Runners Knee - Solution for the problem and not a band aid

Submitted by Administrator on Tue, 11/15/2011 - 17:15

Corrective Exercise - Understanding Posture to fix runners knee

Runner, running, knee, brace, pain, rehab, nj, New Jersey, Summit, livingston, chatham, madison, short hills, exercise, health, holistic, rehab, rehabilitation, personal training, trainer, fitness

It drives me crazy to watch people running on the side of the road with all kinds of knee braces or holding little beauty bells (mini-dumbbells) while jogging. The simple solution for 99% of runners aches and pains is to address posture correction.  I witness forward head posture, mouth  breathing, excessive rotation of the trunk or no rotation of trunk, so called "running sneakers", heel striking, core dysfunction, etc...   Soon, we will see people running with full bionic body suits to "protect" their joints.

Order of importance:

  • Breathing through the mouth hyper facilitates accessory breathing muscles in the neck (which causes forward head posture).  It also causes your body to go into fight or flight.  Your sinuses contain parasympathetic stimulators that keep you out of fight or flight, so when you are mouth breathing, you are bypassing this natural event.  In essence, your brain thinks you are running from a lion or tiger when the jaw drops open.

  • Forward head posture is where your cervical extensors begin to tighten while cervical flexors loosen.  This drops the head forward and in order to see ahead of you, you much hyper extend your cervical spine to see the horizon.
  • Footwear: I'm a firm believer in barefoot running or simulated barefoot running.  There are a few great brands of sneakers that accomplish this very well.  My favorite is the New Balance Minimus Trail, Vivo barefoot, and Merrell barefoot.  All of these sneakers have Vibram soles which is the best company that understands barefoot walking/running. 

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