Japan Female Marathoners While Mizuki Matsuda and Homani Maeda finished #1 and #2 at the 2018 Osaka Women s Marathon, their times are ranked #32 and #60 internationally this year. Their prospects of winning the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women s marathon look bleak. This is not due to lack of fitness, coaching, strength or motivation. Both runners have very inefficient running strides and restricted breathing. Once their inefficiencies and restrictions are corrected, they will be able to place #1 and #2 at the Tokyo 2020 women s marathon. Mizuki Matsuda Compared to elite marathoners, Matsuda has small Stride Angles. The Stride Angle is the maximum opening between the front and trailing upper leg, usually around toe-off. Our research has found that the stride length increases or decreases 2% for every one degree of change in the Stride Angle. Somax increases the Stride Angle by releasing microfibers (mild scar tissue) in the connective tissue between the muscles. This has allowed our runners to effortlessly increase their stride length and speed. Stride Angle Matsuda has Stride Angles of 95º on her right side, but only 63º on her left side. This means her stride length on her left side is 64% shorter than her right side. Her composite Stride Angle of 79º means she her stride length is 52% shorter than Samuel Wanjiru.
Somax has improved the Stride Angle far beyond what stretching or strength training can do by releasing microfibers that are restricting the legs, shoulders and hips. Trunk Angle
The Trunk Angle is how much the runner leans forward while running. Matsuda has a Trunk Angle of 0º, compared to Dennis Kimetto with a Trunk Angle of 12º. Toe Lift Lifting the toes while running creates soreness, fatigue and shin splints in the lower legs. Efficient runners like Eliud Kipchoge have no Toe Lift. Cross Over Angle Crossing the legs over toward the midline is the main cause of running injuries as it increases pronation as the foot contacts the ground. It also contributes to fatigue in the legs. Efficient marathoners like Haile Gebrselassie had very cross over. Maeda crosses over 10º on her right side and 4º on her left side. Gebrselassie crossed over only 2-3º.
Somax reduces the Cross Over Angle in runners by releasing microfibers in the connective tissue between the muscles. As the Cross Over Angle is reduced, so are chronic injuries and leg fatigue.
Chest Expansion Female marathoners have a disadvantage compared to men because their lungs are 25% smaller, which means they take in less oxygen with each breath. But this disadvantage can be compounded by sit-ups, school backpacks, illness and impacts that produce tension and microfibers that restrict chest and stomach expansion. One sign of restricted chest expansion is that the chest is narrow from front to back. Matsuda has restricted chest expansion. Elite marathoners like Gebrselassie have large, deep chests for maximum oxygen. Somax runners have typically cut a minute per mile or more off their running pace after increasing their chest expansion and Stride Angle. Matsuda s narrow, restricted chest is due to excessive sit-ups that have created tension and microfibers in her stomach muscles, which restrict the expansion of her stomach and
chest when she breathes, reducing her oxygen intake during competition. You can plainly see the results in her pronounced stomach muscles in the photo on the right. Stomach muscles only stand out like this as a result of tearing individual muscle fibers and the subsequent formation of microfibers as the result of excessive sit-ups. A college swimmer whose coach had the entire team doing excessive sit-ups reduced her time by 5% after we increased her stomach expansion from 0cm to 5cm by releasing the tension and microfibers caused by sit- ups. A college athlete increased his lung capacity from 3.22 liters to 4.3 liters (a 33% increase) after we doubled his chest expansion from 5cm to 10cm. Another college athlete reduced her 10K pace by 1 ½ minutes per mile after we released microfibers in her stomach and chest. After Somax increased the chest expansion of soccer player Preki from 1.2cm to 12cm, he went from playing the bench to leading his team to the national championship. Soccer players typically run 10 kilometers during a match. The improvement in chest size and expansion with the Somax Microfiber Reduction program is apparent in these before and after photos. Before Somax After Somax
Sit-ups reduce breathing efficiency and oxygen intake by restricting the expansion of the stomach and chest while breathing. By opposing the work of the diaphragm, they also contribute to diaphragm fatigue. The stomach, diaphragm and chest expansion of all runners should be measured and maintained at 20% of each circumference. Sit-ups, pushups, bench presses, pull-ups, crunches and core work all restrict oxygen intake in athletes. Honami Maeda Stride Angle Compared to elite marathoners, Maeda has very small Stride Angles, with only 77º on her right side and only 56º on her left side. This not only means her stride length is 64% shorter than Dennis Kimetto, but she must also take many more strides to keep up with her competitors, which increases her vertical distance. Toe Lift Maeda lifts her toes while running, which increases tension, stress and shin splints on her lower legs. Efficient runners like Eliud Kipchoge do not lift their toes.
Trunk Angle Like Matsuda and other Japanese marathoners, Maeda runs upright with a 0º Trunk Angle. Sprinters reduce their Trunk Angle to 0º after crossing the finish line in order to slow themselves down. Japanese runners and their coaches do not realize that by running upright, Japanese runners are slowing themselves down. Increasing their Trunk Angle will improve their speed by reducing overstride.
Cross Over Angle Maeda crosses her right leg over 10º and her left leg over 4º. Cross-over is the main cause of stress and injury to the ankles, knees and hips in runners, and also prematurely fatigues the legs. Durable elite marathoners like Haile Gebrselassie had minimal cross over. Chest Expansion Marathoners are not only limited by their fitness (VO2max) but also their chest and stomach expansion. Any restriction to the expansion of the stomach or chest will reduce the amount of oxygen going to the muscles. Runners with optimum expansion have a 20% expansion rate at the chest and stomach. A runner with a 96cm chest will expand 19.2cm. The largest chest expansion we have measured is 23cm. Female marathoners are more at risk for restricted chest expansion due to their 25% smaller lungs than men. They also carried backpacks (randoseru) to school every day which have been shown by researchers around the world to reduce lung capacity up to 40%. Maeda s chest does not appear to be as restricted as Matsuda s but should be measured for expansion as it is not as deep as Gebrselassie s.
Microfiber Reduction Improves Self-Confidence, Perseverance and Dominance Psychologists tested runners before and after their Somax program with the Adjective Check List--a list of several hundred adjectives where each runner checked off those adjectives that applied to themselves. They were also given the test a second time both before and after their Somax program with instructions to check off those adjectives that described their Ideal Self. The results stunned the psychologists as they had never seen so much improvement in the psychological literature or in their own practice. There were huge improvements in self-confidence, perseverance, personal adjustment and dominance, with equally large drops in defensiveness, abasement and deference. Here are the before and after graphs of one of the female runners. You can see she realized her ideal self in just a few weeks. The Somax Microfiber Reduction not only improves the body, it also improves the spirit. By releasing microfibers that are restricting the expansion of the stomach, diaphragm and chest, it increases vital capacity and the flow of oxygen 24 hours a day. Since the brain uses 10X more oxygen than any other part of the body, it is the first to respond to any increase in oxygen intake. Optimizing expansion of the three breathing ranges optimizes brain oxygen. The tests show that the brain responds in so many positive ways that are beneficial to improving sports performance. Improving self-confidence and dominance, especially when competing against foreign athletes, will aid female Japanese marathoners in their determination to win medals for Japan in 2020.
Conclusion Japan s best female marathoners are currently ranked #32 and #60 in the world today. They cannot hope to make up for their low rankings in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with more fitness, strength, coaching and motivation. What is holding them back is not lack of effort, but poor stride efficiency, stiffness and breathing restrictions caused by microfibers in the connective tissue between their muscles. East Africans dominate distance running because they are more efficient. Their efficiency improves their running economy, so they use less oxygen as they run. When Japanese marathoners improve their efficiency, they will also improve their running economy. Increasing their Stride Angle and chest expansion while reducing their Cross Over and Toe Lift by releasing their microfibers will enable them to help Japan win Gold and Silver Medals at the 2020 Olympic Games. A short video of a Somax session with a runner can be seen at the top of the page at www.somaxsports.com Somax running analysis videos can be viewed at http://www.somaxsports.com/video.php?analysis=running Before and after photos of a soccer player who improved his stride efficiency http://somaxsports.com/clients.php?client=preki Somax Performance Institute 4 Tara Hill Road, Tiburon, CA 94920 01-415-435-9880 bprichard@somaxsports.com