It is a topic that makes the rounds on a regular basis: changing an athlete’s running mechanics. Now, it has a more formal clinical term - “gait retraining for runners”. Gait labs around the country, most notably the Spaulding National Running Center at Harvard University, are analyzing running gait and using various feedback mechanisms to enhance or refine the athlete’s movement patterns. The premise is that you can change the gait mechanics of a runner in order to either address a current injury, prevent injury, or optimize their running performance.
This kind of thinking shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to those in the sports sciences community. Why this is such a big deal in the running community circa 2011, I have no idea.
Clinicians and coaches alike wouldn’t think twice about changing a golfer’s swing, or the throwing mechanics of a pitcher, shot putter or a javelin thrower. So why is this suddenly a hot news item in 2011? Look no further than the Journal of Orthopedic And Sports Physical Therapy and an editorial entitled “Gait Retraining For Runners: In Search Of The Ideal” in the December 2011 issue.
Welcome to the holiday season – a time for shopping, the consumption of food and drink, and spending time with family and friends. You might be celebrating Kwanzaa or Christmas or Hanukah. Regardless of the religious or non-religious nature of the holiday season, this time of year almost always involves a desire to partake in good times with family and friends. It is a time for joy in the world – and hopefully plenty of it.
But it is also a season that can get people feeling stressed, exhausted mentally and physically, and perhaps even gaining a few pounds. With that in mind, I have compiled five simple hints to help you have a healthy and happy holiday season.
This is the fifth in a series of RunSmart videos. The series is on-going, with a new video released on a biweekly basis. These videos complement the material presented in the book “RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”. The full series of videos can be found here. A transcription of the video will also be available with each post.
For those of you that are interested in a more interactive learning environment, consider attending a RunSmart Level One, Level Two, or Level Three program. Level One focuses on Principles, Level Two on Performance and Training Program Development, and Level Three on Physiotherapy and Running Injury Recovery. CCU credit for physical therapists is available for Level One (3.5 CCU), and is pending for the complete program (13.1 CCU). Further CCU details will follow as they are available.
In this video, I will discuss the important relationship between posture and propulsion. A primary effect of erect posture is that it will effectively prevent over-striding, and put the focus of the stride on the propulsive phase.
I hope you enjoy the video series. If you would like me to address any specific aspect of the RunSmart approach, drop me an email or add a comment to this article.
Knowledge is power. The world of academia, regardless of the area of study, should be filled with the visionaries, the thinkers, the people that are prepared to be on the cutting edge of thought in their discipline. Research is important, but integration of the research into practice is perhaps even more so.
Professional education should be no different. Chiropractors, physical therapists, and physicians please take note.
Professional education is defined by accreditation standards. In the physical therapy world, CAPTE – the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education – “grants specialized accreditation status to qualified entry-level education programs for physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.”
Somehow, we have managed to run into an unfortunate and ugly symbiotic yet dysfunctional relationship between research, education and accreditation, and subsequently clinical practice – and our academic and clinical worlds suffer because of it.
There is oftentimes a very fine line between healthy and dysfunctional relationships. This is no more readily apparent than the relationships between many health care providers and their patients. Health care in many ways has become a highly codependent environment.
What exactly is a codependent relationship? Codependence is formally defined as “of or pertaining to a relationship in which one person is physically or psychologically addicted … and the other person is psychologically dependent on the first in an unhealthy way”. Codependent relationships display a tendency “to behave in overly passive of excessively caretaking ways that negatively impact one’s relationships and quality of life”. These types of relationships can be characterized by any number of traits including denial, low self-esteem, excessive compliance, or control patterns.
Where does all of this enter into the patient-clinician relationship? Sadly, it is an all-too-frequent occurrence.
I will be the first to admit that this research isn’t new; as a matter of fact, it has been 14 years since I initially presented the results at the 1997 McKenzie Institute International Conference in Philadelphia. This was followed-up in 1998 with a presentation at the APTA National Conference, and again at the 2000 McKenzie Institute North American Conference.
The presentations examined the entry-level curricula for spinal evaluation techniques in five countries: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The goal of the surveys was to establish what was currently being being taught at the entry level, and what the faculty perceptions were with regards to the relative importance of the content.
The question you may be asking right now is “what makes these presentations relevant now?”. Perhaps a more important question would be “has anything changed since that time?”
In a nation like the United States - a proud nation that managed to put a man on the moon within a decade - it is a sad state of affairs when mediocrity drives anything. This is a country that has never been known for mediocrity – until we found 17% of our GDP going into health care.
Most would agree that the US health care system provides access to some of the best technology and procedures in the world. It provides patients with some of the best clinicians in the world.
But within that construct, the system has a set of misguided incentives and profound mediocrity. Until these issues are addressed, true health care reform will never materialize.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.