RUNNING THE RISKS OF INJURY
Poor alignment of the hips may be top predictor of problematic mechanics
Shorten your stride. Take your shoes off. Put your shoes on. Lean forward. Straighten up.
If you’re a runner, you’ve probably received all this advice and more, all in the name of keeping injuries at bay. Yet despite the number of tips on how to avoid injury, runners continue to get hurt. Statistics suggest that up to 80 per cent of runners will experience an injury at least once — a number most will tell you is on the low side.
Overuse is often cited as the primary cause, but it’s not unusual to experience pain despite no sudden increase in mileage or frequency, and despite no history of long, gruelling runs. For those runners, faulty mechanics is often suggested as the root of the problem.
Hence the increasingly popular idea that runners need to pay more attention to how they run, as opposed to how often they run.
First, let’s be clear: When it comes to running technique, sprinters don’t look like distance runners. And since most recreational runners train at distances of 5 km and more, we’ll keep the focus to distance runners, each of whom has their own particular signature. I may not know all the runners who cruise the local streets by name, but I can spot them from blocks away by their running style.
According to certified athletic therapist Peter Levidis, how you run is very much a function of your past and present.
Range of motion, prior injury, footwear, posture, muscular strengths and weaknesses all affect your running mechanics. What we don’t know for sure is which movement patterns, if any, are more likely to cause injury.
A research team from the U.K. tackled the problem, studying a group of runners, 72 of whom were injured (28 male, 44 female) and 36 of whom were healthy (15 male, 21 female). Recruited through running clubs and sports injury clinics, they represented the regular Joes and Jills you see running through your neighbourhood. The healthy ones were similar in profile to the injured ones, but had a history of running a minimum of 48 kilometres per week for the past 18 months with no reported injury.
Identifying the most common types of injuries, the researchers subdivided the runners into groups based on non-specific knee pain, iliotibial band syndrome, Achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures and muscle strains. Then they put the study subjects on a treadmill and used a variety of cameras and electrodes to map their running patterns.
Not surprisingly, the injured runners had some identical traits: a more straight-legged heel-first landing pattern, a greater degree of forward trunk lean during mid-stride, and an asymmetrical shift in the alignment of the hips (a lowering of one hip toward the body’s midline). The latter was identified by the researchers “as the most important predictor variable when classifying runners as healthy or injured.”
So strong was the association between poorly aligned hips and injury, it was evident in runners with every type of injury.
Given the information gained from the study, the researchers not only consider the faulty movement mechanics as significantly contributing to running injuries, they also say together the mechanics represent “a pathological running gait.”
What does that mean for runners struggling to come back from an injury, or for those who want to stay injury free?
The first thing you need to do is identify whether you exhibit any of the mechanics identified by the researchers as being associated with increased risk of injury. That means having your stride evaluated by a trained professional.
Levidis gets his runners on the treadmill so he can evaluate them in action, using slowmotion video to capture what he can’t see in real time.
Once he spots the problems, he can address them by shoring up any muscular weaknesses or imbalances, as well as offering cues to modify faulty mechanics.
While runners should seek expertise from a professional who has experience in evaluating running mechanics, here are a few easy tips that can be followed right away.
A long, loping stride typically results in the straight-legged heel-first landing pattern the researchers suggest leads to injury. Concentrate on shortening your stride, keeping your feet underneath you instead of reaching your foot ahead of your hips with every stride.
Keep your upper body tall. Any forward lean should be initiated from the ankles, not the hips. Visualize running with something balanced on your head instead of leading with your forehead.
As for misaligned hips, that usually requires the help of a skilled professional to diagnose and fix the problem, which is often related to weak hip stabilizers.
That said, ask a fellow runner to watch you run head-on, paying special attention to any lateral movement of the knee as the foot travels from first strike to midstride.
If they spot anything, find a qualified professional who evaluates runners in action, to help improve your mechanics. Your body will thank you.
Range of motion, prior injury, footwear, posture, muscular strengths and weaknesses all affect your running mechanics.