At the Exercise Physiology Group we focus a lot on technique for those clients who are interested in getting back to running after a long break or have dysfunction that causes running to be painful. One of the most important things we concentrate on in educating clients about running pain-free is the footstrike.
The footstrike is really important for a number of reasons, but mostly it is about biomechanical efficiency. If you execute a good footstrike, you can conserve energy and reduce unnecessary impact travelling up through your joints. An consistently imperfect footstrike may lead to overuse injuries, stress fractures and wear out cartilage and other important joint structures faster.
So, how can we work out whether we are landing and pushing off correctly without the use of cost-prohibitive high-speed cameras? It’s pretty simple; we use our ears. It is very easy to differentiate between the quality of footstrikes based on sound. A good footstrike sounds vastly different to a footstrike that opens you up to hip or knee or shin pain.
Hence, people who rediscover running, tuned into their favourite song miss out on this important feedback and open themselves up to a myriad of different injuries. Nothing tastes more sour than an injury you could have prevented. We can help you to recognise the sound of a good footstrike and hence avoid pain and help you enjoy your running more. Then, once you lock-in to the correct movement pattern, you can get back to that favourite album and let the km’s roll out behind you. If you’re in Melbourne, call us or e-mail today to find out more about how Exercise Physiology can assist in running re-training.
