Monday, March 17, 2014

Injury-Free Running: How to Build Strength, Improve Form, and Treat/Prevent Injuries by Thomas Michaud

I recently picked up the book, Injury-Free Running: How to Build Strength, Improve Form, and Treat/Prevent Injuriesby Dr. Thomas Michaud and I have enjoyed glancing through it. It looks like a good book for understanding the injury process and rehabilitation. Dr. Michaud also drew the detailing drawings throughout the book. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to delve deeper into the biomechanics of running and solve running related injuries. No, I have not read it all, nor tried his remedies as presented in the book, but I found he addressed some issues that I have such as femoral anteversion, that I rarely seen written about in other running injury books and I look forward to delving deeper into it.

I will also say that three years ago and a few months after I had hip surgery for a labral tear, that I visited Dr. Michaud in his Newton, Ma office. I have visited a great many professionals in my quest to recover my stride and get back to the business of running pain-free. Of all the people that I have met, Dr. Michaud was definitely the most enthusiastic. He spent the the time measuring all sorts of angles on my body and seemed thrilled to be finding all the things that he did (read my blog post So Not Born to Run here). My visit was really a one-shot deal. I never went back and I didn't receive some miracle cure like I had been desperately hoping for. I was only given a few exercises to try and they didn't do much for me when I had so many things going on throughout my body that needed fixing at that time. Since that meeting, I have slowly cleared up a lot of the pain/discomfort issues I had and really the only thing I can't do is run pain free (or be pain-free post run). I am still slowly working on things on my own and I have not seen even any type of specialist since November. I am doing little long term experiments and finding out what works for me over time and I feel like each week I am slowly progressing a fragment more toward being a runner again. I can basically stretch my hip in all directions without problems and I don't think my hip joint is the problem. I started using my orthotics again over a month ago and they seem to help as well as I have started slowly with a small heel lift back in my right shoe. I am also doing some stretches and strength work to better balance my body and learning how to get my hips forward.

From my perspective and I few other people I know who have worked with him, Dr. Michaud is a student of the sport and the science of running. He really loves his work. I think he is someone who can bring his research and understanding and present what he has learned to others. I have heard about all the world class runners that make it a point to visit him from all corners of the world. I like the reflections he makes in the books as he talks about athletes like Rob Decastella and Tegla Loroupe that he worked with. I wish I had been an athlete of that level who could have received more direct treatment from him, but I was unable to be a full-time patient. Maybe this book will give me a few extra tidbits of knowledge as I continue my slow drive to being a runner again.

One interesting thing about this book is that there are plenty of yellow highlights throughout the book for the main points that the author is trying to make. I have never seen this done before, but I guess it makes sense fr when you are browsing the book.

You can preview a 65 page PDF of the book here. Check out his drawings!

Dr. Tom Michauds recent article on Competitor.com "Are We Really Born To Run?" This is pretty funny, because the post I made after meeting Dr. Michaud was titled "So Not Born to Run."

Other articles on Competitor.com by Dr. Michaud can be found here.



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