Aches, Pains and Biomechanics
I started running in high school as a member of the cross country
and track teams. I've tried to stay in pretty good shape by
walking on a treadmill 3 to 5 times a week in the Winter months
and running (somewhat slowly) when the temperatures are tolerable.
Still, on the far side of 50 years of age, I've learned a few things
about how to deal with the aches and pains that come with
an aging body. This is only my opinion, and I'm not a doctor.
Use your own experience or the advice of your doctor to apply
any of this to your situation.
Knee and Ankle Pain
The first thing to understand about the knee is that it is a
hinge joint. It is designed to move on a vertical plane from
the position where the leg is straight bending the lower leg to the back.
The joint is not designed to twist as it bends. I believe that the
pain I felt during exercise was due to twisting of the joint or bending
to the side.
My feet are exceptionally flat. I never had knee pain when I was younger,
but pain has often occurred on the inside of the knee in recent years.
Thanks to the New Balance web site and some very helpful salespeople
at a local running store, I found that a strong medial post and
is required to prevent my knee from bending inward due to by lack of
a foot arch. That worked for quite a while, but higher mileage was
still causing knee pain. Once again, the New Balance people came up with
a solution for me...the flat foot insole. These provide a gently
sloping support for the inside of the foot without a pressure point
that a regular arch support provides on a flat foot.
The other factor that was destroying my knee was a result of my
feet turning out when I walk or run. With the foot turned out, the
knee twists as it bends and the ligaments in the knee are stretched
resulting in pain. Much of foot alignment is actually controlled at
the hips. The hip joint must be kept in tension from the front to
keep the feet from turning outward. I have found that exercising
the hip flexor muscles helps to keep tension on the front of my hips.
One exercise for hip flexors that does not require any equipment
is the leg lift.
I do a leg lift lieing on the floor on my back. Legs are straight
and hands are at my side. The feet are lifted from the floor to
a height of about 6 inches and held for a three count. Do 15
reps per set and two sets per day. Longer hold times and more reps
or sets might be within reach after a few weeks. This exercise will
also help your finishing kick if you run competitively.
Back Pain
Spasms of my back muscles have been a problem from time to time
for me. In particular, if I don't excercise regularly, my back
becomes strained very easily. Although it may seem counter intuitive,
situps help to keep the back spasms away. The weight of the upper
body is supported by the spine which is a sequence of vertebra
bones. The bones are stablized by the muscles of the abdomen
and back. It is important that those muscles work with each other
to keep the spine straight. If the abdomen is not strong enough
to counter the tension of the back muscles, the back muscles
will cramp or the vertebra will slip out of line. When the vertebra
slip, a disk will slide out of place and will either herniate the
cartlidge the encloses it or pinch a nerve. Neither is at all
pleasant.
Just about any activity that puts you on your feet will tone the
abdomen and back muscles. Sitting for long periods like most
office workers doesn't exercise any of the 'core' muscles. I try
to do situps on mornings when I don't run or walk on the treadmill.
The situps are especially effective when combined with leg lifts.
As I return to the floor, I keep my feet raised a few inches until
I perform the next situp. I don't have quite enough balance to
avoid putting my feet on the floor as I situp, but it is still a
good workout.
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