Running Clinic

What’s involved at the running clinic?

The Running Clinic uses two comprehensive diagnostic assessments:

• Biomechanical Video Analysis
• Functional Movement Analysis

We can identify inefficient or incorrect movement patterns. This helps us understand why injuries have occurred and how our bodies have compensated. We can also identify mistakes caused by imbalances and poor technique. These lead to poor performance.

How do our movement patterns change following injury?

The brain tries to protect us from pain by compensating to keep us moving and assist with recovery. This can result in movement dysfunction leading to imbalances, poor coordination and slower movement. It is also a major factor in the recurrence of injuries. This results in ‘sensory motor amnesia’ where certain muscles fail to activate during movement.

Knee injury? People begin to shift weight to the non-involved side. They start walking slowly with shorter steps, on the injured side. This leads to reduced flexion at the knee, swinging action at the hip and inefficient use of arms to help balance. If this is repeated enough over a period of time, movement patterns are altered. This is one reason why many individuals with lower limb injuries continue to limp long after the pain has stopped.

Back problems? People reduce their movement speed, avoid rotational movements from the head or shoulders. They avoid bending at the hips, walk with short steps and stiffen the upper back. They avoid reaching out with their arms. This results in a change in the timing of the trunk muscles having a negative effect on postural stabilisation and ability to respond.

Desk-bound job, walking along using an iPhone? People shorten their stride, don’t use their arms and overwork their anterior muscular chain. Activation of the posterior chain muscles is essential for running.

Biomechanical Video Analysis

Everyone has a unique running technique. This can be affected by many factors including present and past injuries. Running efficiency is associated with both the technique and how you move. A Biomechanical Video Analysis can identify weaknesses and poor movement patterns as well as comparing one side of the body to the other. This is important during running as we move contra-laterally with the opposite arm and leg in unison.

We analyse your running action frame by frame. It allows us to slow down your running action and look in detail at 10 separate lower body movement patterns. These are 4 in the midsection and 5 in the upper body. We highlight mistakes such as overstride, inadequate arm motion and hip drop.

In overstriding, there is more breaking force going through the body and more time spent on the ground. This can contribute to anterior knee pain, shin splints and ITB problems. We can take a snapshot of any relevant issues seen and show you where the problems arise. This information is combined with functional movement analysis to develop a functional rehab program. This will improve performance and prevent recurrent injuries.

Functional Movement Analysis

In the running clinic, we assess 16 different movement patterns involving the whole body. In particular, the back, pelvis, hips, knees, ankles and feet as these are the most common areas of injuries in runners.

This is a unique and functional approach to rehabilitation. There is a focus on re-educating the movement patterns that have been interrupted. The interruption can be caused by injury, surgery or compensations from bad technique or lifestyle habits.

This is measured and scored so it can be re-tested at a later date, aiming to see improvements in performance. This will include speed, rhythm, core conditioning, balance and coordination. You will also increase competence and confidence in running.