Runners Are Athletes, Not Just Runners
Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention is the most concise, current and easy to read book on the market that describes the biomechanics of running.
It is written for clinicians, coaches and runners and gives the science behind why it is necessary and important for runners to be viewed as athletes, not just “runners.”
Author Jay Dicharry, PT, challenges the reader to integrate drills and running gait specific exercises to avoid injury that interferes with the training and goals of 82% of runners.
Dicharry reminds us that running is three-dimensional and not just a straight and forward motion.
Efficient running relies on capturing the elastic energy and recoil of the legs and research studies have shown that elastic spring can be improved by specifically training cadence, stride mechanics, and neuromuscular control.
Injuries typically result from imbalances in the body and the tissue breakdown that eventually occurs. Dicharry provides eleven specific self-assessment tests and the corrective exercises to improve identified deficits. Dicharry reminds us that to keep the spine in neutral to run flat, uphill or downhill requires excellent core control. And excellent core control in addition to full mobility of the hip to get the leg behind you will enable the glute max to do what it is designed to do: propel you forward more efficiently.
This book challenges runners to include more than just running in their training regimen to keep the body in balance and it provides the scientific rationale to back up that suggestion.
