Master's Runners: The Old Man Shuffle- how to get rid of it

EZ10Miler wrote:

51 years old, life long runner.

I've developed that old man shuffle. I don't run gracefully, or smoothly at all, even though I can move through the miles around 6:00, I just look really bad doing it. Hardly any back kick, knee drive

What's the cure? Form drills, yoga, more strides after long runs, plyos? All of that?

Basically- yes- all of those.

I'm lucky enough to have a Human Performance Lab run by a good friend. I go twice a week and I notice a difference.

He does a lot of different things that work on my problem areas and core. But stretching and some yoga moves are part of the routine.

Maybe hill repeats? Watching the videos of the USATF Club National XC geezer races, I was struck by how many guys had that "shuffle" stride. Even the faster competitors.

And I know that I look even worse. From the still photos of my last marathon, it's apparent my feet hardly leave the ground (at 7:00/mile pace).

Looks awful, and may well be dangerous, too. Lately I've fallen a number of times because my trailing leg catches the smallest of road pebbles or irregularities. In October, I fell hard onto my knee, and am still recovering from that.

Very similar to OP.

Key issue for me has been very tight hip flexors....too much sitting.

It's taking a long time, but I am slowly loosening them. All the things you mentioned can help.

Once stretched, I will also add downhill running.

Just embrace it.

Not old, but I notice that my form opens up more if I am regularly doing medium-heavy to heavy squats. Another thing that helps is kind of just letting myself go on downhills and not trying to stop myself at all.

Allen1959 wrote:

Maybe hill repeats? Watching the videos of the USATF Club National XC geezer races, I was struck by how many guys had that "shuffle" stride. Even the faster competitors.

And I know that I look even worse. From the still photos of my last marathon, it's apparent my feet hardly leave the ground (at 7:00/mile pace).

Looks awful, and may well be dangerous, too. Lately I've fallen a number of times because my trailing leg catches the smallest of road pebbles or irregularities. In October, I fell hard onto my knee, and am still recovering from that.

I'm all about hill reps.

I assume it's just a product of aging and the lack of flexibility, the cumulative build up of injuries here and there. So one year you hurt a knee, eventually get over it, but you lose some degree of ROM, then a year or two later it's your lower back, so you eventually get over that, but you lose some flexibility there, then it's a hamstring.. eventually you are still moving but you are more like the "winner" of a demolition derby than a formula one.

At 51 I still like to compete, I still like to hit the track and run hard. I'm not content to just go out and shuffle through a daily 3M jaunt around the neighborhood. I just think I need to nip this now before that's all I can do.

It's HARD to incorporate all these extra things into the routine because there is only so much time one can dedicate to running/working out, and if your primary focus is running well- you have to spend a great deal of time doing just that.

You need to do power movements through a full range of motion. Squats, lunges, hills (uphill and downhill). Strides and sprints.

If all you do is shuffle you'll soon only be able to do that.

The whole 180 stride movement is going to produce a huge crop of shufflers when they hit a certain age.

Good advice above...I'd add run steps...skip them. Don't use elevators, use stairs whenever you can and try running up them skipping a step as you do it.

Do the Super Bowl Shuffle. Typically puts you over the top.

William Perry wrote:

Do the Super Bowl Shuffle. Typically puts you over the top.

Hey, I'm not here to start no trouble.

EZ10Miler wrote:

I'm all about hill reps. ....

... I assume it's just a product of aging and the lack of flexibility, the cumulative build up of injuries here and there.

Thinking more about it, hill work probably helps with knee lift, but overall, maybe not the best cure for "the shuffle." Running uphill involves a reduced range of motion. Which is why a 5% treadmill incline allows me to run with a lot less pain, even with my current knee injury (according to my PT).

The suggested squats, lunges and downhill running I suspect may be more effective. None of which I can do at the moment, although I'm working on baby squats with my back against the wall.

You make a good point about the cumulative effect of various injuries. And the importance of maintaining strength and flexibility can't be overstated. At 59, I am much, much weaker than at 50, and I really should have been more proactive this past decade.

At age 47, I have managed to avoid the old man shuffle and keep a nice long and open stride up to this point, but my impression was that it is inevitable and that I will suffer from it at some point.

Despite advice from an expert, I decided against shortening my stride to increase my cadence to 180; had I done that, I would probably get to the shuffle sooner.

I do still work in some fast 200s and 400s (mile pace or, on the 200s, slightly faster) in each training cycle, so I think that helps some with making sure that I am at least capable of keeping an open stride since one of my physical cues on rep work is to feel my heel kicking me in my butt for the first 50-100m of a rep. I don't do strides as often as I should, but I do think that they help in this regard too.

Great question! Studies show older runners lose power and range of motion faster than cadence. I am fanatical about maintaining both, but I'm on my phone waiting to start a group interval workout so I can't type everything I need to say. Basically, it's hill reps as a drill, dynamic drills, and drills WHILE running. I'll explain later.

Ed Whitlock had a shuffle in his endless training loops of the cemetery, but had a wonderful flowing stride when racing. Of course, he was all of about 110 lbs and a bit of a mutant. Some elites have the shuffle even racing, someone mentioned Salazar as a youngster and there is Gabe Jennings and Abdi as well. To a large extent it is genetic I feel.

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_0.666667%2C$width_611%2C$x_64%2C$y_76/t_crop_custom/w_160/q_86%2Cf_auto/f38eb7c6bb7acce432400eae1909b1a2ace6df6f

Garrett Heath shuffles, runs faster than 99% of letsrunners. Doesn't look pretty(to some), but it works.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_RewHJ2EleA&feature=youtu.be

Another factor is using your unique body optimally. Reduce breaking, hip alignment, running tall, use of your entire foot, etc. Over focusing on running volume can produce a lot of bad habits with age.

EZ10Miler wrote:

51 years old, life long runner.

I've developed that old man shuffle. I don't run gracefully, or smoothly at all, even though I can move through the miles around 6:00, I just look really bad doing it. Hardly any back kick, knee drive

What's the cure? Form drills, yoga, more strides after long runs, plyos? All of that?

What's your history with strength training and flexibility? Squats, lunges, step ups, kettlebell swings , trap bar dead lifts? Range of motion in your hips, lower back, and hamstrings obviously can be the culprit too.

The weight you use is all relative so please don't believe if you're not loading the bars it's not providing a benefit. Form is king. How it fits into your weekly regimen is entirely up to you.

I am a huge believer in kettle bell swings though. Amazing for recruiting your lower half, engaging your core and really strengthening your hips and pelvis. A lot of good tutorials on youtube if you're interested.

+1. Much of the shuffle arrives via loss of muscle mass and strength in large muscles that allowed the longer, more powerful strides when young. You can be one tilting at windmills, take "supplements" to maintain mass a little bit longer, join the silliness that is plyo, human performance labs, etc. Or, you can age gracefully and be pleased that you're still out there efforting. That's the important bit. Trying to defy age is a pathetic thing.

Salazar shuffle wrote:

Just embrace it.

Defying age is no different from trying to make gains above "normal" when you are young.

Giving up IS pathetic.