Maybe it is a stretch to comment on something like this so soon, but the past week has been a revelation for me. I have been running and racing for 35+ years. The past 20 years I have been trying to get the feeling back. I have poor biomechanics which led to a bad back, hips, ect. I am constantly out of whack and have tried everything: chiro, ART, massage, Rolfing, Egoscue, every stretch routine, PT, yet I have imbalances that lead to all sorts of pains and muscle tightnessess. I'll get one great day of running every month or two, a few passible days, but most days are a struggle to move. For the past week I have been trying something very simple and a little different, it is a routine that is supposed to improve your joint mobility and reeducate the nervous system for proper functioning of how the joints work. It is simple routine of joint stretches that move all the joints of the body through their range of motion and reeducate them on the proper movement if they are stuck in bad patterns (my hip, knee, and ankle on one side always felt stuck and thus don't allow proper movement)or it they have lost some of their range of movement.
Anyhow I have felt absolutely great since starting. My mechanics have improved remarkably (bad rotations and twists are lessening, and in particular my muscles no longer have the chronic tightnesses all night and day(particularly the glutes, psoas, QL, and inside hamstring). They feel really light and loose and running is getting fun-I can't wait to get going each day now. I will continue working with this, but it is the best 7 days of running (ease wise as I am not in full training) and just moving through the day that I have had in many years. Besides the better alignment I notice my ankle now is pushing off the ground and extending rather than landing flat and just moving forward, also my shoulders and neck are straightening out and feel much looser like after a massage or rolfing session. I feel I am in control for the first time and not relying on a specialist to put me back in alignment and it all is so easy to do. If you are interested I found out about it here:
http://www.zhealth.net/
I couldn't find too much info online except for some interesting blog entries as it is pretty new. I bought the DVD.
As for other runners using it, this is on their site but I don't know who they are referring to. Any ideas?..."As for endurance athletes, we recently helped a world-class middle distance runner shave nearly a full minute off her 5k time in two weeks of training. (We had her doing only 1 exercise 3x’s a day so it qualifies for the 3 minute rule!) She subsequently made the US World Cross-Country team and placed very highly in international competition." If you want to experiment with something different it may be worth a shot. I would like to know if anyone else has tried Z-health exercises, but I am mightily impressed so far.
I guess to answer your question, "yes, at least for a week I have had that youthful feeling back (I'll be 50 next year)I have always had the energy and desire (I just couldn't get my alignment and stride to work anywhere near correctly. For now I don't feel like my body is fighting itself during the day at work, home, and on the run. Maybe it may work for you. But I thought I'd throw it out there for comments and consideration.
Other than that all the other things I have tried have left me feeling good for short time before they wore off. I think that is because my mechanics never changed and I went back to the same patterns of movement and running (one femur turned in along with a knocked knee but the same foot was everted out and the foot would roll in on itself. Of course my hips would be all out of whack too). Again I am enthusiastic after only a week but I have seen changes that nothing else was doing and I created the changes. So I'll throw it out there in case anyone else has been trying everything else to no satisfaction.