There’s something about the crisp air of an early morning run. The shoes are hitting the pavement and your lungs are alive drinking in each gulp of air with zest and fervor. There’s a translucent edge in the air that is like a ray of dawn, light pink and feathery. The throat begins to burn. The heart begins to pound. You are in the zone. Running, like any other high endurance sport, is unfortunately hard on the body. And for those athletes that have taken to running like a fish to water, have no doubt found out it’s not as gentle on the body as swimming is for a fish.
Common injuries for runners aren’t just isolated to the knee or the foot; the entire lower body can suffer from the aftermath. Common causes of injury can be overtraining, inconsistent stretching, or the neglect of cross training. Some injuries by name that runners suffer from are: hip bursitis, snapping hip syndrome, Iliotibial Band Syndrome, hip stress fractures, pulled hamstrings, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, overpronation, arch pain, dislocated knee cap, strained sciatica, ankle sprains, etc.
The problem with orthopedic injuries is that once made, they are notorious for plaguing a runner for the rest of their life. Surgery is one alternative to fixing an “off-line” gait, or injured lower body strain, sprain or fracture however, surgery can sometimes add to the problem and end a runner’s route indefinitely. Perhaps the best way to approach orthopedic injuries is to tally up the most effective preventive strategies so that one can safeguard themselves against the most common mistakes that runners make.
Inflexibility in men is extremely common, especially in the hip girdle. This can create tension and tightness in the joints, and makes male runners perform with a higher potential risk of strain on the lower body. Another problem for male runners is that they tend to see stretching as “girlie”. This is a blanket observation, and some of the more precautionary male runners probably understand the importance of flexibility in the everyday training, but others may skip the deeper stretching that can be found in cross training classes such as Pilates.
Pilates is not only a great preventative measure for runners and can curb their laundry list of potential injuries, it is also a great way to incorporate cross training into a runner’s regime. Pilates utilizes the “core” muscles in a deep and sustained way. When the core is engaged, and used in conjunction to running, there is an additional purchase of balanced that is used throughout the body. This is called “neuromuscular control”. When a runner has control over his movements, he is better equipped to prevent injury. Great neuromuscular control has been noted to prevent ACL injury and common ankle sprains.
If prevention is the “A” in a scale of non-serious to serious orthopedic injuries, then rehabilitation can be considered the “Z”. Orthopedic injuries need to be healed gently and over time, while slowly incorporating activity back into the injured areas. This is where Pilates rehabilitation becomes just what the doctor ordered and the athlete needs.