As the popularity of distance running grows, there is an increase in running-related injuries. Recently, Dr Roy Cheung from the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences has conducted a gait retraining programme, modifying runners’ running posture through systemic training. He shared his findings on running injury prevention.
1. What is the main cause of running injury and is there any assessment method?
Landing forces during running are known to cause injuries. Landing forces can be measured in terms of vertical average loading rate (VALR) and vertical instantaneous loading rate (VILR), which refer to the mean and maximum rate of loading during impact, and are known as biomechanical markers related to injury.
2. Please briefly introduce the gait retraining programme.
Our research team recruited 320 novice runners aged 18 to 50, with less than two years of running experience and who run regularly more than 8 km per week. Among the runners, 166 received a two-week visual biofeedback training (the gait retraining group) in the laboratory. During eight treadmill-training sessions, they ran at a self-selected speed and were reminded by the signal on the monitor to “run softer”. Another 154 participants (the control group) also ran eight times on the laboratory treadmill, but received no feedback and continued to run normal-stride as usual.
3. What were the results after the gait retraining programme?
In the gait retraining group, both VALR and VILR were significantly lower after the retraining. In the control group, no significant difference was found in VALR at slow pace after training, but VALR at fast pace and VILR at both testing speeds were slightly increased. In the following 12 months, all participants were reassessed and were asked to report their weekly mileage, training and injuries. The gait retraining group ran for 7.4 km per week while the control group for 7.1 km. Statistical test showed a 62% lower injury occurrence in soft-stride runners compared with the control group.
4. Any advice for runners on how to prevent injuries?
Many runners are unaware of their own gait in running. To prevent injuries, runners should use a midfoot strike pattern, shorten stride length or increase step frequency, and slightly lean the body forward.