Beginners Running Mistakes you Could Easily Avoid

When you start out running, you're probably quite passionate about it. And that's a great way to involve yourself in any kind of exercise. As passionate as you are though about running, there are quite a few beginners running mistakes that it could be possible for you to fall prey to. Unless you have a coach with the camcorder recording your every move (as they do for serious athletes), it can be impossible for you to actually find out what exactly you are doing wrong with your posture. You could have a dull cramp around your hamstrings, the backs of your knees could feel sensitive, you could have an unexplained kind of back pain - all of these and more could come from a poor running posture and gait. And even if you don't suffer from any of these kinds of injury, the wrong gait and posture can easily route the of performance that could be yours if you could only find out how to correct that.

One way that we have of catching a beginners running mistake or two would be t osign up for a session at a running clinic. This is where experts in running formThey, give you a musculoskeletal exam to see if there is anything about your muscle or bone structure that could throw you off balance. They then put you on a treadmill to study you from every possible angle. Physiotherapists these days actually recommend that every runner sign up for one of these sessions for a little advice on what they could be doing wrong. So what are the kinds of things that these runners do wrong in general?

To begin with, most people have, what is known is an asymmetrical gait. What this means is, that they tend to work one side of the body harder than the other - launching harder off one foot and landing harder on one. The way these clinics evaluate  this kind of asymmetry is usually to listen to the runners footfalls. Once they discover this, explain to the runner how this can eventually lead to pain. And they try to help him concentrate and correct the unevenness.

Most people have their own ideas to do with what part of your foot you're supposed to launch or land on. Some people just happen to be forefoot runners; others happen to be rear-foot runners. Being told to do something that isn't natural to you can throw you completely off balance. It happens a lot to children in in school when some know-all athlete or instructor tells them that they're doing it all wrong. One does use the gait that is natural to one, Forefoot or the rear foot, it is possible to make a few mistakes in the angle one uses. A physical therapist can help one regain the right kind of gait.

A classic beginners running mistake happens to center on the kind of shoes one uses. Lots of people for instance have arches that don't rise as much as they should. It can be quite difficult to find shoes that exactly match the kind of arches you have. If you actually have any pain, getting custom fitted shoes may be the only option you have.

Dealing with a Running Knee the Safe Way

When you hear of a disease named after a certain sporting activity - tennis elbow or runner's knee for instance - you naturally tend to think that people who practice those specific sports like crazy are the only ones who tend to be affected. Of course, they just name  the disease this way for no particular reason. While running knee is something that runners come by a lot, any kind of athlete who uses his legs - a bicyclist, a pole vaulter, a boxer or a weight lifter can be struck down by the disease just as well. Actually, running knee isn't one specific condition at all. It's a term that doctors use loosely to describe any of a set of problems that occur in the kneecaps.

For instance, any kind of athletic activity that requires a person to bend the knee and straighten it repeatedly can bring the condition on. Doing that can rub your nerves the wrong way. Sometimes, the tendons that connect your muscles to the bones around the knees can get injured with repeated bending too. And about half the time, overworked and inflamed tendons act up in such a way that you feel quite a bit of pain. In some people, merely to fall hard on the knees can cause the kind of nerve or tendon injury that overuse can cause as well.

Runner's knee can feel quite terrible. There is serious pain around the kneecap - most pointedly where the thigh bone meets the kneecap. You can feel grinding and popping in the knee and there is usually a good bit of pain when you climb downstairs or when you try to walk or sit. Your doctor gives you an MRI or an x-ray or CT scan to diagnose you. While all of this does sound kind of scary, the good news is that it can be somewhat easy to treat runner's knee. Most minor cases go away with a lot of the rest, icing your knee for a half hour every day for a week or using tight knee support help. If it hurts when you sit down, you could try elevating your knee on a pillow. Athletic types often take NSAIDs - painkillers like Advil - to settle the swelling and pain.

Athletes often have aching joints and muscles and often pop acetaminophen in place of Advil to try to help their stomachs out. If you have running knee and you need to take a painkiller, doctors are usually of the opinion that Tylenol is the safest bet - if you take no more than six tablets a day. The military usually has a huge problem with runner's knee in boot camp. Recruits who show up and go through the military's grueling series of exercises often complain of this affliction. In fact, running knee happens to be one of the major reasons why military recruits drop out.

Researchers have found now that simple well thought-out stretching exercises can help a great deal with keeping running knee away. Exercises especially that strengthen thigh muscles and leg muscles making them stronger and more flexible make the occurrence of runner's knee a lot less frequent.