Last week I mentioned several possible causes of injury from running due to poor mechanics. I mentioned that an anterior pelvic tilt is a possible cause of injury for runners and this week will look at how that can create an injury. I have had two occasions where an anterior pelvic tilt has caused problems. It is important to understand that the pelvic area is the junction between the legs and the trunk of the body. If the pelvic girdle is out of alignment, the working between the legs and the low back, abdominal muscles and upper body is compromised.
One occasion came when I started to increase my mileage for a marathon. I did not have any problems with the shorter distances for 5K and 10K races. When I moved the long-run mileage between 18 and 22 miles the problems began to appear. Sitting on top of the pelvic girdle are all the internal organs such as the intestines, the liver, kidneys and stomach. When the foot hits the ground, especially if you are a heavy runner, the shock wave is transmitted up through the rest of the body. If this seems hard to believe try to remember a time when you stepped off a curb and hit the pavement with a locked, or stiff, leg. It seems as if you could feel the sudden stop all the way up to your teeth.
When I increased my mileage the intestines and organs were forced downward every time my foot hit the ground. This resulted in a continued push against the attachment of the lower abdomen muscle on the pubic bone. A long run will take over three hours of pounding on that attachment. After several long runs I noticed a soreness where the muscle attached to the pubic bone. It reached a point where if I leaned backward my abdominal muscle would just give way and I would almost fall backward. This soreness of the lower abdominal muscle became worse with each long run. It forced me to concentrate on keeping my pelvic girdle level so that the pounding of the intestines against the abdominal wall was reduced. It took some time before this new running posture with a level pelvic girdle became automatic. With the level pelvic girdle the abdominal muscle stopped hurting.
