Does Running cause running injuries?

Sunday, November 22, 2015 · Mike Davis

As much as we all love to run, most of us have had that passion tested by having to deal with an injury. Facts have shown that 2 out of every 3 runners will be fallen with an injury that will force them to the sidelines for an extended period of time. It would be easy and might I say even say lazy to believe that running injuries are simply caused by “running.” This brilliant deduction is also verbalized by many non-runners who commonly state that “running is bad for the knees,” and want people to believe that knowledge is why they will not run. If you have spent any time with a No Finish Line Running certified coach or sat down with a cup of coffee over my chat, you would know that we do not believe that “running” is the cause of most “running injuries.” “Balancing the Hips” “As with the majority of skeletal joints, the hip is acted by a number of antagonistic muscle groups, working in pairs to create and control opposite actions. When these parts are working in balance with one another, the hip generally functions well. However when an imbalance occurs, injury often follow.” (The Complete Running and Marathon Book) Some simple jargon there from a great resource and one of many that No Finish Line Running utilizes. It is safe to say that from day one when working with runners, we put a lot of emphasis on “balancing the hips” through strengthening and improved range of motion. Simple as having a runner stand on one foot and seeing how long they can balance while maintaining their posture. Running is simply going from single foot to single foot and if a runner cannot maintain hip stability while simply standing, the possibility for injury becomes greater if not already happening. One of the exercises we often direct is have the runner stand on a single foot when brushing their teeth. Changing feet when you move from the upper teeth to the lower. This simple exercise can be the beginning of “balancing the hips.” If you try this yourself, be careful not cause injury by losing balance and poking yourself with your tooth brush! We try to work our runners from the simplest to the most challenging and let their progress be determined by their individual improvement. Even I often have to go back to simply standing on one foot for a while before I can get back to adding a little squat to that knee. “Balancing the hip” are critical for runners and even non-runners. Without going into all the antagonistic muscle groups, it is easy to understand that if any are not functioning correctly, we will not have “balanced hips.” Then you add any type of repetitive motion (such as running) and the probability of injury is greater. The activity is not the cause but, the repetitiveness of the activity helps to expose the actual problem. This is why “just” taking an anti-inflammatory and doing nothing else is not a good choice for dealing with an injury. While taking an inti-inflammatory may help to ease the inflammation, it will not strengthen an antagonistic muscle group. Injuries that come with running in most cases are the result of muscle weaknesses, range of motion or improper training. The best strategy is to be proactive and learn about your body before putting a lot of miles on it. Understanding your feet and hips before you put excessive pressure on them will go a long way to avoiding injuries. Poor training is a whole other topic for another day. While there are multiple areas on our body that we can address when we our fallen by an injury, we at NFLR typically focus on our runners feet, legs and hips. Because we are certified running coaches and not medical experts we also only limit our assistance to strengthening, stretching, footwear and definitely not injury diagnosis. However, thanks to our Medical Motion Gait Analysis system we have the unique capability of narrowing down the various functions of a runner and using that knowledge to offer some specific target areas for improved strengthening or range of motion (stretching). If a runner has an injury that is at an appropriate level that requires more of a medical professional, we have a partnership with a physical therapist that will offer advice. Ultimately if the level of the injury requires we will encourage our runners to go see a doctor for more in depth help. 2 in 3 runners will continue to experience injuries and sadly that number could be far less if we approached running with a greater respect for our bodies. Instead we tend to run first and then are reactive to the results on our bodies. We need to change our approach and then the results would change in many cases. Much like the old saying “Putting the cart in front of the horse.” Running is not the cause of most running injuries. Hope you have a great Sunday! See you on the roads! God Bless! Mike