Just as it is across the rest of the fitness and movement industry, being injured is a normal
part of the running season, at least from my perspective. I would argue that many people who don’t run or no longer run, stopped due to fatigue of this running/injured/rehabbing cycle.
Well, this isn’t normal, or shouldn’t be. In a very short and concise manner – as with each blog I write – I’m going to try and shine some light on why being injured regularly as a runner is so normal. in my opinion…
1.Your lifestyle does not reflect that of a runner’s
The reality is most of us sit at a desk or workspace several hours per day. We sit an hour or two in the evening. We sit in a car an hour or two. We sit for 3+ meals. We sit on the toilet… You get the point. We sit a lot and often in stressful situations, such as traffic. This is the furthest from good conditioning for a dynamic single leg activity as
in running. Bottom line: become a stander, become a walker, create a balance where your time standing, walking and running far outweigh your time spent sitting. That’s a rather simple way to live more of a lifestyle of a runner.
2.Conventional fitness does not train for/develop running.
Firstly, we run on one leg at a time where our legs reciprocate one another - think scissors - in order to drive our gait cycle. Most typical workout routines way over- emphasize back squats and deadlifts. These don’t drain the gait cycle, they actually decondition it. Not every runner is a weight lifter, but they should be and unfortunately the ones who are, are way too often directed towards these common
lifts.
Secondly, probably the biggest driving force of efficient running is rotation of the upper body. In my experience, this is rarely trained in conventional fitness and done so often as an accessory exercise at best. The majority of the movements I use with clients include a rotational component. Train rotation – it’s important!
3. We support billion dollar industries rather than our biology.
For this, we can simply look down at our feet, or the feet of others who are running. The typical modern day running shoe does not promote the function of the human
foot. And unfortunately, that foot connects to the ankle, which connects to the knee, which connects to the hip, and so on so forth. It’s all connected, and it’s all affected. In my opinion, we undeniably need to let the foot act like a foot and facilitate it to do so, because the foot sets off the remarkable events of the human kinetic chain, which culminate into the gait cycle. The Kipchoge Vapourfly hardly does this, with its 3 inches of cushioning on the bottom and oh yeah, a carbon plate. Let the foot be a foot! Explore natural footwear options. You know this makes simple sense.
These are my three reasons why the average runner spends regular time on the shelf. It doesn’t have to be this way. It really comes down to acting more like a runner, and more so, move like a human moves, in a few different areas of life. In my opinion, that is.
I hope this read has inspired you even 1% to discover a lost art of running without injuries!
Thanks for reading.
Lee S.
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What makes me an authority on movement?
Hi, I’m Lee. I have been in the fitness world for 12 years. I’ve undergone quite a movement transformation in this time. Not just physically, but also the way in which I see movement, in logic, and how it pertains to human movements.
My self-proclaimed authority comes from the countless hours spent observing and analyzing the movement of clients, video of “great movers’ and athletes, as well as the study of human biomechanics and my own biomechanics! It’s really my life’s work thus far.
I merely offer you my best opinion based on all of this and hope to inspire you to find your best version of the movement that brings you joy!
Other ways I can inspire your best movement:
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