prevention | Page 2 | Biomechanics in the Wild

Look Strong, Be Strong, or Be Safe?: The Perils of a New Deadlifter

So, you’ve started deadlifting, but you’re not sure if you’re just weak, or if you’re going to break your spine, and there are plenty of “gym bros” slamming the weights, grunting, and walking around wearing equipment (wrist straps and back belts) that says “I’m literally too strong for my own body.” So, what do you do? Do you need to buy that stuff too?

This blog post will walk you through a biomechanical analysis of the deadlift while wearing supportive equipment, in the hopes of helping you face this daunting task.

What an Optimized Running Gait Can Do for You

Running is one of the oldest and most common forms of exercise, but there are many ways that running mechanics vary from person to person. Identifying the different running gaits is important so that their efficiencies and effects on the body can be analyzed. Injuries in runners are common and having an understanding of how different gaits apply stresses on the body differently can be used to educate runners on how to run in a way that will reduce the risk of injury.

Ways to Prevent and Treat a Common Annoyance: Headaches

Headaches can range from a mild annoyance to a debilitating condition that results in the inability to complete simple daily tasks. Odds are you have experienced a headache since about 50% of the population has suffered some type of headache. While there are many different variables that may have triggered it (injury, stress, chemical imbalances, etc.), the resulting symptoms are always negative. Scientists have been investigating what causes different types of headaches in hopes that they can help people prevent their occurrence and mitigate their symptoms.

Runner’s Knee: Knee Pain Isn’t Just for Old People

Don’t knee problems only plague old people or people who have run for a lifetime? I questioned this when, for the seventh time in a row, my knee was hurting only a mile and a half into my run. I’m too young for this! However, a plethora of information suggests that knee pain is perhaps not so uncommon in younger runners and athletes as I thought.

Cause and Management of Stretch Marks

Stretch marks. How are they caused? Can they even be treated?

Stretch marks can happen to anyone, of any age, so these questions are important to many. In short, our skin is made up of both collagen and elastin, two elements that support and shape our skin through their natural elasticity. This elasticity, however, does have its limits. And when that breaking point is reached, the collagen and elastin rupture, leaving behind scars many know well – a stretch mark.

Female Athletes Compete Against Higher Risk of ACL Injuries Than Males

Female athletes face a greater rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture than males. According to Dr. Karen Sutton and Dr. James Bullock from the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Yale University, female athletes are 2 to 8 times more likely to tear their ACL than male athletes. The majority of these injuries (more than two-thirds) are from non-contact situations. A variety of anatomical, biomechanical, and hormonal factors attempt to explain this difference.

Striking Out the Myths behind the Curveball

Anybody who has played baseball growing up was probably told “Don’t start throwing a curveball until you are ‘X’ years old.” That “X” in there for the age was normally around fifteen or sixteen years old depending on who you asked. When an eager, young ball player responded with “Why,” it was normally answered by “Because you will hurt your elbow and shoulder.” No sixth or seventh grade kid is really going to question that statement beyond asking another adult, and subsequently getting the same answer. Likewise, no youth baseball coach has really put in the effort to research whether or not learning to throw a curveball is detrimental health of young athletes.

Do Running Injuries Depend on the Running Surface?

Imagine that you are on your typical route for a morning run when you decide to change things up. Instead of following the path of the sidewalk like usual, you take a shortcut across the soft grass and run alongside the concrete for awhile. No big deal, right?

Do Wrist Guards Prevent Snowboarding Injuries?

Snowboarding is a breathtaking sport yet carries with it an inherent risk of injury. Wrist protectors provide potential protection against snowboarding wrist injuries. However, some studies have argued that wrist protection transfers the injury to other parts of the forearm.

Tag: prevention