Distance runners are a frequently injured group of athletes with up to 90% reporting a running related injury requiring time off from training or competition. Authors report low back pain is one of the most common sites of pain likely secondary to underlying core and hip weakness. Runners repeatedly land with 2-6 x times their...
There are few clinical examples that remind me of how far we have come in orthopedic Physical Therapy practice than assessing bony SI landmarks. As the popular clinical pendulum swung these landmarks were assessed in patients presenting with low back pain to hip pain and even to distant regions such as ankle and neck. Thankfully,...
Running related injuries are very common with studies reporting up to 90% of athletes reporting an injury preventing them from training or competition. Many groups including Physical Therapists are interested in reducing this injury risk through training volume modifications, shoe selection, strength training, and gait retraining. Despite popular internet opinions, research has not concluded on...
Despite improvements in coaching, training schedules, and running shoes the vast majority of runners can expect a running related injury in their career. The majority of these injuries are overuse in nature secondary to an overload of the injured tissue (muscle, bone, joint, tendon). In short, too much too soon without adequate time for tissue...
Running remains one of the most popular forms of exercise due to its’ convenience, low cost of entry, and aerobic efficiency. It is difficult to replace the same health benefits you receive from a 30 minute run with another mode of activity. Unfortunately the rates of running related injuries have not been reduced with improvements...
With access to miles of paths and acres of open space running remains one of the most popular outdoor activities in Boulder. Despite its’ accessibility, low cost of participation, and health benefits running related injuries keep many from training or competing at their preferred levels. One recent area of research has focused on gait retraining...
Up to 80% of recreational runners will experience an injury limiting training time or competition in a given year. Running injuries are multifactorial in nature with contributions from muscle imbalances, training errors, and running biomechanics. High magnitude and rates of lower limb loading have previously been associated with running injuries. In our Physical Therapy practice,...
Lower extremity stiffness (“leg stiffness”) describes the resistance the joints and muscles in your lower body will have to movement when your foot contacts the ground during running. Think of your leg as a spring; the more tightly coiled spring will be stiffer, the more loosely coiled will be more deformable. A stiffer leg is...
Researchers and clinicians continue to explore interventions to reduce the significant numbers of running related injuries. These injuries, mainly overuse in nature, often cause a loss in training time and are found among both novice and experienced runners. In addition to strength training, gait retraining has shown promise in reducing the forces placed across the...
In our previous blogs, we have described interventions designed to reduce the high rates of running related injuries. To date, our best Physical Therapy interventions include controlling training volume, concurrent strength training, and gait retraining. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice we aim to reduce peak loading forces and poor biomechanics at foot strike in...