RUNNERS WORKSHOP : Understand And Manage Knee Pain For Runners
🤔A Review By Happy Runner
Class of 2018
RUNNERS WORKSHOP REVIEW :-
➡️Understand & Manage Knee Pain For Runners
🗣️SPEAKERS :-
🍏Jesse/Apple Physiotherapy Centre
Video: Participant with suspect knee
Video: Knees Don’t Like These !
Physio Jesse (L) checking knee alignment
🏃Sam/Run Fast Academy (RFA)
Coach Sam (R) checking for pulse
Time/Date: 3pm, 23 June 2018
Venue: PJ Palms Sport Centre
Get The Strap!
Editor’s Note
As many as 70% of runners have suffered from running related injuries at one time or another. The top RUNNING INJURY are blisters first, and second most common injury are knee injuries. Blisters can be easily avoided by wearing proper and well-fit footwear, and it helps to keep your feet dry. In contrast, knee injuries are not so easily avoided because there can be many ways for runners to KNOWINGLY and UNKNOWINGLY injure their knees.
Runners may suffer from knee injuries by running TOO MUCH or overtraining, while some runners feel indestructible and they may even defy doctor’s orders to lay off running to rest their knees which makes recovery NEAR IMPOSSIBLE.
Depending on the nature of the knee injuries, runners can end up having to see a SPORTS PHYSIOTHERAPIST for help. Since knee injuries are complex, there are no guarantees of full recovery and often, the treatment is a SLOW PROCESS. Therefore, the best option for runners is to AVOID knee injuries whenever possible by :-
1) Understanding possible causes, and
2) Doing regular knee exercises.
Knee Exercise with elastic band
In this workshop, Running Coach Sam Seow dispels some of the COMMON UNTRUTHS about knee injuries, and citing directly from his own painful running experiences, Sam offers runners a fail-safe method to SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE the risk of knee injuries.
LATE ARRIVAL
My wife Maryati and I arrived at the workshop venue 30 minutes late, and as a result, we missed the presentation on running analysis and caught only part of the physiotherapy segment conducted by Jesse of Apple Physiotherapy. Nevertheless, we managed to sit-in for the FULL PRESENTATION by RFA (Run First Academy) Coach Sam Seow along with a dozen other runners.
CONSTANT INJURIES
Coach Sam started his presentation by sharing his CONSTANT BATTLE against pain and injury which marred much of his early running days. He couldn’t understand why he had suffered so much, despite having followed the same running techniques and recommendations provided by RUNNING EXPERTS in the media.
EUREKA MOMENT
After some in-depth research, Sam discovered the POSE METHOD running philosophy which had helped him turnaround his RUNNING FORTUNES. In fact, Sam was so convinced about this POSE METHOD of running that he quitted his IT job to become a certified POSE METHOD running coach two years ago. Since then, Coach Sam is on a mission to help runners, from all walks of life, run INJURY-FREE and RUN HAPPY through his Run Fast Academy.
What Is The Pose Method Of Running?
Of course, it was not possible to cover all the aspects of the Pose Method during the LIMITED TIME given by this workshop. However, I have summarised below the key points presented by Coach Sam in a way which helped me understand the relationship between running and knee injuries. Understanding this relationship is vital to protect runners’ knees from too much stress.
3 Key Elements Of The Pose Method
- The Pose :- (a) When running, you must NEVER LAND on the heels (or the back) of your feet because this will cause the stress of the full impact to travel up to your knees and lower back which will cause damaging wear and tear on your knees, as well as lead to back pain overtime. Rather, the balls of your feet should strike the ground with your knees RELAXED and BENT. This way, the knees act like a SHOCK ABSORBER and the shockwave created by the foot hitting the hard ground or concrete is much less damaging to the knee joints and back. The BIG CATCH to this stress-free striking is that your legs will tire-out quickly if your running muscles are not adequately conditioned. However, if INJURY-FREE running is your ultimate goal, then there is no shortcut available apart from conditioning your running muscles until they can withstand landing on the balls of your feet over your chosen running distance. It will take much effort and time to master this front-foot LANDING TECHNIQUE but its huge reward of a lifetime of care-free running is what we all hope for, until the end of our running days. (b) Pose Method also preaches using SHORT STRIDES & landing the feet directly under the hips rather than taking long strides which may look good on magazine covers, but will stress the muscles more. Thus, to INCREASE SPEED using Pose Method, you must INCREASE CADENCE, while keeping short strides to use energy more efficiently. ( c ) How should the arms move? Minimum swinging of arms is best to conserve energy and maintain efficiency of movements. Plus the shoulders, like all other muscles, should be relaxed and not tensed to help save energy.
- The Pull: Another important rule of the Pose Method is to emphasise on “pulling” your FEET BACK almost as soon as it hits the ground. In contrast, many runners mind will wrongly focus on the pushing off movement of the feet when it hits the ground. With Pose Method, hardly any effort is exerted striking the ground because we let GRAVITY do the work. This way the muscles, especially the thigh muscles will not need to be tense trying to push the feet off the ground. Keeping the muscles relaxed when the feet strikes the ground, and using the PULLING rather than pushing method will not only cause less unwanted jarring effect, but the muscles will not be easily overworked and stop the muscles from cramping unexpectedly. Nevertheless, before new runners can benefit from the ENERGY EFFICIENT pulling movement, regular MUSCLE-STRENGTHENING and REPETITIVE TRAINING must be completed beforehand. Video: The Pull action
- The Fall: This is perhaps the easiest part of the POSE METHOD, and here, runners will be using gravity by leaning the upper body slightly forward at all times which gives a falling sensation. Then, as the runner is FALLING FORWARDS, the feet will naturally move forward using the above explained Pose and the Pull sequences respectively to complete ONE running movement. Some runners will naturally have a higher running cadence, then others. However, for maximum running efficiency, runners should aim for 160~180 steps per minute in order to achieve faster times. Video: How To Fall?
POSE ➡️ PULL ➡️ FALL ↩️ REPEAT
💪 Mandatory Muscle Conditioning
The glue which holds all 3 of the above-mentioned key running principles is being able to support one’s own BODY WEIGHT by keeping the muscles lean and in tip top condition for running effortlessly. This entails completing regular running drills and specific muscle-strengthening exercises of both relevant major and minor muscle groups. To exercise the smaller isolated muscles, the use of a stretch band is highly recommended.
VIDEO CLIPS
☑️ Examples Of Calisthenics Exercises
For Pose Method Runners
Video : Knee and Coordination Exercise
Do ‘The Plank’ For Better Running Posture
☑️ Examples Of Stretch Band Exercises
👟 Can Shoes Protect My Knees?
According to Running Coach Sam, if you have the right kind of running technique, the shoe type will NOT MATTER. He added, “the shoe is only meant to PROTECT your feet”. In fact, wearing shoes may hinder you from utilising all your leg muscles. Therefore, it is recommended that you add some BAREFOOT RUNNING into your weekly training to ensure that the most number of leg muscles are being activated.
My First Impressions
From what I have learnt about POSE METHOD Running in this workshop, I give Coach Sam & Run Fast Academy TWO THUMBS UP for introducing a really EFFICIENT form of running which allows any runner to OPTIMISE their running potential in a scientifically PROVEN method, and at the same time, SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE the risk of running injuries.
Video : Happy Runner Using The Pull
BETTER PERFORMANCE
Thus, I would certainly RECOMMEND to any runner to find-out more on how Pose Method can IMPROVE their running performance.
CUT-OUT INJURIES
If you’re suffering constant injuries and pain associated with running, I strongly suggest you seek expert advice from a recognised sports physiotherapist in order to avoid inflicting permanent damage on yourself, and possibly, ending your running journey for good.
⭕USEFUL CONTACTS
👉For more information about POSE METHOD & Run Fast Academy ( https://www.facebook.com/runfastacademy/ ), contact Running Coach Sam Seow ☎️ 012-326 7577
👉 For more information on Sports Physiotherapy Treatment of Running Injuries, contact Apple Physiotherapy ( https://www.facebook.com/applephysiorehab/ )
at PJ Palm Sport Centre ☎️ 03-7960 7919
Wefie With Wife/Participant Maryati (2nd from Right)
*Disclaimer*
To the best of my knowledge, all of the information provided herein is accurate at the time of publishing and the views expressed are based on my own personal opinions and findings, and they don’t necessarily reflect the views of the Product Manufacturer, Event Organiser or any Third Party unless explicitly specified otherwise.
About The Author
Gus Ghani is the Founder of Running Toons and a HIIT Fitness Coach, and Magazine Columnist. He has contributed numerous insightful articles to The Star newspaper, Running Malaysia Magazine, and Cycling Malaysia Magazine. LIKE Happy Runner for RUNNING UPDATES, Gus Rider for CYCLING NEWS, Gus Ghani for SPORTS INFOTAINMENT and FOLLOW gusghani @IG for LIFESTYLE.
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