Thoughts about treadmills and TVs.

With spring upon us, some of us are looking forward to trade the monotony of indoor training sessions for the feeling of the wind on our faces and the joy of running on pavement again.
I work with a few runners in my practice. Some of them enjoy running as a way to keep their fitness level while others enjoy the challenge of endurance running. I can usually tell if a client is a runner. Tight IT bands, tibialis anteriors and glutes are some of the tell-tale signs betraying their addiction.

This winter I have worked with a few of runners complaining about some different pain patterns. The pain was generally unilateral (only on one side of their body), located on the side of the hip, low-back or knee. The other interesting variable was that the pain was only present while using a treadmill. During the massage, I did notice some tension around the external rotators of the hip and the Lats. This is a rather unusual pattern for a runner, at least in my experience. The tension seemed to indicate torsion in the hips and the upper body while running.
The common environmental factor to all these cases was the position of the TV monitors. While trying to break the monotony of the run, a lot of people watch TV while on a treadmill. Interestingly, if the TV is not directly in front of the machine, we naturally turn our heads and to some extend our shoulders and torso towards the screen. Our hips however continue to face forward to allow us to run on the belt. This is the torsion I noticed during the massage. In my opinion, that torsion creates a slight stress on the hip rotators which could explain the pain pattern. During a run outdoors, we never maintain our upper body in a rotation for very long. And since we tend to be creatures of habit, it is not unusual to always use the same treadmill at the gym. This could explain why the pain is always on one side.

So, when running (or walking) on a treadmill while watching TV, try to have the screen straight in front of you. And if that’s not possible, try to alternate which machine you use or which screen you’re looking at.

Have fun!