As a newbie to fell racing, i've noticed a particular technique many people use when the terrain gets especially steep. This is, when reduced to a walking pace, the hands are places on the knees.
What is the benefit of this technique?
Thankyou
As a newbie to fell racing, i've noticed a particular technique many people use when the terrain gets especially steep. This is, when reduced to a walking pace, the hands are places on the knees.
What is the benefit of this technique?
Thankyou
Takes some of the load off the thigh muscles as using your hands on your knees allows you to use your upper body weight and arm strength to push down via the knees to aid upward progress. It's all about preserving the legs for those downhill gallops after the uphill struggle.
Something like that anyway...
It's just somewhere to put your hands.
or your knees.
like FFTF said, it's about spreading the load away from just your legs - and not just the muscles, the main reason I do it is to keep the strain off my dodgy knees
after Three Shires recently, my calfs did ache, but so did my biceps and back!
Scramble the rock face through the glare of morning sun — to run
Thanks for all the responses.
I seem to find myself running, be it very small steps, up the steep bits that most people walk up.....am i wasting my energy too much doing so then?
My weakness is downhill, can't seem to run as fast downhill than others....maybe its technique, but my back and general abdomen area kills when i go fast downhill. Being nearly 6ft 5 aint really helping i guess also!
Everyone has their own technique. There was an article in the Spring 2008 edition of The Fellrunner about a study of ascending technique (including the 'hands on knees' method) but the results were inconclusive. A clubmate of mine who hates hills uses the very small steps method and has twice come past me towards the end of the Beachy Head marathon using it.
I'll always tend to use the short fast step method as I find it easier to get running again if I don't stop running... good piece of advice I read somewhere was, "If you think you need to take two steps, take three".... you need to experiment as to what works for you though.
I found that when I used to try running up hills other people would walk past me . I couldn't beat them so I joined them . When I'm training I try to mix it up and do a bit of hands on knees walking , straight back walking and running .
Get a single-speed, it'll make you stronger for running uphill!
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