The NYC marathon is just over a month away. Runners have started their taper in their running program to be able to participate in the marathon without injury. Marathon running requires physical skill as well as mental skill as you have to prepare the body and mind for this amount of physical impact.

Running is the highest impact cardiovascular sport and can be highly compressive on your joints. There is a period of double float where nothing is in contact with the ground. Upon landing and push-off, the energy requirements on your tissues to cushion your landing and propel you forward are tremendous.

Common running injuries are plantar fasciosis, iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome and piriformis syndrome. They mainly occur in the lower body as running is a repetitive motion of the legs. To prevent running injuries, the muscles need to be strong and flexible around the joints. This helps reduce the compression in the joints and allows for range of motion for your stride. Endurance is also a crucial component as running is a repetitive exercise that can cause repetitive stresses on the body. Rehabilitation focuses on isolated muscle strength, kinetic chain alignment, stability and eccentric exercises to absorb load. We emphasize core stability as the powerhouse for the body to increase limb strength and good control of motion.

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