Running should be fun, not painful, but with just one or two little alignment problems you could have ankle, knee, hip, or lower back pain. In this video Craig Zuckerman explains the different types of alignment issues runners tend to have, how they happen, and exactly what to do about them - so you can run pain-free!

It's always the little things that get us, and that is why having the knowledge of how different types of repetitive stresses can hurt us, is so important. A simple thing like caring a water bottle in your left hand as you run, or your phone, can cause some major negative effects in your knees, hips, and lower back. This is all done in part to our gate, or the distance between us putting our left foot forward and then our right foot as we run. If one stride is longer than the other than the imbalance of movement causes an imbalance in the musculature of our hips, legs, and lower back. This imbalance, in turn, can create a lift in one hip or rotation in a hip. These conditions then lead to unbalanced pressure in the lower back, specifically on the discs in your spine - which then leads to throwing your back out or disc herniations and sciatica.

If the biomechanics of your run is off, such as your knee rolling inward or your foot rolling outward as you run, this too can cause knee, hip, and lower back pain. Understanding how to have proper mechanics as you run is incredibly important as the body doesn't always know how to do things in a way that won't cause pain and injuries, it goes by habit. Additionally, if the muscles of your ankles, feet, thighs, and hips aren't properly strengthened or balanced, then you're simply not going to run with proper mechanics. Luckily, Craig explains all of this in the video.