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The majority of running community accept running injuries as the inevitable consequence, some kind of a price for the "luxury" of being a runner. Since the first burst of interest in running in the 70s until now the rate of injuries
there still remains the same: 2 from 3 runners injured every year. Why is that?
Many scientists were looking for the reasons behind such a high rate of
injuries in such a "simple" event. The answer was thought to be spread
somewhere between high mileage of training and not so comfortable shoes,
leaving in the shadow running itself.
But think of it for a minute, how do we run? Is it possible to go play tennis,
or golf without learning technique? It will never even cross your mind to do
such a thing in any other event, except for running. Yes, running, for some
unknown reason, becomes an exception to any learning at all. Our common sense,
which usually works well for us, refuses to do the job this time. Our
perception of simplicity of running leads us in the wrong direction to the
conclusion that we don't need to learn how to run.
Scientists and coaches are making their own "input" to this, when they conclude
that there is no commonly accepted running model and running technique which
suits everyone. After that we are left with no standard to follow in our quest
to succeed in running. Imagine driving a car without learning any rules,
without going through a driving school and getting your license first. How
would you feel? Scared?
But look around and you will see many people hobbling around in their attempts
to get to the running paradise while actually moving in the opposite direction.
They are suffering unable to break from the same vicious circle again and
again: running-getting injured-running-getting injured, trying to find the
right answer. But the answer is there, in running itself, in the way we run.
Most of running injuries are just the consequence of a poor running technique,
but to understand this is not easy. For many years we all lived under the
influence of sport shoes manufacturers' philosophy, whose main concern was to
"support" a poor technique with a conceptually wrong shoe design.
The focus of this philosophy was on "protection", not speed, so they built
"monster trucks" instead of fast cars. In this way we got all these "motion
control" shoes, which are supposed to substitute for our own muscles and brain
functions to provide for our movement. How does it sound to you, that some shoe
device could be better than an ingenious creation of Nature? Cushioning instead
of our own muscle system? But in reality we need only a minimum protection for
our feet from the ground and the rest should be open for interaction. There are
two main rules you need to comply with to meet the "no injury" requirements:
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Never stop movement, only redirect it
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Do not create levers, try to avoid and reduce them
The first rule is coming from the assumption that movement
always exists there and we are only changing its speed and direction with a
minimal interference.
The second rule is trying to prevent an excessive muscle and tendon tension
which the body gets when it uses levers from its own parts to provide for some
movements such as a push off, where the foot and knee extension are involved as
a fulcrum system, or landing ahead and on the heel, where the lower back and
knee extension are involved.
So the answer we are looking for, for our injury free running, lies in
collaborating with Nature, but not in working against it, and all the rules of
proper running technique are based on this premise. Nature manifests itself
most obviously in running through Gravity, and our task is to understand how we
are supposed to interact with it most efficiently.
First of all, we should reduce to a minimum any work against
it.
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Do not land on your heels and ahead of the body, because it stops the body
movement forward - it's so obvious. If you do, you suffer the consequences:
shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, knee patella tendon pain, etc.
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Do not push off and toe off from the ground. It doesn't move you forward, but
only upwards directly against Gravity. It tenses your quads muscles, which are
supposed to relax to let the hamstring muscles do their job and pull the
support foot from the ground.
Second, we need to utilize Gravity to suit our
needs to move forward. We need to create a specific condition under which
Gravity would pull our body forward taking the stress off the body. This
condition occurs when our body passes through a mid-stance on the support and
starts falling forward in a pivotal movement and "employs" Gravity for the
forward propulsion. There is no load on the body systems here, only some
minimal efforts to assist Gravity.
Consequently the body suffers repetitive overloading of all tissues: muscles,
bones, ligaments and tendons, which seriously increases the risk of injury.
On the opposite, following these two main rules reduces overloading of these
tissues and minimizes the injury risk.
Practical application of all mentioned above will sound this way:
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Before you start train in running you have to learn how to run - running
technique
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The essence of running technique is to make your running lighter, safer,
faster, enjoyable, incorporated your movement with Nature (Gravity)
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If you run proper your body doesn't have mechanical stress, no muscle, tendons,
ligaments, joints soreness and pain
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If you have pain and soreness, you are running wrong, working against gravity
and breaking two major rules
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Correct your technique. Pain usually goes away if you correct the error
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Correct your technique and run only so long as you are capable to keep your
running technique. It could be a very short distance for the beginning, but it
is right to do so
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A proper technique has specific perception of lightness, short support, no
tension on muscles, no feeling of loading on your joints (Ankles, knees). In
opposite wrong technique goes together with muscle tension, loading on your
joints, heaviness
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Check how much your mistakes are coming from undeveloped muscle strength,
elasticity, flexibility, proper perception - these are the tasks you need to
work to build your running technique
The road to wisdom is plain: learn the proper technique non-stop
throughout your entire running life. It is as simple as running itself.
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