Running Analysis

Good morning!!  How are you guys doing today?

I am so sore this morning.  It’s a good thing I love pain.  And coffee.

Since I started taking strength training a little more seriously, yesterday I met with my PT ninja and Catherine (she’s a PT at the office also) to do a full run/gait analysis.  They took a run analysis course a couple weeks ago and asked if I’d be their guinea pig to perfect their new skills.  (I think Jeff secretly wants to torture me.  )

First they taped post it note squares (they are high tech like that) to my hips, the back of my shoes, then had me do a few exercises like squatting then jumping onto a box while he video taped every move. 

After, I ran on the treadmill at a pace I’d normally do for a little over a half a mile.

They both checked my hip & leg strength since those areas have been my weakest links.  I am stoked they rated my strength 5 out of 5.  It’s so encouraging to finally see all of my efforts are paying off.  Boom!

Then analyzed the video in slow motion and found a few things I to work on.

The good:

• My right side is strong & stable.  This is huge because it was my problem side where my initial injury was.  Double boom!
• I love coffee.

The not so good:

• My left side isn’t as strong as it should be.
• During stance phase of gait you demonstrate (r) hip drop –> weakness in (L) hip <–Quoted from Jeff.

Looking at the picture below. The two yellow boxes on the hips are supposed to stay aligned with every foot strike.  But when I land on my left foot, you can see the right hip drops.

One of the other exercises, I was instructed to squat and jump onto this box. 

See how my knees are together?  That’s another sign of muscle weakness.  The knees are supposed to stay out the entire time.  Also the landing is supposed to be light and graceful.  Jeff should know by now, there’s nothing graceful about me by now, because I landed with a loud thump.  Hey, he’s lucky I made it on the box, yo. 

I really dig this kind of stuff.  Participating in this analysis was like the Big Bang Theory for run nerds like us.  I can’t wait to see my progress the next time I check in.

Starting point:

• Hip hikes, left 34, right 42

The RX:

• Increase hip hike exercise to 3 sets of 40 every day for 3 weeks.
• Keep doing the other exercises and training runs as normal.
• Practice box jumps with knees out 3 sets of 15 every day for 3 weeks.
• Focus on shorter strides while running and staying closer to the ground.  <-not so bouncy.
• Try not to die.

So last night I started day 1 of 3X40 along with my normal exercises.  I lived.

If you’re a bay area run blogger and are interested in participating in this analysis, shoot me an email.  We’re setting up a run clinic soon!

We all have things we can work on, tell me what your currently doing to improve!!

Have you ever participated in some form of fitness analysis?