Is your running stride the solution to preventing running injuries? A NY Times article explores this idea?

I came across a new article suggesting different running stride techniques may in fact decrease the likelihood of pain and injury in runners. There are many schools of thought on this. One is Chi Running which offers a different mechanical way of using your body that is not natural but for some, solves the problem. Another is the school of thought for barefoot running. Many running shoes now approximate the sensation of running barefoot, although both schools of thought can create other mechanical problems.

Another methods I have been showing runners has to do with relaxing the arms and appropriate arm movement and placement to improve momentum. Keeping the shoulders restricted and tight acts as a breaking mechanism and aggravates under and over striding and makes us work harder, however I believe we compensate this way to prevent us from losing our balance from running too fast. Correcting this with proper instruction results in faster runs, fewer injuries and greater efficiency. We have many video’s done our patients to show this works, without reworking a running style which attempts to minimize the effects of a torqued core, rather than correct the torqued core, which is not universally understood among health care providers who care for runners.

Those of us who are built asymmtrically tend to overstride and understride, as a way of compensating for our bodies natural way of movement. The side effect of this is torsion of the pelvis or tortipelvis. When this occurs, you no longer can access the core properly, and the myofascia surrounding the core region distorts, making it impossible to distribute your weight properly as you run. Since the proper order is for the core muscle to fire and stabilize and then the legs no longer operates, we drop all the forces on to the legs which stresses the calves, hamstrings and our stride shortens and in most cases becomes asymmetrical. The net effect of this is we lose the ability to run properly, become slower, work harder and in the end, injuries occur to both the leg muscles as well as the back. Secondarily, the shoulders tighten up as we also counter stride asymmetrically through the upper body. This pattern worsens as we attempt to run through it resulting in stress fractures, muscle pulls, plantar fasciitis, it band issues and other running problems.

What do you think? Check out the NY Times article here

Finding a Sustainable Running Stride