A snowshoe escapade or an experiment in physics?

Posted In: ChiRunning | Fitness | Me | Running divider 2 Comments »

How about both? Since we haven’t had much snow I HAD to head out west to go play in the  fluffy white stuff.

Now let’s just say I’m really looking forward to having some time to walk around in the  woods nearby. Maybe before X-Mas Mother Nature?

Snowshoeing is not easy, especially in heavy and wet snow. But proper technique could really help you, especially if you have to climb and/or you’re a heavy person like me.

By looking at the person ahead of me, I could really see what makes snowshoeing harder, or even easier. Most people are heel strikers when they walk so they carry that technique over to snowshoeing. The majority of heel strikers use their hips as pendulums and thus “carry” their feet forward for propulsion.

In ChiRunning we talk about bending your knees and relaxing your ankles so your toes are pointing down as you step forward. This makes you especially more efficient  especially when you’re snowshoeing through the snow as you’re not carrying extra tension or kicking up snow to your butt.

A lot of the ChiRunning principles such as cadence, posture and relaxation help with snowshoeing as well. As always, it’s all about knowing what you’re doing out there.

Try heel striking when you’re snowshoeing and let me know how that goes for you!

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This week’s entry into the Mad Trapper Series might be a trail run as opposed to a  snowshoe race but it should be fun regardless.

If you’re in the Ottawa area and you like the outdoors, I would highly recommend checking  out the series. I always say it’s some of the funnest (yes, that’s a word) activities you can do in the winter!

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