It Is Not Your Shoes!

Okay to be fair, it could be your shoes but more than likely you're having pain because you're neglecting your cross training, or a number of different things.

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Team, I'm a member of several running groups on Facebook. I love getting inspired by all of the athletes working their butts off and giving insight when athletes have questions but y'all last night while I was scrolling I nearly lost it...

Three posts in a row, athletes had questions about pain that they're having from running and the first several comments on each post went something like, "It's probably your shoes. Try Hokas! I LOVE mine!" and, "I have knee pain on and off. When it comes back I know that means it's time for a new pair of shoes."

This was the comment that made me facepalm so hard my dog looked up at me from the couch. It was in response to someone who said they have hip pain when they run. This runner's advice was, "I love my new Mizunos! They made my shin splints go away after years of having them! You should check them out for your hip pain!"

WHAT?! NO YOU SHOULDN'T!

Okay... so many issues and thoughts here...

Issue 1) Just because a pair of shoes work for someone else does not mean that they work for you.

Issue 2) Shoes more often than not don't actually fix the problem.

Thought 1) Why do we LOVE to give advice even when we don't really have any to give?

Thought 2) Most coaches do free or very cheap consultations. Athletes should reach out to professionals more instead of just heading straight to Facebook.

Thought 3) Maybe I should go buy a pair of Mizunos... HA! I'm just playing!

If you're having pain from running, a great place to start is by assuming that you're lacking in strength somewhere. I say this because over the years training athletes, and myself, I have found that almost always athletes are experiencing pain because they're simply not strong enough for the amount of running they're putting on their body.

When we experience pain from running - I'm talking like the annoying pains that you can usually run through but are uncomfortable and you feel throughout the day - it is often related to a weakness in our synergist muscles.

When you're completing any movement there are muscles that are the Prime Movers, as they're called, and synergist muscles that assist your PMs. Synergist muscles help PMs by holding your joints in place or aiding in the movement being performed.

The reason it's likely your synergist muscles are the cause of your pain while running is because you're exercising and strengthening your PMs every time you go out for a run or walk! They are far stronger than your synergist running muscles, therefore your synergist muscles simply don't have the strength and endurance to keep up with the training pressures you're putting them under.

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My guess is that your pain is being caused by a number of things.

This synergist muscle is weak and this Prime Mover is really tight so when you strike the ground your hips are falling out of alignment causing you to have pain in your back.

OR

You're not warming up properly leaving your tibialis posterior and anterior cold which is causing you shin splints.

OR

You're running high mileage 5 days a week with no strength or balance training and it's causing you to get stress fractures in your feet.

Figuring out exactly what is causing you pain can be very difficult if you don't have a good understanding of anatomy and physiology or running biomechanics. I always recommend consulting and/or hiring a coach who knows running. You would go see the dentist if you had a tooth ache right? So why neglect going to see a running coach if you're having running related pains and injuries?

Team, that doesn't make sense!

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So next time you're having pain from running, skip the Facebook groups or immediately buying another pair of running shoes. Instead, hit me up, your running coach! Let's jump on the phone to chat about what's going on. That's what I'm here for!

If you want to set up a time to chat I'm all in! CLICK HERE to schedule a free consultation.

I got you Team!

-Coach