Myself, I was never a huge fan of treadmill running. Mostly because I like nature and am a sucker for a nice waterfront view. But I digress...
Treadmill running isn't going anywhere. It's a staple in our gyms and a handy tool for being able to measure and control for our physical activity.
However, there have been some claims that treadmill running may pose an increased risk for overuse injuries.
The idea is based on the fact that overuse injuries stem from repetitive stress to a particular tissue, and this stress is greater when the variance in the movement is decreased. By this, we're referring to the fact that treadmill running strides will typically always be the same length, at the same speed, and with the same impact force. In contrast, running outside will have a much greater variability in the types of strides being taken, with the body needing to learn to adjust and adapt to the subtlest change in terrain.
While this claim is cited by several sources, few of them use hard, researched evidence. We do, however, have evidence supporting the general principle of low variance resulting in increased tissue stress. As well, while treadmill running has been shown to lower the rate of stress fractures, specifically, the same study found it to be less beneficial to bone strengthening than outdoor running. This might translate to decreased overall beneficial training adaptations from treadmill running and, thus, and overall increased injury risk.
I feel I must apologize for the inconclusiveness here, but hopefully it's good food for thought. Don't let this change your training regiment if treadmill running is currently working for you, but if you suffer from running injuries, it may be worth trying a modification in surfaces. And of course, if you're training specifically for running a race, the best training for you will be found outside.
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You'll be hearing me celebrate the return of running season for the next little while. Running is a fantastic exercise and sport, and I'm more than happy when I see both experienced and brand new runners partaking. However, is running a healthy activity?
It has generally been the common consensus that running is bad for your joints, whether it be for your knees, your hips, or back. Thus, it's often the reason (or excuse) for many people to not partake in any running. It makes sense; too much impact on the joints could totally cause some arthritic development or degeneration in the spine. As we understand it, this is basically the definition of how osteoarthritis onsets, right?
The research journal search was actually extremely easy here. As I was able to find out, between both old and new studies,long-term studies, and cross-analyses, running was almost always found to be unrelated to any development of osteoarthritis in the knee,hip, and spine. At the worst, some studies suggested it to be merely inconclusive.
In fact, one brand newpiece of research even found that, as far as intervertebral discs go, running actually promoted more strength and better disc health as opposed to contributing to degeneration!
So what's going on? What actually causes arthritis? Well, recent skeletal examinations are now suggesting that osteoarthritis development has more to do with alack of physical activity rather than too much of any particular type. This was strengthened by the fact that degenerative joints correlate highly with the morbid obesity seen in many modern-day skeletons.
Furthermore, there may even be mechanisms that actually protect runners from degenerative changes from their spot. While the overall impact and force going through the joints is higher during a running gait, there may be some evidence suggesting that the decreased contact time with the ground actually works to counteract any damaging effects.
All this being said, no, running is not the joint-destroying, pain-inducing activity that many out there believe it is, and there's even the possibility of being a runner if you already dohave arthritis. Keep in mind, running, like ANY other activity, can cause injury, whether it be from an accident, poor conditioning, or training error, so don't forget the importance of proper training.
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It's trail running season! Runners at the grade school, post-secondary, and recreational level are all out and gearing up for races. City marathons, cross country meets, and more will soon begin.
Many people assume that, to train for running, you simply need to run, but I've spoken at length on important weight-training tips for distance runners as well. After all, do you think that any other type of athlete - be they a wrestler, boxer, football player - only repeatedly performs their sport as training? No, I thought not.
Additional training, however, does not simply mean heavy lifts and explosive forces. The health of each joint of the lower limb needs to be considered in order to have longevity as a runner. There's an important balance of mobility and stability that must be maintained.
Take the foot. You've heard the importance of foot health for most of what you do in life, as it's obviously the first line of defence - so to speak - when it comes to impact forces as you walk and run. This doesn't necessarily mean it's as simple as wearing supportive shoes for good lower limb health, though.
The foot has 26 bones to it. That's a lot of joints! That being said, pliable mobility (allowing the joints to move, glide, and compress) is vital in allowing those joints to absorb shock and impact, as is strength of the muscles of the foot in order to prevent those forces from being too damaging to the tarsal joints.
Modern-day running - specifically, the footwear - has taught the Western world to bypass the majority of these impact-buffering joints by running heel-first. As a result, these forces are greater by the time they reach the knee, hips, and back than they would be if a forefoot strike was used, resulting in an increased injury risk.
However, with the birth of minimalist running, Western runners attempted to make a quick switch back to forefoot running in order to benefit their joint health and performance. This is all and good, but it needs to be remembered that the body takes time to condition itself to new mechanics and activities. After a lifetime of stiffer, highly-supportive footwear use, the joints of the foot are, conversely, going to be stiff and immobile as well. Furthermore, the muscular strength in the foot may be lacking due to years of disuse. As a result, while the foot may now be diverting much of the impact away from traveling up the chain in too-great amounts, the foot's own joints may not be durable enough to accept that force itself. This is why there was a spike in new and previously-uncommon running injuries as soon as minimalist running became popular.
The takeaway here is that, like the rest of the body that you train for performance, the feet must also be carefully conditioned for the uses you intend of it. Adequate mobility through the toes, forefoot, and midfoot as well as enough muscular stability are key if you want to prevent the high-impact of running from developing into pain. That being said, changes to running and training routine must also be gradual and progressive, just like a routine for training any other joint. You need some variability to shock the body into improving, but be kind with how quickly you introduce it.
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If you haven't had them yourself, you've at least heard of them. Shin splints: the bane of existence for many runners. This delightful condition involves stabbing pain in the inner shin region, exacerbation from running and impact, and can often include radiating pain traveling through the entire calf muscle.
Medial tibial stress syndrome is a condition so common that it affects nearly10% of all runners. However, surprisingly little is known about it. Often, people boil the pain down to muscle strains, tendinopathies, or stress fractures, but these internet diagnoses are inaccurate.
For the longest time, I, myself, considered MTSS to be something that it wasn't out of error. Among many professionals, it was thought to be periostitis of the tibia - inflammation of the top layer of the bone caused by traction from muscular tension. Unfortunately, upon a journal search for this article, this theory was quickly proven wrong.
As it turns out, science still hasn't completely agreed on the etiology of MTSS. There is one prevalent theory that just cropped up during the new century.
One pair of researchers was able to demonstrate a pathology to do with bone remodeling as related to shin splint pain. As you may know, bones are not a lifeless tissue. The body's cells are constantly breaking down bone and replacing it with new. Usually, this is done at a healthy, even rate, but in examples such as osteoporosis, the breakdown occurs more quickly than the regrowth, resulting in the frail-boned condition.
In the case of shin splints, the breakdown of bone tissue increases when the bone is subject to new and sustained mechanical stress, such as an unconditioned individual who suddenly starts to overdo the pavement running. This is done in order to remodel the matrix of the bone tissue and allow it to adapt to the new stressor, but in the interim of this remodeling being complete, the bone structure is unable to accommodate the stress. As a result, microdamage to the bone itself occurs.
It's like a highway that's in the middle of being converted into a traintrack, except the train has already started being run along the route during the construction. The structure is going to take a beating!
Yeah, something like that.
In terms of the recovery from shin splints, even though many practitioners may not have had the reasoning correct, many of the same rehab and exercise methods still stand. Weakness or excessive stiffness of the calf muscles still must be addressed in order to allow the muscle tissue to transmit forces properly, rather than directing them back into the bone. Hip muscle activation is still key to ensure the impact can further travel up the chain rather than remaining in the lower leg. Finally, gait and footwear should not be disregarded, due to improper loading through the foot and leg resulting in increased fatigue to structures that are needed to buffer impact forces.
So, just remember to be conservative when increasing your training volume, be mindful of your form, and change your shoes regularly. Keep all this in mind, and....
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It's spring running season! Track and field leagues are getting off the ground, recreational runners are back on the trails, and city 10K's and marathons will soon be hitting the streets.
To mark this time of year, I'm taking this week to compile together my posts to date on running training and health. If you're gearing up for training, competition, or just beginning to run again for your health, take your time with these reads.
School cross country team? Running your first 10K at the end of the month? Here's a few training tips to optimize your prep time and avoid injury from the pavement-pounding.
Is sprinting on the track more your forte? There's a lot of crossover between the training for long and short distances, but there are definitely some key differences to consider in order to maximize your performance.
Lower back pain is a common issue among runners of all ages and sizes. This is partially due to a neglect of core stability through one specific range of motion.
Tight hip flexors are another common ailment of the runner, as well as a variety of other athletes. Stretching may not be the thing to help you, however.
I've been a running coach for several years now, training both long-distance runners as well as sprinters. I made a recent post about weight training tips for long-distance runners and I wanted to do one about sprinting. While there definitely is a lot of crossover between jogging and sprinting, it should be remembered that sprinting is not simply a jog put on fast-forward. There are very different mechanics and energy systems at work between the two activities.
1) Early Strengthening and Explosive Progressions
One big mistake that speed athletes make is training slow and heavy year-round. I agree that heavy strength training is vital to developing an early foundation, however, that type of training will only go so far. You may have heard the team "Train slow, compete slow", and it certainly holds true. You should absolutely do slower strength training in the early off-season of your sport, but if you don't transition your training towards more explosive plyometric and sprinting-specific training as you get closer to your competition, then you won't be ready to show up and perform.
Whether you have one main sport season during the year or several shorter once spaced throughout, save the majority of the heavy lifts for the earlier period of training. As you progress and get closer and closer to your competitive season, you need to start adding more explosive exercises such as Olympic lifting, box jumping, and actual sprint training to the routine.
2) Target the Glutes and Mind the Hamstrings
The limbs amplify movement. They don't generate it. Therefore, like with long-distance running, the power generation is done by the glutes and assisted by the rest of the leg muscles down the chain.
Take the time to specifically target your glutes during training, through the slow-strength training as well as the plyometric training that we just mentioned above.
Also remember, however, that you do need to take very good care of those hamstrings as well. Being so prone to injury during exertion, preventative conditioning is vital. A balance between the strength to help and propel your body as well as the flexibility for stride-length and prevention of overstretch injuries will be crucial. Eccentric hamstring curls will be handy for protecting you from tendon strains. Heavier lower-chain exercises such as deadlifts will further the progress by training those muscles to be able to contract from lengthened positions.
3) Spend Time on One Leg
Again, like with jogging, sprinting has you spending time on one leg at a time only. Both feet are never in contact with the ground at time. It seems like a minuscule amount of time, but you need to train your body to stabilize the side-to-side shift of the load it's bearing.
Single-legged deadlifts, pistol squats, one-legged glute bridges, they're all handy. As long as you can train your muscles to fire in proper sequence, one side at a time. For those in the gym who only ever do frontal plane exercises on both feet, there's a significant difference in how effectively they're able to coordinate proper balance during activity.
Having poor hip mobility is going to be an obvious hindrance. Whether it's due to poor flexibility, capsular restrictions, or lack of muscular strength, adequate range of motion is a necessity if your stride length is going to be at all effective.
The other main area that I often see being a problem due to mobility restrictions is, surprisingly, the shoulders. If your shoulders are restricted and flexion/extension doesn't occur smoothly, then the tendency is to compensate for the lack of arm swing with torso rotation. If you ever see people running who aren't so much using their arms but rather just rotating back and forth at their chest, this is what I'm talking about. This makes for poor momentum and propulsion and is also a waste of muscular energy.
If you have these restrictions, does this mean you should be aggressively tractioning your joints with bands to try and increase range? Please please please no. It's so unnecessary to mobilize like an overeager Youtube Crossfitter if you're doing proper, conservative exercises that your body will more-willingly adapt to.
5) Remember Your Core
As always, we bring it around back to the core.
I remember the very first time that I did hill sprints as a teenager. The sorest parts of my body the next day were, understandably, my calves, but also, surprisingly, my obliques.
Remember that you're generating an enormous amount of force when sprinting at maximum capacity. Because of this, your trunk is required to do everything it can to resist torque and deformation that the limbs are causing.
For sprinting, however, it's going to take a little more than just planks and side-planks to effectively condition the core. Since sprinting requires such high amounts of plyometric activity, the core needs to be trained specifically against those types of movements. Essentially, we need to turn core exercise into a type of plyometric exercise of it's own.
6) Arms, Bro.
This is an often-overlooked area for runners, and many will skip arm day because, well, you don't exactly run on your hands. (Most of us don't, anyway.)
However, especially in my young runners that I coach, arm strength is lacking to a fault. When you sprint, your arms need to be driving back and forth to counter the movements at the leg. So often, I see sprinters who do not have the explosive tricep activity in order to drive their arms back with enough force. Because of this, the arms become unable to move with enough force to provide momentum to the run and can also slow down the entire stride rhythm due to not being able to keep up with motion at the legs.
The solution, fortunately, is simple. You don't need to adding three tri-and-bi days to your workout routine, but you should have a regular upper body workout with both strength and plyo work itself, just like you do for the lower body. Once you can push-press a significant amount of weight overhead with proper form, then you'll be able to drive the arms effectively when running.
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Sprinting is a highly-demanding and technical skill; therefore, training for it is as well. Simply walking onto the field and running as fast as you can will, unfortunately, not promote the improvements that you're looking for. It requires both the on-field training as well as a specific and targeted routine in the gym. And like anything, practice makes perfect.
