Running pains; its all in your gait. Here is some helpful advice on improving what may be hurting you.

One of the best things we can do for patients who run after they have improved their original complaint is to video their gait on our offices treadmill. Often, they had developed bad running habits that have affected their symmetry, stride and cadence which increases stress on their joints.

One of the most common gait compensations is hunching of the shoulders which in effect is like braking. In effect, you are trying to accelerate with your lower body while braking with your upper body. This type of compensation can only be dealt with if you understand you are doing it, and over and under striding occurs and worsens with holding the shoulders tightly.

Of course, there are other things that will cause a running injury as well such as wearing the wrong shoe for your body style, not wearing foot orthotics when your body needs them to run properly and ignoring your body when it is telling you and injury is in the process of developing.

Here is an article that gives you some great ideas on how to improve your running gait which will lead to fewer injuries. Check it out here

Learn how to change your gait and get rid of running pains

KATHLEEN TROTTER

Like many runners, I don’t just love to run, I need to run. It keeps me sane. So imagine my frustration battling a chronically stiff left ankle.

I have been getting semi-regular massages and acupuncture on my ankle. Both make it feel better momentarily, but they treat the symptom, not the cause. I decided I needed to get to the root of the problem. I asked Kris Sheppard, founder of the Runner’s Academy, a Toronto health and wellness clinic specializing in treating and training runners, to assess my gait.

Sheppard, a chiropractor, began his assessment by filming me while I ran. Turns out, my left foot crosses over the mid-line of my body. Imagine a line from your pubic bone to the floor. Both feet should land equally spaced from this line, roughly hip distance apart.

According to a study from 2014 in the Journal of Biomechanics, a narrow step width increases stress on the lower leg bones. My narrow step width is contributing to my ankle pain. Plus, my left foot already rolls in (pronates) slightly. A narrow stance just exacerbates this problem.