Running Mechanics

I just thought I would write in a little tidbit about running! Growing up my coaches told me that long running strides was the best way to run. That is FALSE! When you run with long strides it adds a lot of stress to mainly knees, but also all lower extremity joints. When I worked at a physical therapy clinic, I bet that 80% of the athletes that came in for injury treatment was because of improper running technique, but mainly they had too big of a stride length. Their injuries went away after treatment and and they were able to get back to training after they learned how to run properly. The proper running stride should be about 90 or more strides per minutes. That means your right foot should hit the ground 90 times in one minute. Count it out and see where you are! The turn over rate is quick, but it will help with injury I promise! This is true for all speeds of long distance running, but is not true for sprinting. You can time one minute and try to get 90 steps, or you can time 30 seconds and try for 45 steps. Try it out! You will like it :)