Running – where do you start? With proper form and techniques!

You may be wondering why a podiatrist would be talking about proper running techniques, but think about it, your feet start it all.  Your feet are just the start though, because the way you hold your whole body matters.  From your head to your toes, everything can be adjusted to help you run better, faster and feel better afterwards.  

Starting with your feet, make sure you run light footed, not stomping as you run.  Your should land on your heel to your mid foot and then quickly rolling forward to and pushing off on your toes.  With your legs, you should focus on having a good stride length.  This is accomplished by making sure your feet land right underneath you and that your knees don’t twist in or out when your foot is behind you.  Your torso and hips should be straight, pointing your pelvis and stomach straight in front of you.  Make sure you don’t bend forward or backwards, but keep yourself straight, standing tall.  Your arms and hands have a say in form too.  Make sure you don’t clinch your hands, but rather let them close lightly with just the fingertips barely touching the inside of your hands.  Your arms should be bent at a 90 degree angle at the elbow, and swing them only forward and back, not across your body.  The shoulders should not be pulled up, but rather let them be low and relaxed.  Lastly, your head - you should make sure you keep your eyes focused at a normal eye level in front of you, not looking down at your feet, behind you or up in the sky.  By doing that, your head will be more relaxed, and help keep your back and neck straight.

By following all these techniques in your running form, you’ll run better, faster and feel better afterwards.  Also, keeping a great running posture will definitely help in keeping your body from breaking down and injuring itself.  If you’re not injured, you don’t have to sit out, unless you need the rest of course.

For more information on sports related injuries and how to maintain your health while you participate in sports – see our website at www.eastpennfoot.com

Barefoot Running

One thing that seems to have blown up on the internet is the idea of barefoot running.  Is barefoot running really better than running with shoes?  Probarefooters say that running without shoes causes you to gain more strength and balance, but is the dangers worth the risks?  “What risks could there be?” you might ask.  This blog is here to cover some of those risks.

First of all, we don’t live in a world full of soft fields of cushy grass.  If you run on the street or sidewalk, that’s a very hard surface to be bounding your feet on over and over and over again.  If you don’t believe that, go outside barefoot and just stomp your foot on the sidewalk a couple of times.  It won’t take more than one time to realize that it hurts.  Some of you might be thinking that, “People don’t stomp their feet when they run.”  At least most people don’t, but you do hit your feet harder than when you walk just because you’re going faster.   Even most grassy areas have hard ground underneath them.  

Secondly, without shoes on, your feet are open to any attack the world has to offer.  Nails, rocks, twigs, pebbles, stray toothpicks, dirt, crazed dogs, you name it, it’s out there.  While calluses can be built up, they aren’t going to stop most of what your feet might happen to step on.  If you get a cut on your foot, that could put a damper on your training.  Especially if that cut were to become inflected.

In short, you might get a little more strength and balance, but it isn’t really worth the risks.  Nothing cuts your training off faster than an injury, particularly a foot injury.  Check out the news coming out of Boston from the American Podiatric Medical Association Annual Scientific Meeting, which was July 28-31.  One of the main topics was barefoot running.