Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention

Although it uses some technical language it is concise, to-the-point, interesting, extremely well written and well-organized. Some books and advice for runners are too vague and don't highlight fine points that can make a big difference (ie, what precise steps you can take to make sure you use your glutes and don't arch your back). Others give highly specific advice but often jump too quickly to false conclusions - they fail to point out where their solutions may not apply to all types of runners and all bodies. This book skillfully steers a course between both these mistakes. For instance, what's the ideal cadence for you? Anatomy for Runners tells you why some people say it's 180 (and briefly why) then goes further to explain why your own ideal cadence depends on both your running goals and your body. The most efficient cadence, the best cadence for a top athlete to win a highly competitive race, and the best cadence for a recreational runner who places top priority on enjoying runs for decades to come may all be quite different. Due to the particulars of your body, your own best cadence may be 10 or 20 higher or lower than other people with the same goal and fitness/speed. He manages to convey this complexity and still do it clearly and concisely. That's a great writer who really knows his stuff. By contrast I also bought the book "The Running Injury Recovery Program" at the same time as this one and was very disappointed in the "program." It felt like reading the same vague generalizations repeated over and over in a circular fashion and ultimately left you feeling like what you really need is to get an appointment with the author at his clinic. It left me thinking he might be the best clinician in the world, and an engaging writer, but not so good at explaining the complexity of what he knows in specific terms (other than specific exercises/stretches), and it wasn't a particularly helpful book for me. I just want to get better. Do I honestly need to read a chapter on the structural and biological and functional differences between bone, tendons, ligaments and muscle. Maybe not. But do you know why eccentric exercises are highly effective to help your body heal after mobilization and soft tissue work? Do you know why exercises with resistance help tendons heal while lots of light reps do not? Do you know there are two totally different reasons to stretch that must be done in quite different ways to be effective, one done before running and the other type is best done when muscles are warmed up? Do you know when each type may benefit runners, and when stretching could be worse than not stretching? Do you know the reason many runners THINK they are stretching in fact only works when stretches are done for at least 3min for at least 4-5 days a week for at least 6-8 weeks? (and why you may not need it anyway) Do you know whether drills and running will help you build more muscle mass for that big race five weeks from now? Do you know whether drills and running will train your mind and nervous system to mobilize more of the muscle fibers you already have for that big race five weeks from now? Wow. Maybe understanding a little about these things can make you do the exact same exercise differently with far faster and better results. Maybe understanding "why" will motivate you to do those exercises more regularly and give you more confidence you're doing them right so they'll really help. Reality check: do you have a cookbook body made with standardized mass-produced parts? No? Then don't expect a simple cookbook injury recovery book. That's why Anatomy for Runners stands head-and-shoulders above most other books on this topic. (remember: "to every complex problem there's a simple solution ... and it's wrong") You want a simple cookbook answer that might or might not fit your circumstances, go elsewhere. If your body or injury happens to match the author's particular cookbook and the "simple" book works for you that's absolutely fantastic. But ... if it doesn't, you really haven't learned much about why. Second important lesson: people's bodies are not made of identical unchanging parts like cars or toaster ovens that can wear out but never get better. We are made up of complex ever-changing living parts that respond and change day-to-day and week-to-week according to each stimulus we apply to them. People get this where it comes to developing more strength in muscles, but understanding usually stops there. When people overdo it or get injured for other reasons they tend to go to extremes of pushing too hard or else too much rest. More is not always better. Mobility is also good up to a point, but a gymnast needs more than a runner. Too much mobility in a joint can also be bad, and a "sloppy" joint may not be as controlled. You want a book that helps you figure out the complexities of your own body, then roll up your sleeves and be prepared to do a little work on your own instead of placing all the responsibility on someone else's shoulders (either an author or a medical professional who has between 10min to 60min, tops, to pay attention to your symptoms and come up with solutions). The author on simplistic one-size-fits-all solutions: "It's fine to have opinions on many things. And since no two humans are exactly the same, it's even fine to adjust how you interpret advice if it works for you. However, it's not OK to spread the same old mantra that more miles are always better. It's not OK to think that rest will fix all your problems. It's not OK to think that more running will fix all your problems. It's not OK to think that every person on earth should run the same. Specific interventions improve your parts. New skills help those parts work as a system. More skills help the body deal with different paces, terrain, shoes, and competitive environments. The impetus here is on you." There are plenty of things I knew about myself and my running for years, but I didn't necessarily know why. This book was full of "aha" moments for me. Some things about your body are inherited and can't be changed. Others may be the result of patterns and bad habits which can be overcome. Still others may be the result of tightness which can be overcome with soft tissue work and mobilization. This book helps you figure out which things you can change with some work and which you can't, and what you can try. I bought this on Kindle when it first came out because there was a possible long delay in shipping out the paperback. It's such a good book I'm going to buy it in paperback now too. I liked reading it on the Kindle paperwhite because it's so quick and easy to look up a handful of terms I didn't know, and I highlighted key parts all over (which I don't like to do in my books). Now that I'm focused on doing more of the tests and exercises I'd like to also have the paperback (and I can loan it to friends). Some of the best things in life don't come easy. If you want to be spoon fed some quick and easy solutions to every complex problem, you'll probably be disappointed with this book. You probably have to read it more than once. You'll have to do the work. If you're willing to work on learning the technical aspects of how your body works as a runner and then really follow through learning specific exercises, skills and running adaptations focused specifically on your personal goals, I'm convinced you will not find a better book on the subject.

I thought was going to be a yawnfest, to be honest - so far, I've only read about a third of the book, but so far I have read a few things that are worth mention. 1 - Running is a skill. It takes time to learn the proper movements and additional exercises that help keep us balanced as we develop our running performance. You've probably heard many stories where long-time runners have IT band issues and do cross-training or weight lifting. The author explains the reasoning behind this and make some general recommendations on how to correct it - not quite a training program, but I believe he provides enough information for you to identify your own weaknesses. 2 - when you are injured, don't JUST rest - I didn't realize this was as important as he makes it sound. Over enough time of pure rest, your body will decondition and you may actually be weaker than when you began training when the pain finally subsides. Dicharry talks about F.I.T. (Frequency, Intensity & Time or Duration) and uses it to discuss rehabilitation. The F.I.T. of your rehab exercises should be enough to improve your strength/healing, but not enough to impair your recovery. 3- The author also discusses some of the problems with today's shoes: excessive motion control, padding, heel height & the narrow toe box in some of today's shoes. While I am not qualified to make a shoe recommendation, the main message I got from the section on modern shoes is overdependence on these features results in underdevelopment of the supporting muscles and nervous system (specifically the proprioceptive feedback loop - he asks something like this: 'imagine tying your shoes. easy, right? now tie 50 marshmallows to your hands and tie your shoes - much harder, right? same thing happens with a lot of padding - it masks sensation of the road and breaks the feedback loop). You should really read this book, he has a good style, tries to crack a joke here and there and really appears to speak from authority.

As a competitive runner and a coach of beginning runners, I have benefitted from many sources of information about running form and preventing injuries. However, I've also felt that some pieces of the puzzle were missing from existing publications and seminars. I think that "Anatomy for Runners" is a significant addition to the existing books and articles on healthy, efficient, and fast running. I found this book to be a great combination of science and practical application! In writing the book, Jay Dicharry draws from his experience as a physical therapist, biomechanics specialist, and formerly-injured runner to provide a toolbox of self-assessments, corrective exercises, and explanations. I think that reading this book would be an excellent choice for runners who have frequent injuries. It would also be beneficial for those who are now healthy but want to reduce their likelihood of getting injured while training hard. In my opinion, the title of this book doesn't fully describe all that the book offers. While "Anatomy for Runners" certainly includes detailed information about the structure and function of the body, it goes way beyond that. Furthermore, the book is both interesting and understandable (not at all like a boring textbook). Here is my one-sentence summary of what the book is about: How to develop healthy movement patterns and improve your body's strength and mobility so that you can run with more efficiency and less risk of injury. I learned a lot from this book and would highly recommend it!

Overall the book is well worth the purchase. It can be a little dense to get through, especially if you are new to running or the idea of adding strength training to your routine to fix ongoing injuries, etc, but it is well worth the read. What makes the book powerful is that the author is relying on science and data and describes what is going on physiologically and that helps make the workouts sensible and attractive. My only real complaint is that a few of the exercises are not clear in how to execute them, even for someone who has some experience in this area. A new runner may find some of the descriptions and steps a bit hard to figure out. In my opinion, some of the confusion could be reduced by making the steps bulleted or by adding additional graphics and photographs. But overall, it is a great book to add to your injury-proofing library. It has helped me pinpoint some problems in my physique and I am on my way to correcting them to stay injury-free.

The best science and practicality without any spin. The author's experience and expertise becomes vivid through the way he describes complex biomechanics, properties of tissue healing, and neuromuscular adaptation through simplistic analogies. As a physical therapist with an intense interest in running injury prevention/treatment and improved running efficiency, this book is a must have. I would argue that this book is a must have even for the therapist who doesn't work with runners, but wants to learn how tissues in the body respond to mechanical stress and effective techniques to restore optimal mobility and stability and soft tissue function. The final 2 chapters of the book provide the reader with easy, effective self assessments and corrective exercises. Take home message from the book is that runners and coaches focus too much on the engine, but it's the chasis that breaks down and leads to injury and leaks in performance. Currently using this book as a soft blueprint for establishing a running specific biomechanics assessment program.

I did not do with this book what I normally do with books of its kind - skip straight to the exercises. I'm glad I broke with tradition. This book is packed with specific, scientific information about anatomy and the integration of the muscles, tendons, and nerves to create movement. (I'm sending a copy to my daughter, who is an exercise science major). This book dovetails nicely with the work I do with my yoga instructor, who incorporates body balance and structural integration into her classes. Everything does interrelate, and this book demonstrates how. The tests for deficiencies which affect running we're simple to do and interpret, as were the exercises necessary to correct them. Whether this book helps depends on how willing you are to follow the protocol - it's not for lightweights in terms if time commitment, as it needs about a half and hour a day. My only criticism of this book is that it's unclear how you know when you're ready to move from phase 1 to phase 2, and when to incorporate some of the other advanced exercises into your routine. The author says you'll know, but I'm concerned most people won't. I'm not downgrading it for that, as everyone is different and it's probably difficult to have a definitive measure to progress. Still, some benchmark would have been helpful. All in all, however, an excellent book that every runner should own.

This book is full of practical ideas and helpful exercises. It will challenge many of the assumptions and "best practices" that the running world has adopted over the years, and back up those challenges with hard data and logical explanations. The author describes complex scientific concepts using easy to understand explanations, so you don't have to be a doctor to understand what he's talking about. His approach and opinions are very moderate. You won't find a die-hard minimalist or "maximalist" approach here-just lots of good information and ideas based on research. I appreciate the conservative views he has regarding surgery, orthotics, complete rest, and other aggressive forms of treatment. Chances are, if you have taken (or are considering) some of these measures, this book will help you find a way to avoid them. I have been doing the exercises for the past month and have begun to notice improvements in my form and efficiency already. If you have the patience and discipline to follow through, I can't see how you wouldn't get any results. This was a far better (and cheaper) investment than another pair of shoes!

I actually bought this book for my husband for Christmas, but just as I was about to wrap it, I started to leaf through it. The next thing you know I was reading it at night in secret, trying to finish it before Christmas day. There was so much useful information that I wish all sports doctors, PTs, athletic trainers and health professional in general would learn about. Dicharry discusses everything from biomechanics, to foot attire, to stretching and strengthening, as well as what an actual soft tissue injury is. This book ought to be in every runner's and coach's library. Several years ago I began to suffer from chronic injuries that shifted almost daily from one body part to another. Common treatment was to address the symptom, which was seldom successful. This book gets you to think about what *causes* tissues to weaken, develop imbalances, and eventually become injured. Understanding what, how, and why goes a long way toward healing and preventing injuries. Practical, informative. I re-read sections of this book regularly.