How Beneficial is changing your running form? Hey guys its JP and I'll give my honest opinion
on this question. Now, this is a topic I go over with plenty of runners and athletes.
For those who have just started visiting my channel, I am a physical therapist whos clinical
expertise lies in improving performance and managing injuries with endurance athletes,
especially runners! Now, in terms of this specific question, it definitely depends on
the context, but for today, let's talk about it in terms of risk of injury. Many people
talk about FIXING running form to PREVENT injury...But is that really TRUE?
Looking at the research, simply changing running form has not shown to reduce risk of running
related injuries. Now, why is that? Well...the first question I'd ask myself is...What constitutes
OPTIMAL running form? After watching plenty of people run, you will see a variety of running
patterns, including at the ELITE LEVEL.Based on this, you may come to the conclusion that
maybe there is no IDEAL general running style, but maybe one thats optimal for the individual.
Sticking to the elites or any dedicated runner, typically their body has ADAPT to way they
run. This can be pretty much derived from the basic principle of Wolff's Law, which
states that bone grows and remodels in response to the forces placed on it. By doing so, the
body may optimize to tolerate forces better when running in his or her own typical style.
Now, when trying to change one's running form, this will ultimately change the way forces
are distributed through the body. This could be in ways that it is not used to; therefore,
may not necesarily be beneficial to do. Just to clarify, I'm not saying that changing one's
running mechanics is WORTHLESS, as it does have its uses...especially when there may
be limited capacity or tolerance to loading through a certain area, such as after an injury.
Though this is something we can further explore later. Anyway, what I am saying is that changing
running form is not what MOST people typically need to focus on. However, there are other
things to pay MORE attention to...and to be honest, these are things that are so ordinary
that they typically get overlooked.
One is sleep. I am not going to go on a long rant on the importance of it as there are
plenty of articles and videos that talk about, but yes it is one of the most important things
to consider. Sleep is literally meant to help your body recover physically and mentally.
By allowing recovery physically, this may allow the body to handle forces placed on
it better when running. Also, by allowing yourself to recovery mentally, this may help
keep you from making poor descisions that may increase your risk of injury.
Number 2 is Hydration. This involves both taking in water as well as some electroyltes,
because both of these things are depleted as you run. Keeping yourself hydrated may
help reduce muscle fatigue and help disipate heat, so you don't overheat. Making sure you
take regular intervals of water is essential to keep you healthy and perform at your best.
Another thing to consider is Diet. Now, I am also not going to go into detail and talk
about a specific diet plan to follow because I know there are plenty of diets and fads
out there. And guess what, plenty of them work. Just remember the best diet plan is
the one you can actually stick to.
Now, the last thing I'll mention here is understanding Load management. For runner, this typically
involves intensity, which is how hard you run. Duration, which is how long each run
is. And, frequency, which is typically how much you run a week. There are plenty of ways
to manage this to and is also very individualistic, but if I were to give a general rule of them
for this...it is to only change one of these variables at a time. Changing multiple variables
at once or upping one of these variables too quickly may not allow the body to adequately
adapt to the loads placed on it and may lead to an injury.
And these things may have more of an impact on you rather than biomechanics. In terms
of recovery, I'd typically prioritize dialing these things in before changing running mechanics.
And just a side note...instead of thinking of this as ways to prevent injury...just think
about this as ways to IMPROVE RUNNING PERFORMANCE!
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the video! I'd love to hear your thoughts as well as
any questions you may. And as always, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!