no exception.  You want to go faster?  You need to figure out how to apply more force to the ground.

There are a several ways to increase your power production ability.  Weight training is one.  Lift more weight & your muscles will get stronger.  Improving your posture is another way.  Here’s how better posture will help you be “stronger”.

 

Rounded Shoulders Make You Run Slower

Improper posture keeps your body from getting into prime power-producing positions.  Here are 3 ways that rounded shoulders will make you run slower:

1. “Hoedown” Arms – The most obvious (it’s so easy to see!) running problem caused by rounded shoulders is an inefficient arm swing.  If you (or someone you love) do the “hoedown” with your arms, you have rounded shoulders…and a power problem.  What’s the “hoedown”?  That’s when the elbows swing outward causing the arms to reach forward & move in front of the body…even crossing over midline.  If our primary goal is to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, then any lateral (side-to-side) movement from body parts will counteract this.  Therefore, we really want arms to swing in the direction of movement.

Training Tip:

Once your shoulders are mobile, think about driving your elbows backwards…like “elbowing” someone directly behind you.  

2. Hips Just Ain’t Right – What do your rounded shoulders have to do with hips?  Let me tell you…lots!  Foward shoulder posture causes a cascade of adjustments as we go down the spine.  One of the more problematic adjustments is that the low back rounds out pulling the pelvis (your hips) backward into posterior rotation.  When hips are posteriorly rotated, their range of motion (ROM) is decreased.  And, when ROM is limited, your ability to produce power is limited.  Remember that one of the key components to faster running is a longer stride length (stride length = distance that 1 foot [either right or left] travels).  If your hips are locked up because of improper posture, there is really no way you’ll be able to PROPERLY increase your stride length.  Note that I said “properly”.  You can actually increase your stride length with posteriorly rotated hips…but that length comes as a result of over-striding (i.e., heel striking).  Since heel striking is essentially a braking force on your forward motion…it’s not an efficient or safe way to try to increase speed!

3. Posterior…What Posterior??!! – Since we’re talking about hip issues, we gotta mention that elephant in the room – your posterior chain.  The biggest problem that rounded shoulders cause is that you can’t access your “posterior chain”.  Your “posterior chain” consists of all the muscles on the backside of your body…most importantly for running your trapezius, glute & hamstring muscles.  Think of your posterior chain as your “powerhouse”.  Fifty percent of your muscle mass resides in your posterior chain & it is critical for moving, balancing & supporting your body.  Let’s go back to those rounded shoulders.  First of all, rounded shoulders mean that your upper back muscles (lats, traps) are weak & stretched out…thus NO POWER.  Second of all, rounded shoulders pull your hips into posterior rotation (see #2) which means that your low back & hammies are weak & stretched out…and your locked hips can’t move through full ROM…thus NO POWER!

To sum it all up…it’s all about posture, posture, posture!  So let’s get to work on straightening up!  Stay tuned for solutions to help you stand tall & get faster!