Ignoring running form?

Sounds completely crazy coming from a physical therapist right?

I won't lie: I was a total dear in the headlights this day in PT school when we analyzed each other's running form on treadmills (thank the running gods I was NOT selected).

We all downloaded fancy angle-measuring apps. And starting drawing vectors and assessing angles of hip extension, knee flexion, ankle dorsiflexion....

and I'm over here drawing smiley faces...Ooops.

Because heres' the thing: those angles are incredibly important for RESEARCH, for establishing norms, for identifying patterns of "normal" running form vs abnormal.

But for the everyday runner, they often don't make sense. And they can even be overwhelming.

Because as I stood there, trying to understand how to make this silly software work and understand what these magic numbers meant, I was thinking, how do I make this matter in the real-life clinic? What does this actually mean for my runner? And then how do I FIX whatever these numbers are telling me?

Fast forward 7 years later and I'm going down that rabbit hole again, this time, without the fancy angle app.

The over-arching theme of running form + physical therapy finally started to click after taking continuing education classes, and one specifically taught by Dr. Rich Willie out of Montana U Running Research Labs.

He's a hard-core, numbers guy, physical therapist researcher. I'm thankful for brains like his that understand how to filter and manipulate data (the right way) and can see the picture they create.

He said he started his practice doing fancy number-angle-measuring running assessments on all his runners. And it didn't do much,...well, besides create a lot of paperwork no one else read.

He saw more and better results when he spent more time using his eyes, looking, and less time proving what he was seeing with cool sensors, computers, and numbers.

Again, fancy sensors and numbers are all good things to use for hardcore research, but what matters most for YOU, the everyday runner, is seeing and understanding YOUR FORM.

So Dr. Rich told his runners to watch themselves in the mirror, or focus on NOT touching the white line down the treadmill, etc.

Seemingly simple cues or tasks. But the ones with the most pay off.

AND HERE'S THE KICKER THAT NO ONE TALKS ABOUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

Dr. Rich impressed greatly during the course that running form changes are typically meant to be TEMPORARY.

That blew my mind.

It always felt implied in PT school, and again in social media, that these were things you needed to work on 100% of the time, on 100% of your runs...forever.

But Dr. Rich's idea is use these running form changes in the present, during a potential running injury, to keep you running. Obviously don't abandon all good running practices once the injury is healed, but acknowledge, you may not need that crutch anymore.

Which lead me to this week's blog post and guide: talking about what parts of your running form actually matter and what you can ignore.

Because running injuries ARE NOT directly correlated to running form issues.

• There are "bad habits" in running form that we can acknowledge may contribute to particular running injuries, but we can't 1000% officially say that if you overstride, you WILL get IT Band issues.

Not. At. ALL.

• I wanted to dispel those myths, especially as a fall marathon season closes in and the niggles may begin to pop up.
• And to help with that, I made a list of which common running injuries may be exacerbated by which running form "bad habit"
• and what you can try to fix it.

Because you have long runs planned, races on the calendars, and PRs to chase.

You don't need sloppy running form slowing you down. ;) check it out here:

Until next time running fit fam,

Dare to Train Differently,

Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit

P.S. I also talk about how my new-runner husband needed my expert PT help with his running form because the poor man has IT Band issues like no one else haha. Go check that out in case you've got IT band problems too ;)

Looking for MORE ways to work together?

• ​RUNNING RESCUE CALL: Save your run and your race. Work directly with me 1-on-1 at the first sign of an ache, niggle, or repeat running injury. We'll deep dive into the why behind your injury and create a personalized exercise program that gets you out of pain, keeps you running, and helps prepare you for race day!
• Grab my NEWEST FREE Strength resources for runners: The Calf & Achilles Cure Toolkit, made for marathoners sidelined by stiff, painful achilles and tight, injury-prone calves who want to protect their training cycle and show up to the starting line strong, pain-free, and ready to race.
• ​STRONGER FEET WORKSHOP: Losing the battle to plantar fasciitis, posterior tib pain, or reoccurring Achilles tendonitis? Not with this workshop ;)

Did that blog post or YouTube video knock your compression socks off? Consider leaving a tip so I can keep delivering awesome-socks content! Never expected; always appreciated.

© 2020- 2025 All Rights Reserved. You are receiving this message because you purchased a product from @dr.whitt.fit and/or signed up to receive content. This message is for informational purposes only and does not create a health care provider-patient relationship between you and Marie Whitt, and nothing you receive or view from Marie Whitt or @dr.whitt.fit, should be construed as medical advice.