Running is one of the most popular forms of exercise due to its’ accessibility, low equipment cost, and health benefits. As running’s popularity continues to grow, unfortunately so do the number of runners who miss a training session or competition due to injury. These runners are not alone; as research has reported up to 90%...
Running remains one of the most popular forms of exercise due to its’ affordability, accessibility, and health benefits. The popularity of the sport has grown tremendously over the last few decades, but despite advancements in shoe wear, training methods, and rehabilitation interventions the injury rates remain frustratingly high. Up to 90% of runners will report...
In prior posts, we have discussed the importance of hip strengthening among runners. There is a strong correlation between hip weakness, especially the hip abductors, and knee pain. Studies have questioned if these strength impairments are present before pain develops or occur due to the onset of pain. In addition, some research has demonstrated runners...
In an attempt to reduce the high risk of running injuries, athletes are making changes to their strike patterns and shoe wear. Running trends towards minimalist shoes have attempted to move athletes away from a heel strike and toward a more mid or forefoot strike pattern. These strike patterns have been shown to reduce loading...
In the examination of healthy or injured runners it is tempting to focus on an individual’s leg alignment and posture. The hope of these tests and measures is it will help a clinician identify the source of client’s symptoms or a risk factor for injury. The limitation of these examination items is their inability to...
In our previous posts we have detailed many factors leading to high injury rates experienced among runners. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice, one of the most important factors to examine with any injured runner is their running gait. Most of us were instructed as beginners in our chosen sports with the exception of cycling...
We get deep with Boulder runner and former CU track and cross country stud, Jenny DeSouchet. From racing Usain Bolt to dreams of body building, we cover it all in our Q & A series.
The benefits of proper hydration for human performance and recovery has long been established. Replacing fluid loss from metabolism, evaporation, and sweating can have a dramatic impact on performance in both team and endurance sports. As our workouts progress in duration and intensity our requirements for nutrition beyond water alone increase. Unfortunately, trying to train...
Low back pain continues to be a common source of pain, loss of function, and in some cases disability. A portion of this weight on our society and medical system is the over emphasis on imaging findings including disc injury or degenerative disc disease as the source of a patient’s symptoms. Unfortunately, there is an...
In prior posts we have described the importance of running economy. Runners with improved economy, similar to miles per gallon in a car, will be able to run at lower percentage of their VO2 max at a given intensity compared to a less economical runner. Economical runners demonstrate improved performance in both training and competition....
