The Surprising Most Common Cause of Injury for Walkers and Runners

We had a great time last week with Dr. Lara giving the workshop at Tortoise and Hare Footwear. Conversation topics in the class included:
• Imbalances that cause pain while running
• Taking a holistic root-cause approach to physical pain
• Understanding the role of physical, chemical, and emotional stressors to the nervous system in those tension patterns.

(Really the conversation was relevant to just about anyone, given that this is how most pain starts)

Want to get the health care application of our conversation? SCHEDULE A COMPREHENSIVE NEURO-STRUCTURAL EVALUATION with Dr. Lara!

One thing we didn’t discuss (which you are probably doing) is actually one of the most common causes of injuries in runners and walkers! That is over-striding. Essentially most people take too big of steps.
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This is measured in strides per minute. (So longer strides = less SPM)

Most people take less strides per minute than ideal and would be better to think more about “shuffling” when walking or running.

A shuffling walk or run is more efficient, keeps you in your powerhouse, and creates less damaging torsion in your frame.

For runners this mean an ideal of at least 180 SPM. Walking has more variation, but a 100 SPM is a good healthy walk. (Remember this is referring to length of strides, not just how fast you are going.)

Many fitness trackers will tell you your average SPM. You can also simply count your strides for 30 seconds x 2. The easiest way is to count your steps on one side (left or right) for 30 seconds, then multiply by 2, then by two again.

Take care of your body and don’t try to make any changes too quickly. And make sure you are getting regular chiropractic care so your body is able to better self-regulate and clear imbalances that lead to pain, and injuries, and loss of life over time