Avoid running's 'seven deadly sins'

Dedicated runners have come to expect running-related injuries. In any given year, up to 70 percent of runners sustain an injury that stops them from running.

Yet those problems often are caused by errors in training and technique and can be avoided, according to Sam Murphy, a training consultant to the London Marathon, Nike and Adidas and co-author of the upcoming book "Running Well."

She says simple training mistakes, including wearing the wrong shoes, increasing mileage too quickly or not varying sessions enough are responsible for most running injuries. "By learning the difference between training and straining and honing your technique, you can minimize the risk of injury and the training setbacks it inevitably brings," says Murphy, who worked with Sarah Connors, a physiotherapist specializing in running, on the 184-page book.

Meanwhile, Murphy and Connors have boiled down technique to the "seven deadly sins."

-- Overstriding: Trying to make a stride too big puts the muscles in an inefficient lengthened position, causing the foot to land in front of the knee and creating a braking effect. "Overstriding usually happens when you are trying too hard to run faster," Murphy explains.

-- Wasteful movement: Runners waste energy by incorporating too much up-and-down movement instead of focusing on forward motion. "A common cause of a bobbing action is lifting the knees too high up in front and pushing off the toes," Murphy says. A very short stride also can be to blame.

-- Overpronation: Overpronation results from pushing off on a foot with a collapsed arch. This foot position puts extra stress on the muscles supporting the arch, which, in turn, pull on their attachments to the inside of the shin bone.

-- Sitting in the bucket: Also referred to as sitting on the hips, this happens when the pelvis tilts forward and the hips push back. "This posture reduces the power of the hip extensors, stresses the lower back and shortens your stride," Murphy says. "This posture is responsible for a lot of runners' back and hip problems."

-- Excessive supination: Oversupination occurs when the foot doesn't roll in enough and remains on the outside edge. This action reduces the foot's ability to absorb the shock of impact and increases the risk of stress fractures.

-- Poor hip drive: Relying too much on the quads and hip flexors rather than using the hamstrings and gluteals to extend the hips reduces the power and length of the stride. Strengthening glutes and hamstrings can improve technique.

-- Hip drop: Hip drop, aka "Trendelenburg gait," occurs when the pelvis shifts too far from side to side. "As a result of weak adductors and abductors, the hip of the swing leg drops and the hip of the stance leg pops out to the side because the muscles aren't able to hold the pelvis level," Murphy explains.

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