All Things Running! (Part I)
June is a great-feeling month for several reasons; it inevitably means spending more time outside. For this reason, running seems to be the most common form of exercise in the late Spring/early Summer. Over the course of this month, I’d like to spend some time talking about anything related to running, specifically:
- Injuries
- Postural imbalances
- Efficient warm-ups
- Feet/Shoes
- Breathing
- How often is often enough? (AKA purpose)
- Running proficiency
Last, but not least, I’d like to share how I ran a marathon on running only 14 miles per week split into two 60 minute runs (except for the last 3 weeks, which were technically 18, 20, and 23).
Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way. INJURIES with running are common and there is a lot of “fix it” material on the internet. As a chiropractic sports physician, I have seen foot, ankle, shin, knee, hip, lower back, upper back, neck, and shoulder pain all as a result (or exacerbated by) running.
Running is a skill that we all innately develop (although with fancy gyms, luxurious technology, and our 21st-century-instant-
Trying to be a hero means that you’re running too much too soon. It’s like a new crossfitter getting Rhabdo because they wanted to beat the gym’s 100 GHD sit-up for time record. Slow down, start small or (dare I say it) we do some intervals (I’ll get into the topic of intervals and starting small when we talk about the Purpose of running).
Traumatic stress is essentially you go for a run, are crossing a street, and get hit by a car because the driver was texting while driving and you were listening to loud music so you didn’t hear them. Shame on both of you. (I know I’m sounding a little grumpy about technology. I actually love a lot of the new things that are improving our health with tracking and accountability, so don’t think that I’m saying we need to stop our technological progress; we just need put it down from time to time).
Repetitive Stress Injury Reason #1: We sit a lot (ahem lower cross syndrome), we look down at our phones/screens a lot (ahem, upper cross syndrome), we don’t move a lot (ahem dried up joints), and now our postural imbalances become caricatures when we run. Repetitive Stress Injury Reason #2: We aren’t running all that well. Isn’t it weird that we, as a species, have the inborn ability to run, but we unlearn how to do it so easily? In a nutshell, it’s the way you stand or it’s the way you run… or both.
We’ll get into some great running drills later. I’d like to focus on why posture is such a big deal. Our bodies will absorb 4-7x our body-weight when we run (as compared to 2-3 when we walk). So if my head is even a half an inch forward from my shoulders (not counting an awesome pose-running lean), my posterior chain is going to feel like it’s holding up 40-70lbs. I wonder where that neck pain is coming from?! The same thing goes for a tight lower back. Running does not loosen up the lower back. It will bring some blood flow to your muscles and you could argue that it helps the discs with imbibition. Other than that, the lower back will still lack it’s much needed mobility. We can go on about all of the postural imbalances, but I’ll stop. DM me if you’re thirsty for more.
Here’s the fun in all of this: You will have to take the SAME STEPS to get back on track no matter what actually hurts.
1. Improve your postural imbalances, 2. Drill some corrective running techniques, 3. Be mindful of those techniques when you run, 4. Not worry about it anymore.
The most common postural imbalances are what would be considered “upper crossed syndrome” (rounded shoulders and forward head), and “lower crossed syndrome” (tight hamstrings, lower back and hip flexors via an anterior pelvic tilt).
The “stand up straight” mentality is good, but I’ve found that this leads to an greater extensor tone AKA a tight back. A high extensor tone will lead to chronic anterior pelvic tilting and lack of spinal mobility which adds to lumbar spine compression; the joints are jammed. When our spines cannot move segmentally, it limits the body’s ability to move in general. It creates what we consider neural tension and places stress on our spinal cord and nervous system. This can be opening a can of worms, so I’ll leave it there and we can continue with our discussion on running. Moral of the story: 1. Find a neutral spinal position and work to maintain it while running; 2. Make sure to incorporate spinal mobility exercises within your week.
I have two of my favorite warm-up routines that help to improve your spine and hip mobility. The spinal mobility routine that I use is great for almost any type of exercise. Some of the movements are advanced and have milder versions (especially if you are dealing with back pain), but I use this specific routine because it is effective and (arguably more importantly) does not take a long time (under 5 minutes)! The hip routine is the 27 squats that Kelly Starrett had made most popular. Using both of these consistently will do a lot for your running efficiency and recovery. If you don’t want to get on the ground, 1. Harden up and do it anyway (you’ll probably sweat and put your clothes in the laundry when you’re done anyway); 2. At least do the 27 squats, but make sure you do the floor exercises at home at some point. Check out the videos here: