I wish I could tell runners that every bone stress injury follows the same timeline. It would certainly make things easier. The reality is that a return-to-running program for a tibial bone stress injury may look very different than a return-to-running program for a navicular stress fracture. Add in factors such as energy availability, hormonal health, breastfeeding, strength deficits, or a history of recurrent bone stress injuries, and the picture becomes even more individua

One of the most common questions I get as a running physical therapist is, "What shoe should I wear?" Although my patients don't like it, the answer is almost always the same: it depends. The shoe itself is a tool. Like any tool, its job is to help you accomplish a specific task. Some shoes are built for daily mileage, some are designed for racing, some are intended for trails, and others are designed to provide a different running experience altogether. Footwear companies us

Can Your Body Handle a Carbon-Plated Running Shoe? Carbon-plated running shoes, often called "super shoes," have changed the running world. Over the last several years it is not just carbon that makes a shoe "super" but other parts of the shoe such as the performance foam and nylon plates put shoes in the super shoe category. Nearly every major shoe company now has a super shoe model, and runners are no longer using them only on race day. Many athletes are using them for wo

Hip flexors are one of those things runners love to blame. Tight hips. Short strides. Low back pain. Fexors are rarely the only issue, they play a meaningful role in how we run and how problems can start to show up. The hip flexors are a group of muscles that help advance the leg during running. After your foot leaves the ground, they help bring the thigh forward so you can take your next step. They also assist with pelvic and trunk control, helping manage the forces that tra

Every time one of my athletes or friends say they do clamshells to help with their glute strength I want to scream. Clamshells have a place in rehab, especially post-surgery or for individuals who are just beginning to engage in exercise. But for runners, clamshells are not enough. Running demands dynamic, upright, and single-leg control. Clamshells are performed lying on your side, in a non-weight bearing position, and they do not train the glutes the way they're used during

Most runners don’t realize they’re overstriding. It often shows up when you are trying to run faster, increase mileage, or push through fatigue. But when your foot lands too far out in front of your body, you increase braking forces and slow yourself down. You also increase the risk of common overuse injuries. Overstriding happens when your foot strikes the ground ahead of your center of mass, typically with a more extended knee and a heel-first contact. This position increas

If you have been told to "just stop running" because of an injury then you may have been given poor advice. Rest may calm symptoms, but it doesn’t solve your injury. Pain relief is simply a reduction in irritation, but it does not mean your tissues aren't ready to handle the demands of running. Some injuries do better if you continue to load them in a modified way, such as tendinopathies. You do have to stop running with a bone stress injury, but you can do things like core s

Photo by Alan Lam I love running. I hate telling people they can't run. Running is great exercise and it is so beneficial for both mental and physical health. But if you run long enough, chances are you will deal with pain or injury at some point. As a physical therapist who works with runners every day, these are the five most common questions runners ask about running injuries and answers that can help you to stay healthy and keep running. 1. "Why do my knees hurt when I ru

Sometimes the first few minutes of a run feel stiff or painful, but after a mile or two the discomfort settles down and the run actually feels better. What does this mean? As a running physical therapist working with runners in Atlanta, this is something I hear fairly often: “If the pain goes away during the run, is it okay to keep running?” In many cases, the answer is yes, but with the right modifications. It depends on the type of tissue involved and how the pain behaves d

In my PT clinics we always know when a big race is coming up because one or two weeks before race day the phone is ringing off the hook. Pain or small injuries that could be ignored when mileage was low start to get louder and more difficult to run through. Why does this happen? Training Fatigue Most of the time our clients try to pin point the one thing they did that caused the injury, but it is usually not from one single workout - it is overall training fatigue. During the