After a long snowy winter, it looks like it is finally time
to get outside and enjoy what will hopefully be a sunny Minnesota spring and
summer. For some exercise enthusiasts,
this means a welcomed transition from the monotonous treadmill running experience
to taking advantage of our beautiful running trails and parks in the metro
area. For some, it means restarting
their exercise program all together after a winter break. Either way, it is important to make a plan
and gradually increase your exercise intensity and duration to prevent injury
and over training. In this post, OSR
Physical Therapy would like to highlight the benefits of having a video gait
analysis done BEFORE you begin your outdoor running program for the summer.
Recreational running, whether 5k or marathon distances, is
an activity thousands of Minnesotans enjoy to stay in shape and satisfy the
desire for competition and achieve personal goals. Many individuals who currently run, want to
begin running, or have no interest in running for that matter, have the belief
that running causes injury or even leads to the development of arthritis in the
knees, hips, and other parts of the body.
Based on hundreds of scientific studies over the past two decades, it is
clear that the act of running itself does not cause injury, bad running form
and bad planning do.
One powerful tool that many people use to improve their
running form is video gait analysis. At
OSR Physical Therapy, we have highly trained, experienced therapists that use
video gait analysis to identify key muscle weakness, joint range of motion, and
running form problems which may be causing a runner to be injured, increase
their risk of being injured, or simply limiting their performance or ability to
run longer distances. Based on the
results of a video gait analysis, our physical therapists are able to develop a
personalized stretching and exercise program, recommend running footwear, and
work with a runner on their form to minimize stress to joints and ligaments,
decrease energy expenditure, and maximize running efficiency. Using video gait analysis, and as experts in
human movement and corrective exercise, we have been able to assist countless
local runners from Olympic level competitors to the causal, low mileage
exercise enthusiast in achieving more enjoyment while running as well as
improving performance.
Remember, you do not have to be an elite athlete to enjoy
the powerful benefits of video gait analysis!
One common mistake people make is thinking this service is extremely
expensive and only for the athletes they see on TV. It is not.
In fact, video gait analysis may be more useful for the beginner who
does not know how fast they should run, how long they should stride, what
running style they should use, or what shoe they should wear. The answers are not black and white. They are specific to each individual runner
and having a video gait analysis done is the single BEST way to get started on
a successful spring and summer of running!
Please check out these links for information on running
benefits, shoes, run clubs, and a quick demonstration of our video gait
analysis.
We are also offering 50% off our Video Gait Analysis at certain times of the month. If you are interested in learning more about our discounts check out our previous post on Gait Analysis Discounts.
For more info on our programs contact:
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