IMPROVE YOUR RUNNING FORM

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IMPROVE YOUR RUNNING FORM
http//www.virtualphysicaltherapists.com/
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Running is one of the most powerful actions to
treat the stresses of everyday life, increase
your overall physical and mental well-being,
improve your sleep quality, and, most
importantly, realize your abilities and discover
more about yourself. Improvements in your running
form will aid in achieving your performance goals
and reduce your chances of injury.
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Once you get the running bug, you want to learn
how to improve your time and distance. Runners
all aim for a faster pace, a farther distance,
and the ability to do well in the next race. Too
often, runners push themselves and fall victim to
injury because they ignore their bodys signals
of overuse. Youd be surprised how much the way
you run affects whether or not youll end up with
an injury. Making minor corrections can have a
significant impact on preventing possible
injuries in the future.
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Running Injuries Poor Running Mechanics Running
injuries are usually the result of overtraining
and inadequate rest, followed by poor running
mechanics. Running forms vary from person to
person. Variability is normal and healthy as the
body adapts to underlying imperfections to aid in
return to homeostasis. There are Olympic
qualifiers with poor running forms, but if it
works for them and they are injury-free, changing
may only lead to more bad than good
reactions. If you are putting in mileage and
able to increase your intensity free of injury,
then there is no need to change or alter
something that is working. But if youre having
pain or run at a high level, your mechanics
should be assessed as minor tweaks in your form
can make dramatic improvements. There is no
perfect running form, but there are ways to
optimize performance and prevent injury with good
posture and proper stride.
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To Improve Your Running Form Start with Your
Posture Americans spend too much time slouched
over smart devices, leading to postural changes
affecting our daily activities, including
running. We have all seen runners whose heads are
extremely forward and shoulders rounded, knees
drop inward, have excessive pronation, or trunks
that sway from side to side these are not the
best way to propel energy forward, and instead,
the unnecessary movements over time lead to joint
and muscle damage. Running causes a reactional
force every time your foot meets the ground.
Depending on mechanics and performance, that
force can look different from person to person.
When your foot hits the ground, the body absorbs
energy from that contact force. With proper
loading and alignment, your body can release
energy to maximize power and propulsion and
minimize stress on your joints and ligaments.
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Improve Your Running Form Outlined below are
seven areas to improve your running form. 1. Good
posture Good posture or column building Your
back and head should be straight and facing
forward with your ears over your shoulders, and
your hips, knees, and ankles should be in the
same plane.
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• Why? Poor posture puts extra stress on the neck,
  shoulders, back, and even your knees and ankles.
  When your head is forward, you are out of
  alignment, and running will cause a jarring and
  often pain in your neck and upper trap regions.
  When your back is rounded (like you are still in
  slouched sitting), this causes your center of
  gravity to be too far forward. If your back goes
  the opposite way and arches inward too much, your
  body weight tends to shift back, making you more
  prone to overstriding. Knees that are tilted
  inward (valgus or knocked kneed) cause stress on
  the ligaments and increase pronation at the foot,
  leading to poor running form and increased risk
  of injury.
• Treatment Practice good posture during the day,
  and it will carry over into your run. It is vital
  to strengthen your abdominals and posterior
  musculature to enhance further erect columns from
  which to propel forward.

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• 2. Arms should hang loosely at your sides.
• Your arms should hang comfortably and move
  forward and back in tandem with your stride.
• Why? Your arm swing helps give you power and
  assists in stabilizing as the opposite arm and
  leg move forward. If your arm swing is too
  excessive, it can cause a waste of energy and
  even affect your trunk stability. Not enough
  swing of the arm can reduce your stride and
  speed. If your arm swings across your body, your
  shoulders will rotate, and your trunk will sway,
  causing an inefficient pattern.
• Treatment Bend your elbows about 90 degrees and
  let your arms swing relaxed. Keep your elbows
  close to your body with your hands loose, which
  helps the entire body relax.

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• 3. Land lightly on the outside of your foot with
  your ankle bone high
• Land on the outside of your foot and maintain the
  arch in your ankle your leg forms a bow shape
  as it gets ready to transfer the energy or propel
  your forward.

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• Why? Loads are as high as 2.5 times your body
  weight. You want to ensure you have the best
  mechanics to absorb that energy and propel it
  forward. You should land lightly on your lateral
  heel, roll forward with most of the weight going
  through your 3rd, 4th and 4th metatarsals, and
  then push off at your toes. This keeps your ankle
  bone high and prevents ankle pronation and the
  knee from falling inward (valgus stress). Landing
  on the lateral part of your foot causes your knee
  to stay lateral, placing your leg in a bow shape.
  Similar to a bow and arrow, the bowing of your
  leg allows you to take the energy and propel it
  forward.
• Treatment Practice walking with ankle bones
  high, leaning more on the outside of your feet.

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• Knee valgus is linked to ACL tears. Foot
  pronation (ankle bone low) is linked to Achilles
  tendonitis, Heel Pain/Plantar Fasciitis, and ITB
  Syndrome.
• Knee valgus and pronation are the two most
  significant contributors to injury. Your inside
  ankle bone must stay high this is one of the
  most critical factors to movement as it secures
  the ankle joint and prevents your knee from
  dropping inward.

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4. Swing leg Lift off with your heel out When
your foot comes off the ground and during swing,
your heel should be pointed outward and not
inward. Why? The opposite leg initiates lift-off
and energy transfer by cornering or internally
rotating the hip, causing the heel to go out. It
is a constant back-and-forth rotary movement
between the two legs. After impact, the energy is
propelled forward by the bow position of the leg,
followed by slight hip internal rotation and the
heel outward. If your heel is inward during
push-off, you lose the proper release of energy.
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• Treatment
• 1. Take a video of yourself running from behind
  to ensure your ankle bone is outward during the
  swing phase.
• 2. Practice in slow motion.
• 3. Sit back on your heels and allow them to fall
  outward.

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• 5. Run with rotation
• Humans do not run in a linear movement our
  innate movement pattern is rotary.
• Why? We have ball and socket joints in our
  shoulders and hips. These joints are designed for
  rotation. Reciprocal rotary movements are the
  best way to transfer energy and propel forward.
  Often we are taught to perform straight movements
  such as squatting and lunging when in actuality,
  these movements should also be performed with
  rotation.
• Treatment Practice moving side to side,
  internally rotating each hip, and swinging the
  heel outward.

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• 6. Lead with your hips
• The motion of running should be initiated at the
  hips or center of your body.
• Why? When we run from our feet, we can tend to
  overstride. Running from your hips and driving
  forward with your knees rather than your feet
  helps you maintain a tall posture and avoid
  overstriding.
• Treatment Engage your abdominal and core muscles
  and practice running, and lifting your knees.

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• 7. Avoid overstriding
• Overstriding occurs when the foot lands well
  ahead of the knee.
• Why? Over-stride causes increased stress on your
  heel and other joints.
• Treatment Focus on running with the hip. Watch
  where your foot is landing in relation to your
  body and drive with the knee rather than reaching
  with the foot. Your shin should be vertical when
  your foot first contacts the ground. Practice
  running with high knee lifts.
• GOATA is a slow-motion movement assessment that
  identifies movement flaws and teaches individuals
  of all fitness levels to learn to move like the
  Greatest of All Time Athletes. Schedule with one
  of our specialized clinicians to have a GOATA
  assessment and recode.

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• info.virtualphysicaltherapists_at_gmail.com

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