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Injury Prevention

By Kelly Reed PT, OCS, COMT
Director of TAI Cedar Hills Physical Therapy

Establishing a balance between your strength, flexibility, biomechanics, and training is the key to success in any sporting activity or running/walking regime as well as the path to injury prevention.

Biomechanics
Biomechanics refers to how the motion of our bones come together to create a movement pattern. As related to running/walking and the lower extremities, we often speak in terms of pronation and supination. Pronation involves shock absorption and unlocking the foot during the initial to mid-stance phase of the gait cycle. It allows us to know if we are running on a trail or pavement and occurs from just after the heel hits the ground until the leg is vertical. Supination is the unloading and locking phase for stability, allowing for propulsion and explosive motion. It occurs through late stance and pushes off until the heel strikes the ground. As you can see, we need both of these for balanced biomechanics. Everyone should pronate and supinate. Excess of one or the other can lead to injuries or overuse syndromes.

Injury Prevention Tip:
Make sure you are running in the correct shoe for your foot type and biomechanical presentation.

Strength and Flexibility
The strength of our muscles, coupled with adequate flexibility, allows us to produce the motion or action we desire. If one area is weak, another part may try to do too much, causing an overuse syndrome. For example, weakness at the hip or knee may allow excessive rotation of the leg, resulting in excessive lower extremity pronation (internal rotation) and irritation of the Iliotibial band. Likewise, if any muscles are too tight, the body will compensate and try to find another way to create the motion it wants, again leading to tissue break down. If the calf muscles (gastrocnemius/soleus) are too tight, there is not enough range of motion to go forward directly over your foot. Thus, you will start to increase your pronation movement by rolling your foot inward and then twisting your toes outward, to get around the tight calf. This can lead to achilles, posterior tibialis, or plantar fascia issues.

Injury Prevention Tip:
Listen to your body. Small aches or twinges could turn into pain. If a few days of RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) do not fully alleviate the symptoms, see a professional to have your strength and flexibility screened. Nip problems in the bud.

Training
Following your training plan is very important. It was designed specifically for you based on your fitness level, running/walking experience, and goals. Pushing your body too hard, too far, or too fast may backfire, leading to injuries. Your muscles and cardiovascular system will increase their level of condition as you systematically increase the load. Your first hill or trail run may lead to sore shins or hips, but followed by a day of rest or an easy run you are good to go. However, if you don’t follow your plan, and do a second hard hill run on fatigued and irritated tissues you may begin the cycle of shin splints or IT band syndrome.

Injury Prevention Tip:
Follow your plan. Train smarter, not harder.

As you embark on this stage of your fitness journey, remember the key to successful training lies in the balance. No one thing is more important than the other. When you give equal and adequate attention to your biomechanics, strength, flexibility, and training, your goal is more easily and successfully attained.

*Get Moving provides general information only. This information should not be substituted for a doctor’s advice. Always consult your physician before beginning any new exercise or treatment.