Endurance Innovation

76 - Common Running Injuries with Brodie Sharpe

Episode Summary

Running physiotherapist and host of the Run Smarter Podcast joins Andrew and Michael to cover the causes, symptoms, and treatment of 3 common running injuries.

Episode Notes

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• 2:30 it takes 20+ years for research findings to trickle down to the general public
• 7:00 Plantar Fasciitis / Plantar Fasciopathy
  • Causes: rapid change in training load, terrain, shoe type, amount of time spent on your feet in non-training situations
  • Symptoms: often very gradual onset with early morning stiffness in the foot / heel. Pain and discomfort often presents outside of training, during daily activity like walking and standing.
  • Often the symptoms abate after a warmup
  • Easiest early intervention is to undo the acute training / terrain / shoe changes
  • Slow, heavy resistance training is prescribed for therapy. Use both eccentric and concentric focus. Big toe dorsi-flexion is a useful add.
  • Complete rest is not recommended unless the symptoms are severe. Even in severe cases you only need a day or two.
  • Taping, massage, orthotics can be useful to help acute symptoms
  • Prognosis is based on tolerance and is individual. Return to activity follows a trial-and-error approach where training is slowly reintroduced, and symptoms are monitored.
• 14:45 the pain / rest / weakness cycle
• 27:30 some pain is okay with the exception of stress fractures or issues with bone reaction components. In this case, pain is an urgent warning sign that should not be ignored.
• 31:00 identifying stress fractures: different pain symptoms, likely locations
• 33:30 patellofemoral syndrome
  • Vague kneecap pain that’s tough to localize
  • Caused by overload of the tissues and not poor knee tracking as previously believed
  • Therapy prescriptions: manual therapy can potentially help with pain. Loading the tissues like squats, lunges, and variations thereof within pain tolerance
  • Gait retraining in runners with serious overstriding
  • Possible misdiagnosis
• 52:15 proximal (high) hamstring tendinopathy
  • Pain just below the gluteal fold that’s characteristic of other tendon pain. Can be triggered by specific hamstring-load tests
  • Sitting becomes uncomfortable in more severe cases
  • Again typically caused by a rapid increase in load, so first step in correction is reducing training volume / intensity
  • Therapeutic exercises: bridge variations, deadlifts, Nordic hamstring variations

Check out Brodie's well-researched and very accessible podcast on running: The Run Smarter Podcast wherever you get your fix.