⚡️SSL #025: 1 Red Flag You’re At Risk For Injury

Jan 22, 2023

What’s the most common injury you hear about in sprinting?

Probably hamstring related right?

Well, what if I told you there’s an easy way to identify that you’re at risk of becoming another hamstring horror story?

That’s what I’m going to talk about in today’s issue of the Saturday Sprint Letter.

Specifically, I’m going to discuss

1 - The Red Flag

2 - Why It Puts You In Danger

3 - Possible Options To Fix It

Let’s dive in.

#1 The Red Flag

According to science, it’s important that our pelvis remains in a relatively nuetral position while sprinting in order to prevent injury.

If our hips rotate forward (anteriorly) or backwards (posteriorly) excessively, then it puts us at risk for injury.

The problem is majority of the population struggles to maintain a nuetral pelvis even while standing.

Therefore you can imagine how common it is for an individual to run and struggle to maintain a nuertal pelvis at high velocities.

As a disclaimer, it’s normal for the pevlis to have some rotation as the legs move through their range motion.

However, the risk of injury increases when the rotation increases beyond what is necessary.

For example, like the image below.

#2 Why It Puts You In Danger

The research shows, that having your hips rotated forward puts excessive stress on your hamstrings and significantly increases your chance of injury.

Naturally, as the foot extends in front of the body it requires the hamstring to lengthen violently.

Even with a neutral pelvic position, this movement is already very stressful on the hamstrings.

If the hips are rotated forward, it unnecessarily lengthens the hamstring even further during this violent movement.

This puts you in the danger zone and increases the likelihood of the muscle tearing.

#3 Possible Options To Fix It

A quality coach, therapist, or another practitioner will tell you that every situation is different and multiple assessments are necessary to figure out the best solution.

At the same time, I know that as you read this you want a few possible immediate solutions.

Before I present those, it makes sense to list a few possible causes:

1 - Tight Hip Flexors

2 - Weak “Core” Activation (Rectus Abdominus, Obliques, Transverse Abdominus)

3 - Technical Issues (for ex: Over-striding)

Depending on who you ask, a strength coach, sprint coach, physical therapist etc. you will get different possible solutions.

Strength coach - “Get a stronger core!”

Sprint coach - “Fix your mechanics, use wickets to shorten your stride!”

Physical therapist - “Work on your hip mobility and lengthen your connective tissues!”

Nutritionist - “Stop eating so much sugar and reduce your inflammation!”

All of them could be right, and all of them could be wrong.

It honestly comes down to testing out what works for you.

It’s likely that a combination of different solutions is necessary.

Inside Sprint Cheat-Codes I help you with sprint technique so if you need that you know where to go.

Inside the Sprint Club, we do video analysis, personalized feedback, and weekly coaching calls, so if you need that, sign up for the waitlist.

Regardless of what you do, if you’re in the danger zone, figure out how to quickly get out of it before it ruins your athletic career.

I hope this has been helpful and saves you from becoming a hamstring horror story.

TL;DR

1 - According to science, it’s important that our pelvis remains in a relatively neutral position while sprinting in order to prevent injury.

2 - If our hips rotate forward (anteriorly) or backward (posteriorly) excessively, then it puts us at risk for injury.

3 - A few possible causes: Tight Hip Flexors, Weak “Core” Activation, and Technique Issues.

4 - A few possible solutions: Stronger core, improved hip mobility, fix over striding, reduce inflammation.

Stay Fast,

Cesar

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