LOWER LIMB FORCES WHILE RUNNING
, by Alexander Davies, 5 min reading time
, by Alexander Davies, 5 min reading time
Running and new runners running is on the rise as its inclusive, cheap and accessible without the need to arrange a court or organise a team (which in the current climate isn’t even possible). Therefore, it is worth understanding what effect and stresses these exercises have on our bodies and limbs.
The 2020 pandemic and its associated restrictions has caused many to cherish their time spent outdoors and exercising. This has seen the eruption of home workouts, running and cycling which is fantastic for health and wellbeing.
It’s no surprise that running and new runners running is on the rise as its inclusive, cheap and accessible without the need to arrange a court or organise a team (which in the current climate isn’t even possible). Therefore, it is worth understanding what effect and stresses these exercises have on our bodies and limbs.
In physics, force is defined as the product of mass and acceleration, for our purposes, we can define force as the amount of stress through our bodies by impacting the ground while walking/running.
The reason that the vertical forces are greater in walking and running than they are when you are standing still is that; in standing, the vertical force has just to balance your weight. However, in walking, and to a more extreme case in running, the force has to support your weight and produce a change of momentum as you land. Changing the downward motion to an upward motion for the following stride.
When you run and your speed increases, you achieve this by increasing the length of your stride and the frequency of the movement of your legs. Both legs rotate as you run and the centre of gravity of your body also moves up and down by a few cm during each stride in both walking and running.
Force has the characteristics of quantity and quality. Quality is what has previously been loosely explained and can also vary from person to person with factors like mobility, biomechanics and weight.
Quantity is the other arm of the equation and in the context of running is often referred to as ‘training intensity’. Many new runners often experience injuries after an increase in the amount of running they’re doing whether that be in frequency, effort or distance.
When this increase is not applied gradually, the tissues do not have adequate opportunity to acclimatise to the higher-level forces and often results in a range of injuries. With this in mind it’s no surprise that lower leg and joint pain is a common complaint among runners, especially new runners given the key roles these muscles, tendons and bones play while running.
Several other factors can also contribute to force related running injuries from diet, recovery routines to running form and shoes. Many of the lower limbs affected are listed below, when these and complimenting areas are weak, tight or overworked, they become vulnerable to injury:
The best form of treatment is prevention, here are some tips to prevent most of the aforementioned injuries:
If you’ve unfortunately missed the prevention stage and have suffered an injury, the first point of call would be to seek professional medical advice. Following that most soft tissue and impact injuries can be treated with the following: