FITNESS AUTHOR
Jarod Carter, DPT, PT, MTC
RUNNING INJURY-FREE n Exercises to strengthen up and help stay injury-free this summer.
F
or many, the thought of lounging by the beach or a pool is a motivator to get ready for the summer season. Since running is one of the most popular ways Austinites shed fat, it’s important to learn and identify the most common causes of running injuries and what to do before one stops you from getting in your beach body miles. Some experts estimate that over 80% of runners will sustain an injury at some point in their lives. We help a great deal of injured runners at our clinic, and well over half of those injuries are at least partially caused by a very specific type of hip muscle weakness. So, how do you know if you are dealing with this common cause of running injury?
with your middle toe, or does it drop inward towards/ past the big toe and the inside edge of the foot? If you can see your hips, do they stay fairly level or does the unweighted side drop significantly with each step? Although the movement of the knee is certainly influenced by the foot, hip muscle weakness is a primary culprit when the knee drops inward and/or the unweighted hip drops lower than the hip of your stance leg. When either of these movements occurs, it puts abnormal strain through a number of areas of the leg and low back. If it’s happening when you jog in place, it is definitely happening with every full stride you take on your runs. These repetitive strains can lead to a wide variety of running injuries and pain, including low-back pain, hip bursitis, IT Band syndrome, patellofemoral syndrome, shin splints and plantar fasciitis. So, if your jog-in-place test reveals these common precursors to injury, here are a few exercises to resolve them before they become a big problem.
Jog-in-Place Knee Movement Test
Put on your running shoes and stand in front of a mirror so that you can observe your knees. Begin jogging in place and carefully watch the movement of your knees (works best to watch one knee at a time for multiple steps). Does your knee stay directly in line
MAY 2021
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