A Device That Makes Running Faster and Easier

Recently, Rezvan Nasiri, a graduate student at the Cognitive Systems Laboratory at the University of Tehran in Iran, began to wonder about running. A competitor in judo, Mr. Nasiri was jogging one evening to try to maintain his weight for an upcoming meet when he began to pay close attention to his stride.

“I realized that after each ground impact, my legs lost energy,” he says.

This recognition was not really a surprise. Experts in biomechanics long have known that running can be a somewhat wasteful motion. We create energy when we coil our muscles and push off with one leg from the ground and dissipate some of it when our foot returns to the pavement and momentum slightly brakes.

Jogging along, Mr. Nasiri began to consider whether it might be possible to harness some of that squandered energy.

If so, he reasoned, the key would be to work with the hips. Much of the action in running involves our hips, which are far more important during this activity than during walking.

Mr. Nasiri finished his run, returned to the lab the next day and, with the help of several colleagues, began to tinker.

The results of this research were noticed by the New York Times magazine, so much so that the sports department of this magazine devoted a column to reflect the news of this achievement and published this news under the title A Device That Makes Running Faster and Easier.