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Winter Running - treadmill or outside? (02/08/2010)
What a run. I just got done running six miles outside in balmy, 37 degree weather, with a light snow falling and Lee Greenwoods “God Bless America” in my ear. It was awesome! These last couple of months have not be the most ideal conditions for outdoor running...brutally cold temperatures, ice, and snow packed sidewalks and trails. These circumstances have caused us to either run on a treadmill (boring) or brave it and run outside anyway. The result has been increased complaints from my patients of back and hip flexor tightness, or knee pain. Ideally in my biomechanical world, we would all run outside. The ice and snow cause us to change the mechanics of how we run, thus resulting in postural changes and positioning, leading to injury…..let alone the risk of a falling. The treadmill on the other hand, does not allow our powerful hamstrings and glutes to push us forward. Instead the belt pulls us through, therefore these muscles weaken which cause a change in our positioning and create pain. So what is the answer? My colleagues would tell us that we would get more out of walking the mall and going up the steps backwards (works the hamstrings and glutes), or cross training on the elliptical on bad days, rather than taking to the streets or the treadmill. These activities would enable us to stay more mechanically sound and decrease our risk for injury. If, however, you need to run no matter what, then I would encourage you to either run the track at your local gym or run the treadmill on an incline of .5 to 1.0 as this will help to keep those hamstrings and glutes working for you. Split the time between the two to break up the boredom of it all. The other opition is to hope that the Ground Hog was wrong this year and that spring is only six weeks away!
Happy Running,
Lori
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Hruska Clinic Restorative Physical Therapy Services
5241 R Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68504
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