Patellofemoral pain (PFP) presents as a dull ache on and/or around the patella (knee cap) in most cases. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning that all other things are ruled out prior to intervening under the assumption that the pain is related to the patellofemoral joint (PFJ). In most cases,…

Runners deal with knee pain. A lot! In fact, pain around the knee is the number one area that pain or injury develop in runners. The most common areas I see clinically contributing to symptoms are the patellofemoral joint (knee cap), patellar tendon, and the Illiotibial band (ITB). The knee has a lot of force going through it while running, especially down hill, which tends to make the knee susceptible to the development of symptoms if there is an acute spike in training loads or outside circumstances inhibiting our readiness to train. This will be a 4-part series where I’ll first start with this post by talking about each of these three areas and what they are. In each subsequent post I will talk about some solutions for each that often help in those I have worked with.

The addition of strength training for runners has become more and more mainstream in the past few years and for good reason. The benefits of strength training are far and wide going well beyond the scope of running. Yes, it improves nearly every variable related to performance with no known negative effects, but there are some key considerations to make it work for you.

To make training work optimally for you, you have to work hard and push the body. However, there is another component that may be even more important. Self-honesty! Being self-honest with yourself engenders long term health, continued performance gains, and makes training more sustainable.

Coaches help runners at the high school, collegiate, and elite levels. They offer support and guidance throughout their athletes’ progression in various aspects of their life, not just in running. What about those outside these clearly defined cohorts? Yeah, I’m talking about you! Recreational runners, competitive runners, new runners, experienced runners, etc. that lay outside these cohorts all can benefit greatly from having the guidance of a coach. Below I discuss some of the greatest benefits that can be offered from having a running coach.

I wasn’t trying to be Adam the runner, but Adam who enjoys running. It’s a subtle difference in words. Though the meaning and depth within them are completely different. I credit Lindsey for helping initiate that understanding. Again, this doesn’t mean I don’t train hard and strive to achieve new levels of performance. I certainly do and have since that summer! It also doesn’t mean I have this figured out. I certainly don’t. I often still struggle with this concept as I’m sure many do

Thus, began the revolution of implementing core work to prevent and treat low back pain. We now know that this relationship is controversial at best due to the multifactorial nature of pain development. We also don’t know if the alterations in the firing patterns were a contributing factor or a result of the pain