In this episode of Huberman Lab, host Andrew Huberman and guest Stuart McMillan explore the science behind human movement and running mechanics. McMillan explains how walking, jogging, and running involve distinct gait patterns determined by individual physical factors like limb length and muscle fiber type.
The two discuss exercise techniques like skipping and striding that boost athleticism and prepare the body for sprinting. They delve into optimizing form through proper posture and force application, leveraging targeted strength training to enhance running capabilities. The nature vs. nurture debate surrounding athletic potential is also explored, examining the roles of genetics and environmental influences in shaping performance.
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Stuart McMillan explains that walking is the default gait pattern involving a heel-to-toe motion optimized for energy efficiency at slower speeds. As speeds increase, jogging emerges with a forceful upright stride, followed by sprinting with a front-weighted stride that maximizes force and minimizes contact time.
McMillan emphasizes that no single "correct" running form applies universally. An individual's unique limb lengths, joint mobility, muscle fiber types, and other factors govern their optimal gait mechanics and coordination between foot, knee, and hip. He suggests tailoring training to leverage each athlete's strengths.
Huberman and McMillan highlight skipping as an effective plyometric exercise boosting coordination, power, and athleticism. McMillan advises incorporating skipping's bouncy, full-body movement into warmups or as a standalone intense workout.
Striding, running at 75-95% max speed, helps develop efficient sprint mechanics while mitigating injury risk. McMillan and Huberman suggest progressing from skipping to striding to prepare the body for high-intensity running.
Efficient running requires upright posture, knee drive, and coordinated counter-oscillation between pelvis and shoulders, McMillan notes. Rapid foot force application and full hip extension are crucial for propelling the runner.
McMillan recommends isometric and unilateral exercises mimicking sprint demands over traditional bilateral lifts as athletes progress. Plyometrics and resisted acceleration work are also beneficial for developing running-specific strength and explosiveness.
According to McMillan, heritable traits like muscle fiber type and limb proportions significantly impact athletic capabilities. He notes the exceptional speed and power of West African and Jamaican athletes due to genetic advantages.
McMillan also cites environmental factors like training opportunities, cultural sports systems, and athlete nurturing playing a role in unlocking athletic potential. While genetics provide an entry point, embracing one's uniqueness remains key to elite performance.
1-Page Summary
In the biomechanics of human movement, understanding gait patterns and the unique characteristics and purposes behind them is crucial for optimizing performance and ensuring health in motion-related activities.
Stuart McMillan explains that walking is the first gait pattern we learn and involves a heel-to-toe motion that is the default up to about 2 to 2.3 meters per second. This walking pattern, where the heel strikes first, rolls over the foot, and toes off, is optimized for energy efficiency at slower speeds. Individuals, without conscious effort, self-organize into this stable and efficient mechanical solution for walking.
McMillan critiques the unnatural, constrained posture people often adopt while walking and using their phones, suggesting that an overly flexed posture is not how we're meant to walk. Naturally, our bodies are built to rotate and bend, involving the pelvis, shoulders, and spine. The coordination between shoulders and hips during walking is an example of the body's intrinsic tendency for natural movement.
As walking becomes inefficient at higher speeds, jogging emerges as the next gait pattern. Jogging is a different gait pattern that occurs at around 20% of maximum sprint speed. During jogging, there's a transition to a forceful, more upright stride that facilitates running propulsion.
McMillan and Huberman suggest that foot strike in running should be dictated by speed rather than a preoccupation with heel or toe-striking, unless specifically advised by a coach to address a problem. The suggestion is to think about being flat-footed, allowing the foot to naturally adjust with the velocity.
No single "correct" running form applies to all individuals. The motor strategy adopted by a person for walking, jogging, or sprinting is dependent on individual physical characteristics, including limb lengths, joint mobility, muscle fiber types, and an assortment of other factors like genetics and development.
Each person's structure determines their most efficient and stable gait pattern, with unique coordination between the foot, knee, and hip. McMillan emphasizes that each individual has unique action capabilities which should govern how they move. He advises against trying to replicate the ...
Gait Patterns and the Biomechanics of Human Movement
Skipping and striding are two fundamental plyometric exercises that not only serve as effective warm-up routines but also play a crucial role in improving overall athletic performance.
Skipping is much more than a playground activity—it's a plyometric exercise that can boost power, speed, coordination, and has a positive impact on the muscular, fascial, and nervous systems.
Andrew Huberman and Stuart McMillan highlight the comprehensive benefits of skipping. It’s compared to sprinting due to its demands on coordination patterns, tissue, and joints. Skipping promotes a knee-behind-butt pattern crucial for athletic movements. McMillan appreciates skipping's plyometric nature that allows for freshness in each repetition. Huberman points to the postural benefits and how it contributes to a good mood after the workout.
Skipping serves as an excellent inclusion in warmup routines or general fitness workouts. Huberman discusses its accessibility and utility in enhancing warmups, while McMillan suggests incorporating it into jogs. They discuss skipping at higher intensities, transforming it into a beneficial standalone workout within a plyometric training session. A quality skipping workout can involve intense 50-meter skips followed by resting walks.
McMillan describes the ideal skipping motion as big, free, open, and bouncy, requiring more than mere ankle flexion—it needs full body movement. Skipping correctly is likened to bouncing on a trampoline. The foot should remain stiff, with the bounce coming from the base of the toes. McMillan encourages fun and expression in skipping to capture the form correctly.
Striding, running at 75 to 95% of one's maximum sprint speed, constitutes an intermediate gait between running and sprinting that helps refine sprint mechanics without excessive strain.
McMillan explains the significance of striding—it helps develop efficient ...
Benefits and Best Practices of Skipping and Striding
Experts like Andrew Huberman and Stuart McMillan delve into how optimizing body positioning and strength training can greatly enhance running efficiency and speed.
Running efficiently requires precise coordination, as McMillan notes, where pelvis and shoulders counter-oscillate in a cross-body movement that extends to all gait patterns. This intrinsic coordination is key for optimizing limb positioning and force application, making each step as effective as possible.
A vital component of efficient running is maintaining an upright posture, which Huberman compares to being pulled up by a string from one's head. It is essential to bring the knee up to about waist height or belly button height to ensure proper power transfer during each stride. McMillan warns against reaching with the front leg and emphasizes the role of knee drive in optimizing power transfer for sprinting.
McMillan points to the "pop" sound of elite sprinters' steps as evidence of their effective force application, a hallmark of their efficiency. He stresses the importance of being strong, stiff, and rigid through the foot-ankle complex at impact for maximum force application. Huberman and McMillan also discuss the difference between striding and sprinting, with elite sprinters adding a secondary mass to the spring-like motion for a harder strike to the ground.
Hip extension plays a crucial role in achieving effective sprinting. McMillan details how limiting the time the knee is behind the body can reduce ground contact time and increase speed. Exercises like skipping, which promote hip extension, are beneficial for enhancing limb positioning for running.
McMillan stresses the importance of isometric exercises that mimic sprinting demands, including those where the foot is directly beneath the body with a slight bend in the knee and hip. As runners become faster, McMillan suggests a shift towards more sport-specific training, moving away from bilateral lifts to exercises like trap bar deadlifts for neural drive purposes.
Huberman mentions using staggered stance lifts to build core stability, as switching feet during sets can help with running gait. ...
The Science of Running Mechanics and Form
The podcast delves into the enduring debate of nature versus nurture in athletic performance, examining the role of genetics and environment in shaping athletes.
Stuart McMillan discusses how heritable physical traits influence athletic performance. He explains that short calf bellies with longer tendons are beneficial for faster running and better jumping because a longer tendon has more effective plyometric properties, allowing an athlete to store and release energy more effectively. Muscle fiber types and other genetic traits also significantly impact an athlete's movement and capabilities.
McMillan highlights the athletic dominance of individuals with West African and Jamaican heritage in speed and power sports. As a telling statistic, McMillan points out that nearly every athlete who has run under ten seconds in the 100-meter dash is of West African descent or Jamaican, with very few exceptions coming from other racial backgrounds.
McMillan discusses the limited impact that training can have without a certain genetic endowment. He suggests that while training methods such as jump squats and hurdle hops can improve an athlete's reactivity, there’s a ceiling to improvements if certain innate physical attributes are not present.
The podcast also covers environmental influences on sports excellence. McMillan points to the specific district in Kenya where a high percentage of male athletes have run marathons under 2 hours and 10 minutes, attributing their success to rigorous training regimens and environmental factors. He notes the significant difference that opportunities such as sponsorship and support can make for young, talented athletes from certain countries.
Andrew Huberman and Stuart McMillan address how different national soccer teams, such as those from Brazil and Argentina, play in distinctive ways that reflect their cultural approaches to the sport. McMillan emphasizes the importance of a unified system of play within a country's culture to help produce ex ...
The Nature vs. Nurture Debate in Athletic Performance
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