Make sure that you have first perfected the infant development patterns that I talked about a few months ago. You must remember that these are a prerequisite to being able to walk before you run and sprint properly.
There are often imbalanced side to side in the body and this is why people notice when they walk that one leg turns out, one arm swings more than another, one leg steps more or even that a shoe has a different wear pattern than another. All of these must be addressed and you should seek out a C.H.E.K Practitioner or highly skilled physical therapist to have these addressed to truly address any problems with your gait patterns.
Walking
During walking one foot must always remain on the ground. Anything more and you move on to running. I listed some of the problems associated with any form of gait in the previous paragraph, but let’s make that a little more complete so you can understand all of what can be going on when moving from one place to another.
- Stride Length
- Pronation (assessing lower extremity, not just foot)
- Hip Rotation/Out Toeing
- Trendelenburg
- Arm Swing
- Shoe Wear
Running
During running there are brief periods where both feet are off of the ground. This is done at a higher speed than walking and because of this causes more force. Running can be done in straight lines forward, around turns, cutting sharply and backward. All of the problems identified in walking are amplified here because of the increased intensity.
Sprinting
When it comes to being able to perform normally as a human sprinting is something that I feel we should still be able to do at any age. It is a form of running near or at top speed for shorter distances. I feel that it has tremendous importance because it would have still allowed us to escape dangerous situations in the past no matter what our age. We did not have time to warm up to not pull a muscle so our bodies had to be performing optimally. Even if you are not ready to do this right now, I encourage you to start building sprints into your life.
There you have it. A brief introduction to all of the Primal Pattern Movements as I have learned by Paul Chek. I look forward in the future to going into greater specifics on each to give you a greater understanding of how to use them for yourself.
Have a Great Day!
Nick Horowski