The Secret To Pain-Free Running (and Walking!) with Helen Hall #216
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee and movement therapist Helen Hall, founder of Perpetual Forward Motion, discuss efficient human movement. They explore how awareness and holistic body use can prevent injuries, enhance running, and improve overall well-being, emphasizing that humans are born to run pain-free.
Deep Dive Analysis
13 Topic Outline
Humans are Born to Run: An Innate Movement
Why Adults Struggle and Get Injured Running
The Importance of Noticing and Awareness in Movement
Movement as a Whole-Body 'Job Share'
The Site of Symptom is Not Always the Site of Problem
The Critical Role of Head Position in Efficient Movement
How Training Programs Can Lead to Injuries
Dr. Chatterjee's London Marathon Experience: Struggles and Emotions
The Impact of Childhood Scars and Trauma on Adult Movement
Lessons Learned from a Challenging Marathon Experience
The Broader Benefits of Efficient Movement for Life
How Carrying Phones and Watches Affects Running Form
The Importance of a Proper Warm-Up Before Running
5 Key Concepts
Awareness/Noticing
Awareness is the beginning of change. By noticing how your body moves, how it's stacked, and what parts are or aren't moving, you can identify inefficiencies and make adjustments to improve movement and overall health.
Movement as a Job Share
Efficient movement requires recruiting as much of your body as possible to share the workload. When too little of the body does the job, it leads to overwork, restrictions, and potential pain in specific areas.
Site of Symptom vs. Site of Problem
Often, the area experiencing pain is merely doing the most work and is not the root cause of the problem. Pain is a signal asking for help, and understanding its true origin requires looking at the body's overall movement patterns and asymmetries.
The Body Keeps the Score
Past injuries, traumas, and even childhood surgeries can significantly influence movement patterns for decades. The central nervous system remembers and maintains shapes to protect traumatized areas, even if the original threat is long gone.
Efficiency of Movement
This refers to using the body in a way that minimizes effort and maximizes output. It's about making movement feel easier, faster, and more fluid by ensuring all body parts cooperate and contribute appropriately, leading to better longevity and overall health.
5 Questions Answered
Yes, humans are born to run. Children naturally transition from walking to running without instruction or applause, indicating it's an innate 'gear' or pace of movement, not a specialized discipline.
Adults often struggle with running injuries because they bring underlying inefficiencies and restrictions from their walking patterns into their running. Additionally, the joy of movement can be lost when running becomes a regimented discipline, and misconceptions about 'pushing through pain' can lead to injury.
The head is heavy and sensory headquarters, so if it's not properly stacked over the spine, the muscles hang onto it for dear life, limiting joint rotations and overall movement. A correctly positioned head improves movement everywhere in the body.
Yes, the body keeps the score. Past traumas, like childhood appendicitis surgery, can cause the central nervous system to maintain protective shapes and restrict movement in certain areas for decades, influencing overall biomechanics and potentially leading to pain or inefficiency in adult life.
Anything carried asymmetrically (e.g., one phone, one water bottle, a watch on one wrist) affects movement patterns. Holding a phone in hand or on an upper arm creates an imbalance that can alter shoulder height, limb swing, and overall efficiency, similar to running with a weight on one shoe.
25 Actionable Insights
1. Cultivate Awareness for Change
To initiate any change in your body or life, first cultivate awareness by noticing what is going on, as the beginning of change is awareness and allows you to identify areas for improvement.
2. Prioritize Correct Head Position
Ensure your head is properly stacked over your spine, as it is heavy and the body’s sensory headquarters; an incorrect head position (e.g., forward head) can limit movement, cause muscles to work harder, and negatively impact overall coordination.
3. Engage Your Whole Body in Movement
View movement as a ‘job share’ where you should recruit as much of your entire body as possible to move well, rather than relying on only a few parts, to improve efficiency and reduce strain.
4. Investigate Root Causes of Pain
When experiencing pain during movement (e.g., running), view it as an opportunity to discover and address the underlying root cause of the imbalance in your body, rather than blaming the activity itself.
5. Pain Site Not Always Problem Site
Understand that the area where you feel pain or discomfort is not necessarily the root cause of the problem; the issue may originate elsewhere in your body.
6. Don’t Run Badly, Not Don’t Run
If you experience pain while running, the solution isn’t to stop running entirely, but to learn to run without being ‘mean’ to your body by addressing inefficient movement patterns.
7. Listen to Pain, Don’t Push Through It
Instead of pushing through pain, interpret it as your body asking for a change in movement; pause, walk, rearrange your body, and use a ‘go-to movement’ or ‘puncture kit’ stimulus to alleviate the issue before continuing.
8. Use Movement Stimuli to Change Habits
To change old movement habits, you must first understand why you move that way, then introduce specific movement stimuli to ‘shine a light’ on ‘dark spaces’ and retrain your body, allowing you to take control of your problem.
9. Learn Your Body to Ease Tough Times
By learning about your body and how it moves, you gain control to make challenging physical situations (like endurance events or fatigue) as easy as possible, preventing you from inadvertently making things harder.
10. Warm Up with a Brisk Walk
Before running, warm up with a brisk walk for at least 7-15 minutes (rule of thumb: 10 minutes) to divert blood flow from non-vital organs to your working muscles, which is the most effective way to limit injury risk and enhance enjoyment.
11. Prioritize Under-Training Over Over-Training
When preparing for a physical event, it is always better to be slightly under-trained than even minimally over-trained, as starting fatigued can lead to poorer performance and increased injury risk.
12. Allow Adequate Muscle Recovery
Recognize that intense physical sessions require a minimum of 48 hours for muscle fiber recovery, and for some individuals, it can take up to a week, so plan training schedules to allow sufficient rest.
13. Avoid Asymmetrical Carrying During Movement
Avoid carrying items like phones, water bottles, or sticks on only one side of your body while walking or running, as this asymmetry can significantly alter your movement patterns and efficiency.
14. Carry Items Symmetrically or Close to Core
If you must carry items during movement, either carry them symmetrically (e.g., two bottles) or, preferably, secure them tightly in a pocket (like on the upper thigh) or a bum bag to minimize their impact on your movement patterns.
15. Experiment with Phone Placement for Awareness
Experiment with different phone placements (e.g., in a tight upper thigh pocket vs. holding it or on an arm band) during walks or runs, and actively notice how each position affects your body’s movement and feel, to build awareness of its impact.
16. Observe Imprinted Motor Programs
Be aware that repetitive actions, like holding a phone or frequently checking a wrist watch, can create imprinted motor programs that lead to persistent inefficient postures (e.g., a cocked-out elbow) even when the item isn’t present; notice these habits to correct them.
17. Self-Assess Head & Arm Position
Regularly notice where your head is sitting when you’re moving (is it stacked over your neck and ribs or in front of your body?) and how you are using your arms when you walk, as this awareness is crucial for changing movement patterns.
18. Self-Diagnose Shoulder Asymmetry
Stand in front of a mirror and observe if one shoulder is higher than the other while standing, marching, and trotting on the spot, as persistent asymmetry can indicate inefficient movement patterns and excess work for certain body parts.
19. Assess Shoulder Movement Quality
If you notice shoulder asymmetry, reach each arm above your head and compare the quality and ease of motion, not just the range, as the restricted side may indicate the actual problem, regardless of which shoulder is higher.
20. Find Your ‘Wobbly’ Head Position
To find your optimal head position, gently ‘wibbly wobbly’ your head until it feels most balanced and effortless on top of your spine, as this can instantly increase your range of motion and improve overall body movement.
21. Seek External Feedback for Movement
When assessing your movement (e.g., in a mirror), be aware that you often only ‘see what you know’; seek external feedback or guidance to truly see and understand your movement patterns, as this new awareness is irreversible.
22. Address Past Trauma’s Impact on Movement
Recognize that past injuries, surgeries, or traumas (like childhood appendicitis) can profoundly influence current movement patterns and body shapes; these ‘scores’ need to be addressed to prevent recurring issues and improve long-term movement health.
23. Just Start Moving, Don’t Judge Yourself
Don’t let fear of judgment or perceived clumsiness prevent you from starting to move or run; simply ‘give it a go’ and focus on your own effort rather than how you look compared to others.
24. Run with Joy to Inspire Others
Approach running and movement with a sense of joy and a smile, as this positive attitude not only enhances your own experience but also serves as an inspiration for others to get off the couch and start moving.
25. Embrace Continuous Self-Growth
View challenging experiences and perceived ‘failures’ as opportunities for continuous self-growth and learning about yourself, rather than resisting them, as they reveal areas where you can still improve.
6 Key Quotes
The beginning of change is noticing, it's awareness.
Helen Hall
It's not the running. It's what they brought to their running that was the problem but it was under the radar.
Helen Hall
If your head isn't on right, nothing great is going to happen. If you don't know where your head is, nothing great is going to happen because it is heavy and it is sensory headquarters.
Helen Hall
It's always better to start on the start line a little bit under trained than even a teeny tiny bit over trained. You don't want to be fatigued before you start.
Helen Hall
You didn't get the race that you wanted, you got the race that you needed.
Kirsty (friend of Dr. Chatterjee)
I don't learn anything from my good races. You learn everything from the bad races.
John McAvoy
2 Protocols
Self-Assessment for Shoulder Asymmetry
Helen Hall- Stand in front of a mirror and note if one shoulder is higher than the other.
- March on the spot and observe if the shoulder height asymmetry persists.
- Trot on the spot and see if the asymmetry remains.
- Reach the arm of the high shoulder above your head and feel the ease/restriction of movement.
- Compare this to the ease/restriction of movement when reaching the arm of the low shoulder above your head.
- Use this information to identify potential areas of restriction, remembering the site of the symptom may not be the site of the problem.
Pre-Run Warm-Up Protocol
Helen Hall- Walk briskly for at least 7-15 minutes before starting to run.
- Walk briskly enough that your central nervous system senses something exciting is about to happen.
- This diverts blood from non-vital organs to the working muscles, limiting injury risk and improving enjoyment.