Figure 1. Lateral movement of knee and lower leg causing roational force (torque) in the planted leg (from behind runner).
Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) sucks. I’ve suffered from it recently, and despite lots (weeks) of rest, diligent stretching and strengthening, found that I just could not shake the problem. That is, until I started to work on improving my running biomechanics. Although there are numerous schools of biomechanics for efficient and injury-free running, from what I have seen they all have several key features in common. As for me, I chose to study ChiRunning to improve my biomechanics, partly because it encourages runners to be mindful of the body when running. Basically, this means taking stock of what is going on in each muscle and joint of your body as you run, to identify where the unnecessary stresses are occurring and to check your form, so you can make corrections as needed. In effect, it allows you to experiment.
Figure 2. knees and lower legs moving inline with direction of running with no lateral drift or torque in the planted leg (from behind runner).
ITBS generally comes on gradually as the sufferer runs until the pain forces them to stop. The somewhat gradual onset provides a window of time in which a mindful runner can experiment with slight variations in their form to see what aggravates the condition and what relieves it. For me, the experimentation has taken place over several weeks, because there are many aspects of running biomechanics that can be varied in subtle ways, and even subtle changes in form and focus can result in big changes in stress and strain on particular joints and muscles. Plus, it can take awhile to develop the sensitivity in your focus to isolate sesnations in specific joints or muscles that can range from none at all, to slight stress or strain, to outright discomfort or pain, so you can identify the differences that result from making changes or corrections in your form.
As I improved aspects of my form, I noticed that I was able to run longer and longer distances. When my ITBS started, I could run little more than a mile, and then I was done due to intense stabbing pain that then got worse for a couple of hours after I ran, before subsiding. Keeping my hips level while running helped a lot, and focusing on just that enabled me to run up to about 3 miles before I started to feel the ITB “twinges.” At first, I would just stop at the first onset of twinges, stretch and then walk or jog lightly back home, but then I began practicing ChiRunning and sensing what was going on in my body and through experimentation made some discoveries. read more…
Title: For ITBS try improved biomechanics
Technorati Tags: biomechanics, ChiRunning, health, injury-prevention, ITBS, running, training
