When you undertake any exercise you need to follow basic principles - so looking at a high correlation of injuries and long distance running does not show causality but it indicates that if appropriate caution is not taken - surfaces, shoes, schedule and many more, then overuse could lead to injury.

I tell colleagues it is like saying - Corporate life is injurious to health - will lead to - hyper tension, carpal tunel, lower back aches, beer bellies, cardiac issues pre 40, marital stress and more, jet lag, inadequate sleep related issues, and fatigue. All true - IF you are not sensible about a work life balance.

Would be interesting to know more about the details of this study

Regards

Historically running has had many disadvantages.  Without smooth tracks and tons of concrete streets running can cause many of the injuries described by Lynne McTaggart - so walking, climbing and dancing was much preferred.  Running in ancient times just gave way to chase.  Ancient man never "exercised" as such but lived by walking, climbing and jumping - most of the time, without footwear so the multitude of nerve ending under the feet were able to reflex and "exercise" all the interior organs.  Running away from lions and tigers and bears (~oh my~) was usually not long-lived - pun intended.  Thus evolution never favored those who ran - away or otherwise.  Short, sudden bursts of activity - yes.  Longer distances - never - or seldom.  Certain Austrailan Aboriginees are an exeption and evolved ways to run what seems like forever.  But most people - physiologically - are not well designed for running - not anything like wolves, wild dogs, big cats - even many birds and reptiles that can run after us - and eat us.  And some don't even need feet!  Face it - running does little to help us and is out.  Walking and dancing is in.

Hope this helps.

Dr. Van Beveren      

I'd be Interested to know how many of the injuries 'caused by running' where bilateral?

Or what musculoskeletal imbalances each of the study participants had?

You see, if running is indeed the cause of the injuries, then logically the same injury would occur on both sides of the body, with equal intensity, would it not?

Lets be sensible here for just a moment. The human body is exquisitely designed to enable us to walk, run, hop, skip, jump, crawl, climb, lift, push, kick and throw... with ease and pain free - Just like you did as a child.

While pain and injury may occur during or following any of the activities above, the activity is NOT the cause of the pain or injury.

If you had a car and it's wheels pointed in different directions, would you be surprised to find that you had a bumpy ride and that there was excessive strain on the structure of the car, resulting in excessive wear and tear? Hopefully not!

With this in mind, why is it then, that when faced with clearly visible evidence of imbalances* in the front to back and side to side relationship of an individuals body  otherwise intelligent people blame an activity that is not only natural, but healthy?

*(feet pointing out and at different angles, hips/shoulders elevated out of position, rounding of the back and shoulders - to name a few examples)

The problem is with the body going to the activity (running) and NOT the activity itself. The cause lies in a lifestyle that revolves around restricted and repeated patterns of movement and prolonged sedentary periods i.e. sitting.

The result is musculoskeletal dysfunction and compensation – the body becomes disconnected.

A chain reaction occurs within the body and can cause joints to become functionally isolated (disconnected), meaning that physical stresses and shock from impact are no longer dissipated throughout the musculoskeletal structure, but are concentrated in a localised area.

It’s like what happens when you pass sun light through a magnifying glass – the energy becomes extremely focused and often has a direct impact on a small area such as a joint, muscle, tendon or ligament.

Support braces, strapping, specialist insoles and shoes may serve a purpose in helping to alleviate symptoms but do nothing to address the actual route cause of a particular problem, as they do nothing to assist the body in restoring the proper function and connection. Therefore they serve only as a crutch and as such, in the long run can in fact be detrimental to the restoration of function and long term resolution.

Websites such as wddty have a moral responsibility to think through more carefully the information posted rather than propagating a misinformed view point.

This view point is pervasive in the press and supports medical, 'alternative', sports and leisure industries that generate enormous profits while individuals suffer from avoidable symptoms and maladies.

Encouraging people to simply live with ever decreasing choice of natural activities in order to avoid symptoms is not an effective long term solution. This approach only serves to further disempower.

Continuing to view the human body as fragile leads us to think we are broken when we experience symptoms. Yet symptoms are simply the body’s highest form of communication that something is not right.

Learning to understand the symptoms can set us free from the downward spiral of pain and incapacity.

Contact: donal.email[at]gmail.com

I take issue with Lynne's recommendation for walking technique. It is based on a rather military, mechanistic view of how to walk, and may in the long run (or walk) give rise to some of the problems it is supposed to address.

Try an experiment. Put on a hat that covers your ears, muffling the sound a little. Now walk as suggested, landing on your heels and rolling on to the toes. At every step you will hear a thud as the shock wave is transmitted up through the lower limb into the pelvis, and up through the spine to the head. I would suggest this may produce effects which are not welcome, particularly if this style of walking becomes a habit. Watch a film of Nazi or Soviet soldiers goose-stepping and you will see just how much jarring there is through the spine.

Now try something much simpler. As you start to walk, lean forward. As you fall forward, your legs will (almost) automatically move forward to catch you. Walking forward is a constant process of falling forward! You will find that instead of landing on your heel, you land on the whole foot, and the more you lean forward, the faster you go, and the more you land on the front of the foot. The other thing you notice is that walking, even at speed, is effortless. and with the hat on, the shock wave through the body is much more modest. Much of the energy is being absorbed by the arch of the foot, and through flexion of the knee and hip joints.

The conclusion is that evolution shaped us to be very efficient in walking over long distances, but that poor habits, probably derived from military tradition, have contributed to the kind of problems Lynne describes.

I hope these ideas may contribute to your discussion.

Warwick

sdosteopaths@bigfoot,com

Walking is great exercise and whenever I feel like being really expansive in walking I wear running clothes, it gives more freedom of movement and on these cold days I just blend in more, people think I am a runner.  I also wear running shoes to walk in and do short burst of sprinting.  This really suits me and keeps me toned and fit. I also jump and run on the spot on a mini trampoline (rebounder) which is great for energising and enjoyment.   I agree that walking is better than running but whichever technique of walking is chosen it is good to have freedom of movement and also swing the arms and so this is why wearing running clothes can be good. I put my key in a little running bag around my waist, and my arms and hands are free.

I have both run and walked. Run races including 5 marathons(not to be reccomended) walked on the Fells (out of this world). For both of these extremes you do need to have a decent level of fitness. When I was "fit" for running I could run for 2 hours easily. No panting, no muscular pain. Sheer exhileration(incorrect spelling) I have also walked for 3 hours up the fells and been absolutly stiff as a board for a couple of days in fact unable to get out of the car after driving back from the Lakes to Blackpool. So if you do whatever you want within your capabilities..where's the problem?

Donal I agree with you.

I large proprortion of people work in jobs which require a great deal of sedation (pretty much any office job).  And even many jobs that are more active can be repetetive and cause problmes that way.

Often when one goes to a gym, you see people trying to counteract this either by lifting weights with an aim simply to lift weights for the sake of it (i.e., lift as much as possible), or doing excercises properly, but with no real aim at all.

When the body is in good shape and excercised properly, running is safe.  For instance I would never recommend anyone (not that I am in a position to) take up running if you work in an office before some basic conditioning.  Otherwise the connective tissue around the joints bears too much force rather than muscle, which can do that much better.

Do you mind me asking, what is your background?

Reagrds

H

I'm non-medical and I help people with muscle and joint pain (e.g. hip, knee, back, sciatica, frozen shoulders, tennis elbow etc) who have had limited success with 'conventional' approaches.

This isn't really the place to get into more detail, so feel free to Private Message me if you like.

Donal

I agree with Mike " if you do whatever you want within your capabilities..where's the problem?".

 Personally I don't like running (my body doesn’t like it) my body prefers walking, and I listen to that. Those walking rules do they fit everybody, certainly not ? If I over do it my body tells me and I might get punished with some pain, I should listen to that. If we just follow the natural rhythm of the body I think we can avoid injury and enjoy the walking. Listen to your body while waking, it needs to go fast, go faster, it wants to slow down, slow down, it can jump then go ahead.

I would rather enjoy it than thinking about which comes first, my heals or my toes.