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DR.ROMANOV'S ARTICLES Dr.Romanov has written many articles. Easy to read and understand, these articles will help you understand Pose Method® better and will introduce you to a new approach to running and training.
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Injuries in Running
Image from the book Pose Method of Running |
POSETECH.COM (US)
August 30, 2004
How to avoid injuries in running
by Dr. Nicholas Romanov
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:
- Never stop movement, only redirect it
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
- Before you start train in running you have to learn how to run - running technique
- The essence of running technique is to make your running lighter, safer, faster,
enjoyable, incorporated your movement with Nature (Gravity)
- If you run proper your body doesn't have mechanical stress, no muscle, tendons,
ligaments, joints soreness and pain
- If you have pain and soreness, you are running wrong, working against gravity and
breaking two major rules
- Correct your technique. Pain usually goes away if you correct the error
- 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
- 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
- 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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