This no-nonsense guide shows you how an understanding of anatomy and biomechanics, coupled with the latest strengthening exercises and rehab protocols, can keep you running injury-free for a long time to come. Each time your foot hits the ground while running, an impact force averaging three times your weight travels through your body at more than 200 miles per hour, causing your bones to vibrate and tendons to stretch. When you consider that the average runner strikes the ground more than 10,000 times per hour, this translates into a remarkable amount of force that needs to be absorbed, and explains why nearly 50% of recreational runners are injured each year. The purpose of this book is to show you that impact forces are not necessarily harmful. By modifying your running form and doing specific exercises to improve tendon resiliency, not only can you effectively absorb these forces, but you can also store and return a significant percentage of them in the form of elastic recoil. Besides reducing your risk of injury, efficiently storing and returning energy can allow you to run faster with less effort. With more than 200 illustrations and 300 references, this book reviews how to: Perform an at-home gait analysis to make specific changes in your running form that can reduce impact forces and improve performance. Decrease your risk of injury by identifying problems with strength, flexibility, and/or neuromotor coordination using specific functional tests. Incorporate new exercises to enhance the storage and return of energy in your tendons. Select the running shoe that is right for you. Treat 25 of the most common running-related injuries with the most up-to-date, scientifically justified treatment protocols available.

Running Injury-Free uses anecdotal examples from Ellis's own patients and experiences in order to discuss injury-prevention, treatment, and recovery. He implements a clinical approach toward treating the most common running-related injuries, as well as providing detailed background situations to describe how each injury can happen, so the reader can recognize poor habits or compare training and running practices in his or her own experience. In this updated version, content relating to shoes and shoe selection, "over the counter" treatments, orthotic techniques and materials, Piriformis Syndrome, chiropractic medicine and acupuncture, stretching techniques, nutrition and supplements, injuries related to minimalist runners, as well as running issues for women, children, and endurance runners will be updated to reflect timely practices and research.

We were not born to run. If we were, injury rates among runners wouldn't be so high. Of the 12 million runners in the United States, the annual injury rate is close to 50%. This translates into nearly 2 million stress fractures and 4 million sprains/strains. To run injury-free for decades, you have to be strong, coordinated and most of all, well informed. While various experts will give you advice based on anecdotal information (e.g., wear minimalist shoes, strike on your midfoot, and never stretch), this book reviews the scientific literature to show you how to: Develop a running form based on your alignment, prior injuries, and desired running speed. Design a personalized rehab program you can do at home by evaluating your arch height, flexibility, strength, and coordination. Choose a running shoe that is right for you. Select the best preexercise warm-up routine. Treat 25 of the most common running-related injuries with the most up-to-date, scientifically justified treatment prototocols available.

Explains why running injuries are so common, examining running form, running shoe design, and training, and includes insights on such topics as the evolution of running, stress-related injuries, and the advantages of barefoot running.

The revised edition of the bestselling ChiRunning, a groundbreaking program from ultra-marathoner and nationally-known coach Danny Dreyer, that teaches you how to run faster and farther with less effort, and to prevent and heal injuries for runners of any age or fitness level. In ChiRunning, Danny and Katherine Dreyer, well-known walking and running coaches, provide powerful insight that transforms running from a high-injury sport to a body-friendly, injury-free fitness phenomenon. ChiRunning employs the deep power reserves in the core muscles, an approach found in disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, and T’ai Chi. ChiRunning enables you to develop a personalized exercise program by blending running with the powerful mind-body principles of T’ai Chi: -Get aligned: Develop great posture and reduce your potential for injury while running, and make knee pain and shin splints a thing of the past. -Engage your core: Shift the workload from your leg muscles to your core muscles, for efficiency and speed. -Add relaxation to your running: Learn to focus your mind and relax your body to increase speed and distance. -Make it a Mindful Practice: Maintain high performance and make running a mindful, enjoyable life-long practice. It’s easy to learn. Transform your running with the ten-step ChiRunning training program.

Running has become more and more popular in recent years, with thousands of people entering marathons, buying new running shoes with the latest technology, and going for a daily jog, whether on the track or on a treadmill. Unfortunately, with running comes injuries, as a result of wrong information and improper training. Author Jay Dicharry was tired of getting the same treatments from doctors that didn’t heal his joint and muscle pain from running, so he decided to combine different fields of clinical care, biomechanical analysis, and coaching to help you avoid common injuries and become the best runner you can be. Along with clear and thorough explanations of how running influences the body, and how the body influences your running, this book answers many of the common questions that athletes have: Do runners need to stretch? What is the best way to run? What causes injuries? Which shoes are best for running? Is running barefoot beneficial? The mobility and stability tests will assess your form, and the corrective exercises, along with step-by-step photos, will improve your core and overall performance, so that you can train and run with confidence, knowing how to avoid injuries!

The ultimate pain-to-personal-best guide to running injuries, covering prevention, detection and rehabilitation. Runners suffer from the highest injury rates of all recreational athletes. Whether you are a novice or elite-level runner, guide yourself through a step-by-step process of avoiding and managing injury. Written by a globally respected physiotherapist who has worked with Olympic and World Champion athletes, Running Free of Injuries will help runners to understand their body, identify weaknesses and develop a natural defence against injury. The book covers the most common running injuries that occur to the foot, ankle, lower leg, hip, knee and pelvis and includes key exercises applicable to all levels of fitness.