#86 - Can changing gait reduce running injuries with Dr Bryan Heiderscheit

Dr Glenn McConell chats with Bryan Heiderscheit from the University of Wisconsin in USA. He is an expert on running injuries. This is the third of a series of podcast episodes on running injuries (See Professor Irene Davis’s and Associate Professor Rasmus Østergaard Nielsen’s episodes). Bryan focuses on overstriding and how increasing the stride rate can reduce overstriding and therefore running injuries. The importance of making gradual changes in all aspects. Different kinds of running injuries when land on the forefoot vs the heel. He thinks the type of shoes (minimalist vs cushioned etc) doesn’t make much difference to running injury rates etc. If bouncing up and down when running then may be overstriding which can result in injury. Some people bounce more but don’t overstride, some people overstride but don’t bounce and some do both. Bryan likes to try altering the stride rate/cadence to reduce over striding in an attempt to reduce bouncing and therefore, hopefully, running injuries. Bryan and the previous running. We also discussed causes of hamstring injuries during sprinting. A very interesting chat that brought together not only his research but also the previous two episodes on running injuries.
0:00. Introduction
3:16. Similarities/differences re the 3 interviews on running injuries
8:36. How Bryan got into running injury research
10:53. Running injuries when land on the forefoot vs heel
17:02. Specificity: function vs capacity
20:08. Do cushioned shoes increases injuries?
26:04. Injury rates /injury risks
28:45. Accumulation of strides, resilience, loads
31:30. The centre of mass movement during running (bounce)
34:20. Changing gait to alter centre of mass movement
36:50. Overstriding re centre of mass
40:20. Overstriding and eccentric load on the knee
41:15. Cadence/step rate to alter overstriding/bounce
45:38. Speed of runner and how land when running
47:13. Loading rate and injuries
49:08. Some overstride but don’t bounce and vice versa
50:42. Experience of runner and overstriding
52:40. Elite runners and extent of overstriding
55:26. Gait retraining and injury rates
57:14. Step rate increase when land on forefoot
1:00:01. Other causes of running injuries
1:00:50. Need shoes to control pronation?
1:03:26. Causes of hamstring injuries during sprinting
1:06:43. Bone density reduction after bone injury
1:08:25. When ready to return after ACL reconstruction?
1:10:00. Takeaway messages
1:11:49. Outro
Inside Exercise brings to you the who's who of research in exercise metabolism, exercise physiology and exercise’s effects on health. With scientific rigor, these researchers discuss popular exercise topics while providing practical strategies for all.
The interviewer, Emeritus Professor Glenn McConell, has an international research profile following 30 years of Exercise Metabolism research experience while at The University of Melbourne, Ball State University, Monash University, the University of Copenhagen and Victoria University.
He has published over 120 peer reviewed journal articles and recently edited an Exercise Metabolism eBook written by world experts on 17 different topics (link.springer.com/book/10.100....
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Not medical advice

[@till_57]

I really appreciate what you are doing with this channel. It is good to hear from those that actually do research.

[@insideexercise]

Great to hear.

[@94EyeEagle]

22:03 I could relate perfectly to this point, switching to a more cushioned shoe from one with little to no cushion. Last Sunday I got a new shoe, and it happened to be my long run day, so I took it out for a spin. Completed it fine, but ended up with a nagging ache in my medial arch of the right foot (which still persists as I am typing 🤣). So, consider this lesson learned for me.

[@insideexercise]

Oops. Yes, definitely need to take time to slowly switch shoes etc. In the podcast episode with Rasmus Østergaard Nielsen he talked a lot about the need to make very gradual changes with running. Including changing shoes. Good luck with it.

[@steveaye5427]

I remember watching a presentation by Jeff Galloway. People certainly did get injured during the 70s running boom. That’s why he came up with run walk.
But it’s not like run walk was anything new because scout pace was around before that. Scout pace was almost certainly copied from somewhere else. There’s nothing new under the sun as the saying goes.

[@PerryScanlon]

I think it's a multi-variable calculus problem that will someday be simulated by computers when the adaptation process is better understood.