Postpartum Running – A Gait Assessment is Beneficial

While recovering postpartum, there comes a time when you want to do more. You start to feel better and the idea of running–whether this is a first time or something you love to do–it becomes a reality. Your pelvic floor therapist clears you to start running. Yay! However, the question of how and how to prevent injury looms large.

Common injuries in postpartum runners include: *

• bone stress injuries (stress fractures)
• low back pain
• IT band syndrome
• pelvic pain
• “runners’ knee”
• sacroiliac (SI) joint pain

There are contributing factors that are common in pregnant and postpartum runners: *

• dynamic alignment impairments such as overpronation of the feet and the knees “caving inward”
• hip, abdominal and pelvic muscle weakness
• increased bone loss with breastfeeding, to name a few

A Running Gait Analysis can be hugely beneficial before or during your running program. This analysis is a specialized assessment of a runner’s movement patterns to evaluate form, improve efficiency, and reduce injury risk by analyzing factors like foot strike, cadence, and posture. It puts the pieces together to understand why you are experiencing pain and what your risk factors for potential injury.

Done by the therapists at Custom Performance Physical Therapy, it utilizes VALD Performance technology – a suite of sensor-based systems designed to objectively measure human movement, strength, and neuromuscular function. It provides data on force, balance, and asymmetry to help reduce injury risk and optimize performance. During the analysis, you can expect an:

• initial discussion regarding past injuries, pregnancies and births, as well as running history for understanding where you are coming from and what your goals are
• in-person assessment of strength
• in-person assessment of mobility for running and daily life
• in-person assessment of functional movements and strength
• forcedesks (ex: squat, single leg jump)
• in-person 2D video assessment of your running mechanics
• review of your VALD results, gait assessment
• recommendations to include strength and mobility programming, real-time running-form cues and guidelines for your running program.

During this process, you will learn how your body manages the forces of running, as well as the injury risk factors to address and how to form cues to use while running.

At Custom Performance, their goals are your goals. No goal is too big or too small to realize together.

Questions? Feel free to email Cat Fitzgerald at Custom Performance at cat@nycustompt.com. To schedule an assessment, email info@nycustompt.com.

*Christopher SM Garcia AN Snodgrass SJ Cook C. “Common postpartum impairments in postpartum runners: an international Delphi study.” Arch Physiother. 2020; Oct 26: 10-19.