By Nia Pressley, PT, DPT
Running can be a great form of exercise. Many runners enjoy the activity to release endorphins, manage stress, or build cardiovascular endurance. Others may be hesitant to run due to age, injury, or psychological factors. Whether you are a recreational runner running a few miles per week or an athlete preparing for a marathon, there are several ways you can best
optimize your running technique to prevent injury and build longevity in your running career.
The Role of Cross-Training in Running
Cross-training is just as important as a runner as perfecting your pace, cadence, and endurance. Cross-training simply means participating in two or more types of exercise to improve fitness or performance in the primary sport. Strength training can ultimately improve your speed, agility, and endurance. You will need specific training in your core, quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles to optimize your running technique. Developing strong muscles is
key when protecting your hips, knees, and ankles from injury. Due to the repetitive nature and demand of running, strong muscles are essential to protect your joints from injury. If you are a runner and want to optimize your running technique, ask your physical therapist to develop a strength training program for you. You will notice a big difference in your running routine.
Optimizing your cadence is another way to improve your running technique.
Optimizing Your Cadence for Better Running
Cadence is the amount of steps you take per minute when you run. A slower cadence can indicate that you are overstriding, meaning your foot lands too far forward whenever you take a step. Overstriding can create increased forces on the knees, leading to pain on the sides of your knees or the front
near your kneecap. Ideally, we want your cadence close to 180 steps per minute. Many running apps or fitness trackers (Apple Watch or Garmin) can calculate your cadence. If you calculate your cadence and find it on the lower end, the best way to increase it is to use a metronome app or your fitness tracker to help speed up your cadence. They even make songs on Spotify/Apple Music that play music at specific beats per minute to help you stay in your desired cadence. Ideally, we don’t want to increase your cadence by more than 10% at a time to prevent an overuse injury. Contact Movement Solutions for a movement analysis if you want help to calculate your cadence.
Along with having too slow of a cadence, many running injuries can be avoidable. Many times, runners get injured because they don’t listen to the information and feedback their bodies give them. We can use a few tools to know if it is safe to continue running.
Building Long-Lasting Running Habits
One great tool we can use is the numeric rating scale for pain. This scale goes from 0-10, where 0 is no pain, and 10/10 is the worst pain you’ve ever felt. Sometimes, it is okay to run through pain, but we wouldn’t recommend running at a pain level higher than a 3/10. If it is higher than a 3/10, adjustments must be made to your training routine, cadence, or other lifestyle factors. Another tool you can use when assessing your running habits is ensuring your volume isn’t increasing too much weekly. A good rule is not to increase your mileage by more than 10% weekly.
The recipe is endless for maintaining good running habits. Still, as long as you keep these tools in mind and ensure you get adequate sleep, minimize your stress levels, and focus on good nutrition, you will be a great candidate to be a successful runner.
How Physical Therapy Can Improve Your Running
A specialized physical therapy program should enable you to develop good running practices. However, ignoring the pain, overtraining, poor nutrition, inadequate recovery, or running with poor mechanics may put you at risk for injury. If you need help running, the physical therapists at Movement Solutions would gladly help you.
Ask about our cost and availability, or call us at (864) 558-7376. We look forward to hearing your story and discussing how you can become a better runner.
