Malalignment Syndrome

I attended an excellent workshop this year and I believe what I learned is a resource every runner must have.

The seminar was presented by Dr. Wolf Schamberger, rehab doctor, university professor and runner with a 2:20 marathon PR.

Dr. Schamberger talked about malalignment syndrome and gave us some simple tests and exercises we could do at home to stay in proper pelvic alignment.

Why is this good for runners? Because a malaligned pelvis can be a significant factor in back pain, hip pain, knee pain even foot pain. And virtually every injured runner I've seen has had some sort of pelvic dysfunction.

He showed us how to detect and correct if you have a rotated pelvis, a tilt in your pelvis or an upslip in your pelvis.

Being the geek that I am I loved the information and the tests. We did them in class and as it turned out my right pelvis was rotated forward and the left was rotated backward.

This wasn't surprising because I did feel out of alignment and have had recent visceral fascia therapy to help with some back pain. The back pain was the result of doing some work around the house in an twisted position. (Even us "experts" use bad posture sometimes.)

The physio treatments helped but I found I'd still slip back out of place after a few days. I tried some stretching and mobility work but couldn't get my hips quite right.

Anyway, I did a simple exercise at the seminar and viola! My pelvis was back to normal. I could feel the difference instantly.

The tests and exercises are not meant to replace treatment and diagnosis by a qualified therapist. They are meant to be used in conjunction with those treatments as they help keep you in proper alignment so your treatments are more effective and your body learns how to maintain good alignment.

I can't accurately describe in words all the details of what we did, you really need to see it. I strongly recommend you pick up a set of the DVD's, which cover all the things we did in the seminar and more.

You can also buy the book at Amazon.com but this is a textbook that costs over $100. For most people I think the DVD's are the best option. Unless you're a geek like me.

If you are injured I'm not saying that you should get rid of your therapist. But this will be a great way for you to keep yourself in good alignment between treatments and speed your recovery.

Another way of staying in good alignment is using good running technique. I think using the alignment exercises in this DVD along with the running technique that I teach is an excellent combination for running strong and injury-free.