beware of injuries when these issues arise in your running posture

Running can improve our cardiopulmonary function, accelerate metabolism, and enhance muscle strength. However, incorrect running posture may cause physical injuries before you can reap the positive health benefits!

So how can you tell if your running posture is incorrect? The simplest way to judge is: do you feel pain or extreme muscle soreness in certain areas? If you experience these symptoms after running, you should check if you have made any of the common mistakes outlined below.

1. Lack of Warm-Up and Cool-Down Exercises

Before starting your run, make sure to do warm-up activities (such as stretching or brisk walking). Proper warm-up can increase blood flow to the muscles, raise muscle temperature, enhance nerve conduction and reaction speed, and reduce joint stiffness. This prepares muscles, bones, and joints for the exercise, thereby reducing the chances of muscle and tendon injuries and muscle soreness.

After exercising, you should do cool-down exercises (such as slow walking or stretching) to relax the muscles and prevent lactic acid buildup, which can cause muscle soreness. Therefore, a lack of proper warm-up can increase the likelihood of running injuries, while a lack of cool-down exercises can lead to muscle soreness.

2. Running on Tiptoes

Many runners unconsciously run on their tiptoes, which keeps the ankle joint in a downward position. This can cause tightness and soreness in the calf muscles, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and even increase the risk of ankle sprains.

3. Deliberately Lifting the Legs

Experienced joggers often find that their thighs become unresponsive and hard to lift towards the end of a run. This is because excessively lifting the thighs off the ground causes the hip flexor muscles to over-contract, leading to muscle tightness, fatigue, and soreness, such as tight iliopsoas and quadriceps. Therefore, when running, just follow your natural rhythm, lift your feet lightly, and let your stride flow naturally without deliberately lifting your legs.

4. Overstriding

To increase workout effectiveness and speed, some people deliberately take larger strides. However, this can cause significant changes in body balance and increase unnecessary energy expenditure. Additionally, without proper warm-up, overstriding can easily cause hamstring strains.

5. Excessive Knee Pressure

During running, excessive bending or straightening of the knees can cause undue pressure on the knee joints, leading to pain in the front or outer side of the knees, such as patellofemoral pain syndrome or iliotibial band syndrome. Moreover, over-straightening the knees and landing on the heels can cause tightness in the front outer calf muscles, such as anterior shin splints. Therefore, when running, ensure that your knees and toes point forward and avoid locking or fully straightening the knee joints to prevent long-term knee damage.

6. Swaying Side to Side

Many runners exhibit noticeable hip swaying while running, which may be due to insufficient pelvic muscle strength. This not only consumes energy but also affects the knees and can even cause ankle pain due to excessive pelvic movement. Proper training of the hip abductor muscles, such as gluteus medius strength training, can help improve this issue.

Correct running posture can help us achieve more significant health benefits with less effort. Therefore, regularly check if you are making any of the above mistakes while running and correct them promptly to minimize the risk of injuries.