| Biomechanical assessment | | | | for this. It'll either flatten the foot (pronate it), bend |
| Running with an injury or over-training? Often it is | | | | the knee more, or drop the hip more. Pronation will |
| best to go back to basics | | | | increase the load on the leg (see 'Tight calves' |
| Injuries can affect us all regardless of age, sex or | | | | section), and dropping the hip will increase the the |
| ability. But can we manage or limit the number of | | | | spasm to the glutes / piriformis 'prophylactically', in |
| times we get injured? We can by going back to | | | | other words preventatively, (and also if necessary), |
| basics. | | | | then we are helping to reduce all of the above. |
| But we are not talking about fitness levels and | | | | • Assess yourself |
| stretching. Instead we mean back to biomechanics. | | | | AS a result of one of the largest studies in |
| By assessing, on a regular basis, your biomechanics | | | | biomechanics by Galileo Health and distributed by |
| you can help eliminate and prevent a number of | | | | HumanLab Sports we can all benefit from assessing |
| injuries and problems that athletes suffer from. The | | | | our biomechanics, in the comfort of our own home. |
| body compensating for weak links can cause | | | | You do not need to be a clinician as they have |
| restriction that in turn can cause pain and injury. | | | | developed a CD ROM software program that helps |
| Calf and hamstring injuries are commonly caused by a | | | | you assess yourself with the software prescribing |
| tight sciatic nerve. The muscles provide a protective | | | | the exercises needed to remove the problems and in |
| spasm to the nerve during locomotion and if | | | | turn prevent or normalise the body from developing |
| stretched or loaded sufficiently the muscles can | | | | them in the future. |
| spasm enough to cause themselves to tear - or | | | | As part of the program is injury prevention the CD |
| cramp up - which can feel like a tear. By mobilising | | | | takes you through a series of core stability work |
| the nerve it releases tension in the muscles and | | | | educating you on how to engage your core and to |
| reduces the likelihood of this event. | | | | engage it while doing peripheral movements, so it |
| • Tight calves | | | | becomes second nature to you when running. |
| TIGHT calves can cause over pronation. The | | | | It finishes off with the final section on the trunk and |
| dorsi-flexion (moving the ankle upwards) is not | | | | torso exercises. |
| available from the ankle joint due to the tight calves, | | | | • Benefits of biomechanics |
| so it has to come from the sub talar joint. It comes | | | | SOME athletes out there might not feel the need to |
| as part of the pronation mechanism though and so | | | | help prevent a problem they don't feel they have. So |
| increases the amount of pronation as well. This | | | | let's look briefly at some of the other benefits |
| causes shin related injuries as well as knee and | | | | biomechanics has on your performance. A tight sciatic |
| Achilles problems. | | | | nerve or tight piriformis (hip) can affect your stride |
| Remember that tight calves are often from a tight | | | | length, your knee drive and your power output. |
| sciatic nerve, so by mobilising the nerve, we can help | | | | A tight sciatic nerve can affect your quadriceps |
| with preventing and normalise these injuries. | | | | output by as much as 15 per cent. The effect of |
| The effects our biomechanics have on our body and | | | | biomechanics for the professional athlete and the |
| the vicious circle of injury and pain it can cause is | | | | novice for injury prevention or performance is a must |
| shown again when discussing your hips and pelvis | | | | have tool. It will help you prevent injuries, enjoy your |
| which are so important to our running but generally | | | | running and help with your performance. |
| overlooked until the athlete is in severe pain or in | | | | The program used in helping address any issues you |
| fact injured. | | | | may have now or in the future is worth having. But it |
| • Rotated pelvis | | | | doesn't stop there. |
| A ROTATED pelvis can go unnoticed for many years | | | | It can be used as a training guide to indicate that you |
| until the compensations start to cause problems. | | | | may be over-training or that a new technique or |
| Typically a leg length discrepancy (LLD) can result | | | | training plan is causing you problems. |
| from a rotated pelvis and the leg must compensate | | | | |