February 2013 Tip

Get Stronger to Stay Healthy
By Coach Eladio Valdez III

Runners are notorious for running and doing little else in terms of fitness. If you are genetically gifted, you can get away with it. However, the other 99% of us will incur an overuse injury sooner or later. Since running is such a high repetition activity, any weakness, whether it be faulty equipment (i.e. running shoes) or a faulty body part, will be exposed. Until you address it, it will remain an ongoing issue.

Due to the biomechanics of running, many injuries can be traced to imbalances or weaknesses in the hips and glutes. These are the prime movers that push and pull as you run – the better they do their job, the easier it is on the rest of your body. Conversely, when they start to falter, somewhere along the kinetic chain from the hips to the feet has to pick up the slack until it breaks down in the form of an injury.

Fortunately, there are a host of convenient and simple exercises to strengthen this area that can take as little as a few minutes, either before your runs and/or in between them. The best thing to do is to make an appointment with a runner friendly health care professional who can figure out your specific issues and provide you with a list of exercises to lower the risk of injury while also improving your running.