Pain can be a pretty annoying barrier to exercise for people to try to break down, especially if you do not have any education in pain and develop fear, anxiety and worry when it onsets. Sometimes, there are simple solutions, but sometimes, it can require a period of reduced loading, building back up over time.

In this case, it was a simple solution. One of our clients reported last week that he had been having ongoing back pain when running for years. We generally like to start analysing such a situation by considering the total training load the person was exposed to, but also any potential technical variables that stand out to contribute to this experience.

The solution suggested for this client was to shorten his strides this week. If you’ve watched a few recreational runners, you will always see some who are a bit overzealous with their stride length, launching themselves forward with each and every stride. This may be intentional, or just habitual. Some people like to ensure they are extending as much as they can at the hip, however, if you only have 5-10 degrees of hip extension available yet try to attain 15-20 degrees, that additional movement has to come from somewhere else i.e. the spine. 

This client reported back this week to say……

“……your advice to shorten strides when running made an insane difference. Close to zero pain when doing a full 30 mins of running which I haven't had years. Thank you for that.”

This was a nice example of a very simple solution, but remember, this doesn’t apply universally. Also, even if you do get a little pain when running, it’s probably not something to worry much about and definitely not a reason to totally avoid exercising.

Have a great day!

Kind Regards,

Gary & Paddy

Triage Method