During a one year period as many as 70% of runners sustain an overuse injury, regardless of their level of competition. According to Medscape.com, an overuse injury is, “tissue damage that results from repetitive demand over the course of time”. It is usually trauma that builds up over time and typically has many factors associated with the cause. A familiar example of an overuse injury is tendonitis.
Unlike an acute injury, in which you can easily identify the cause, many runners start to have pain for no known reason or out of the blue after running for months or even years without pain. It can be frustrating, but learning why this occurs and knowing that it is very common may help you to better understand the injury. Clear understanding may also motivate you to modify your work out routine and thus improve support to your body.
Overuse injuries can be caused by doing too much, too fast, too soon. For example, if you just started to run and you are trying to reach a goal of 30 miles the first week, you may have pain simply because your body was not yet ready for this amount of mileage. Most importantly, you may have not allowed your body time to adapt to the change. Another reason overuse injuries occur is because of muscle imbalances. Many times, runners find that the right muscles are not doing their job. Some muscles get too strong while others get too weak and/or too tight therefore creating this imbalance.
I often tell my patients that if you only run and forget to incorporate any cross training into your workout, its like having an imbalanced diet; as if you are eating a green salad for every meal and not adding in another healthy option from another food group. Running is a great way to stay in shape, but if performed alone, it can also lead to many problems. Running does NOT help to strengthen your gluteus maximums (buttock muscle) or your gluteus medius (another buttock muscle that helps support your hip). Running does NOT single out your core musculature. Although it keeps you looking fit, many runners fail basic level tests or exercises to see if their core is supporting their system. Weakness in the noted areas leads to improper mechanics when running. Therefore, other muscles must pick up the slack and become overworked.
There are a few examples where compensation occurs and unfortunately produces a negative outcome. First, if the gluteus maximus is weak, most people become quadriceps (large muscle at the front of your thigh) dominant. Quadriceps weakness is a large reason for pain in the front of the knee. Next, weakness in the gluteus medius causes increased stress throughout your legs. This has been linked to iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome which is tightness and pain at the outside of your leg that can affect your hip and/or knee. Finally, weakness in your core can be linked to nearly any pain you are feeling when you run, as you are running on a very poor foundation. Running does not strengthen the core, but running is very reliant on core strength to support your running and allow the rest of your body to work efficiently and keep you running pain-free.
After working with a lot of runners in the community and throughout my life, I have found that runners run regardless of pain. I am hoping to reach out to as many of you as possible and help you understand that if you dedicate some time each day to working areas that support running, you will not only keep yourself running longer without pain, but also improve your running times and the efficiency of each stride.
On Wednesday March 7, 2012, SPTNY will host a community outreach event in our Saratoga office. The event will be from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm and will include two 45-minute lectures. Between 7-7:45 pm, we will discuss this exact topic – “Common Injuries in Running and the Importance of Cross Training”!!! We would love to meet you at the event and have you join us for this informative lecture, in hopes of keeping you out of our office because your injury could have been prevented.
Alison Synakowski, PT, DPT, OCS, ATC, CSCS
Facility Manager
Certified Sportsmetrics Instructor
Sports Physical Therapy of NY, PC
1 West Ave, Suite 150
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
(518)-583-7537 x2805
(518)-583-7606 (fax)
www.sptny.com
sportsmetrics.org