While you run on slopes the running gait changes. Depending on whether you are running uphill or downhill the point of impact changes on the foot.

Before we learn about how the gait of a runner changes depending upon incline lets us gain a rudimentary understanding of the different sections of the foot and how they strike the ground during running.

Running Uphill

When running uphill, the point of impact on the foot goes slightly ahead, from the mid-foot towards the fore-foot.

The pressure on the quadriceps increases as it plays a greater role in propulsion. The body tends to lean forward for better balance and the arm swing may increase to help in the propulsion. The legs usually suffer no injuries as the speed tends to decrease a bit leading to lower impact forces. But the back tends to take a beating. This is because the back muscles are overacting to control the forward lean.

Also since the foot landing is no longer directly under the spine, the contribution of the spine to the shock absorption decreases and instead the load is concentrated on the lower back. Therefore when people do hill running, one of the usual complaints is of pain in the lower back. The remedy to this is to increase the strength of the back muscles and to reduce the forward lean when running uphill.

Running Downhill

When running downhill, the point of impact on the foot goes slightly towards the heel as the body tries to prevent falling forwards. This causes the knee to straighten slightly at the point of impact. This resembles hind foot running where in the contribution of the foot joints and ankle towards shock absorption is reduced.

Since the knee is straighter, the impact is taken by the joint and the ligaments more and by the patellar tendon. A common complaint is Patellar tendonitis or pain at the bottom of the knee cap.

The way to tackle this is by learning to keep the knee soft when running down and preventing it from straightening and locking. This requires a little practice in training and of course strength training of the quadriceps to allow it to take the extra load.

0 votes