Hey everybody, we are coming back to our next episode of The
Run Basics Series. This is the first of three more
episodes where we're going to go a little bit deeper into some of
the training errors that were talked about in the Third Run,
Basics episode. And today we are going to dig
into how changing your running mechanics.
Could be something that could lead to some tissue overload and
a potential running related injury.
Remember if you have any further questions on these because they
are really quick. Please feel free to reach out.
Reach out to us at doctors are running.com or through our media
channels on Facebook or Instagram.
We'd love to continue the conversation.
So before we talk about what it means to change your mechanics,
and how that could potentially influence a running related
injury. Let's first get a quick
definition of what I mean by running mechanics.
Really, what I mean is the form that you're running with and so
this is going to include things like the specific joint angles.
That each joint is going through at different parts of your
running cycle. It's going to include things
like, do you land on the Foot or the ball of your foot or do you
first strike with your heel? It's going to have to do with
how much trunk lean you have forward or backwards or to the
side. It's going to have to do with
your neck posture, your core posture, everything.
So running mechanics, ultimately is the form with which you run
and that's going to Encompass, everything from how we control
the top of our head down to where our foot strikes, the
ground. The reason I want to dig into
this stuff a little bit today is that there are a lot of
resources on the Internet or books that have been written
that advocate for specific. Way to run and they encourage
people to change the way that they run to match a specific
form. And while there might be really
good things that can be found within these resources that are
found on the internet or in books that you may have read.
You have to be really thoughtful and careful before jumping in
and completely changing your mechanics.
And here's why when we change our mechanics that's going to
change a lot of forces through the body.
So we're going to do a deep dive probably later on these, but
let's just use an easy one. Where if you're changing from
going to a heel strike to a landing on the forefoot or The
ball of your foot just by simply changing the way that your foot
lands on the ground, you're not just altering where your foot
Landing. You're actually changing every
single Force that's going up through your body.
So the demand on your ankle, the demand on your knee, the demand
on your hip, the demand on your core.
All of those things are changing with just a small change in your
running form. So, if you change that in the
tissues, that you're now putting more Force Through aren't ready
to handle a change. You could be setting yourself up
for a potential. The overload of that tissue.
So, if you're somebody who's running and is not having any
sort of pain and running related injury, I'd be very cautious
about changing your running form.
If changing your running form, is something that you want to
do. It's probably wise to talk to a
physical therapist or running coach or someone who can help
analyze the changes in the demands that are going to be put
on your body, if you do make that change.
And now if you are somebody who does have some form of running
related injury, you're thinking about changing your mechanics.
I would say it's even more. Important to go see someone like
a physical therapist because changing your mechanics in.
The research is actually not shown to be the first best step.
It's actually to look at all the different things that could be
contributing to your pain. So again, proceed with caution,
about changing your mechanics even if you're someone who has
an injury. So here's where I want to land
with this one changing, even a small thing about your running
mechanics, can have huge implications that you may not
know about for the rest of your kinetic chain and other tissues
in your body. So if you are Planning to change
your mechanics. I would consult somebody before
making a huge change and potentially exposing yourself to
some tissue overload. Thanks again for listening.
Just remember that. These are adaptations from
videos that I produce for the clinic that I work at, with our
Runners, it's called point forward physical therapy, and
it's in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
So if you're in Central, Wisconsin and looking for some
help with running, please feel free to contact us at point
forward, physical therapy.com, or you can look us up online and
and find our phone number as well, as on our Facebook page, I
do have these videos up there as well, which has little bit more
information embedded within the videos with some images of the
studies that some of this information is from well, which
has little bit more information embedded within the videos with
some images of the studies that some of this information is from