Pain Running Uphill? - Top 3 Causes
Do you experience more pain with running or walking uphill?
That’s quite common and something that can improve with the right movement plan!
Let’s talk a bit about WHY this happens in the first place.
Without diving TOO much into the nerdy anatomy stuff, we’ll break down the top 3 demands of running and walking uphill and how it’s different from running and walking on a flat surface.
Ankle mobility
Did you know that running and walking uphill places a bigger mobility demand on your Achilles and ankle? Because of that, a difference in the left or right side here can be a reason for things like: ankle pain, knee pain, hip pain or low back pain that increases with hills!
The solution? Learning to train and improve ankle/mobility and strength with movement
Hip Mobility
Ever watch someone walk uphill? How they incline their body toward the hill? That’s a natural thing we all do and it changes the demands of hip mobility and hip extension strength required. A difference between your right and left sides or having workouts that focus a lot on squats and not hinge movements are both reasons that this can cause pain in - you guessed it - your hips, ankles, or knees. It’s all connected!
Low Back Mobility
When you run uphill, there tends to be more back rounding that happens. That’s not a bad thing! Rounding the back has been villainized and it’s a normal healthy movement for us to do. The important takeaway here is that our low backs change in how they move with hills. So, you can learn how to train and improve the movement in your low back to support hills so they feel great!
Pain with running or walking uphill often gets blamed on being high-impact. But here’s the truth….impact is good for our bodies! Pain doesn’t mean you have to stop running or exercising.
Pain means it’s time to pay attention and get tools to heal so you can continue to feel strong, mobile and confident with your workouts.
What questions does this bring up for you? Drop em below!!
