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

by Jay Dicharry

Tired of getting the same treatments from doctors that didn’t heal his joint and muscle pain from running, Jay Dicharry decided to combine different fields of clinical care, biomechanical analysis, and coaching to help you avoid common injuries and become the best runner you can be.

Running has become more and more popular in recent years, with thousands of people entering marathons, buying new running shoes with the latest technology, and going for a daily jog, whether on the track or on a treadmill. Unfortunately, with running comes injuries, as a result of wrong information and improper training.

Along with clear and thorough explanations of how running influences the body, and how the body influences your running, this book answers many of the common questions that athletes

The mobility and stability tests will assess your form, and the corrective exercises, along with step-by-step photos, will improve your core and overall performance, so that you can train and run with confidence, knowing how to avoid injuries!

Genres: Nonfiction, Fitness, Sports, Health, Science, Reference, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2012

About the author

Jay Dicharry, MPT, SCS, is the Director of the SPEED Clinic and the Motion Analysis Lab at the University of Virginia. Originally from New Orleans, Jay received his Masters of Physical Therapy degree at Louisiana State University Medical Center. He is an instructor in the Sports Medicine program and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency at the University of Virginia. Jay is a Board Certified Sports Clinical Specialist, and a certified coach through both the United States Track and Field Association and the United States Cycling Federation. He is widely published in numerous professional journals on running gait and biomechanics, lectures nationally to clinicians and coaches on care of endurance athletes, conducts research on runners, and consults to individual, USA Track and Field and the US Air Force on athlete development. Jay has a competitive history in swimming, triathlon, cycling, and running events on both the local and national level, and has coached athletes from local standouts to national medalists. His passion is combining his personal, clinical, and research focus to help athletes achieve their full potential.

Reviews

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

What prevents me from giving this book 5 stars?

Not the anatomical information. Very enlightening.

Not the inspiration. I'm pumped to use these techniques to avoid injury and finally be able to compete again at the distance-not-to-be-named.

It was the repetition. Dicharry has 3 or 4 important points to make. So he does. Repeatedly. I mean very repeatedly.

Related to the repetitiveness of the text: the first (approximately) 3/4 of the book is words and the remainder is photos of the self-tests and remedial exercises. The book would have been a 5-star for sure if that proportion had been reversed. The tests and exercises were pretty thin on detail in spots. They could have used a lot more elaboration!

Or maybe that's me just needing to actually see someone in person about this subject instead of trying to learn it from a book.

[Jana Light · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, scientific overview of how the human body responds to running and how runners can adjust their mechanics to ensure running longevity. I picked it up because I was experiencing potentially-prohibitive shin splints, but after making tweaks to my form throughout my reading of the book, today I ran 12 miles and had no pain -- neither during nor after my run. This is a great resource for people who love running but are not "natural" or particularly intuitive about gait (like me!).

I took away a star because Dicharry is painfully sexist, making several insulting, derogatory comments. As a woman, I would never work with him in his lab in real life, but I will use the knowledge he put in this book for my benefit and will view the sexist comments as coming from a small-minded man threatened by the equality our culture is starting to recognize as deserving for women.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One month ago, I started training for a 5k race, which I signed up for, one month from now. 8 weeks to turn a non-runner into a person who can run for 3 miles without needing a medic.

One week ago I started having fatigue pain and cramping in my lower left leg. In my day job, I do remedial massage for just these conditions, but you know what they say about troubleshooting your own "chassis," to borrow an expression from the book.

Blinders on.

I've spent the last week treating the area of pain, with every tool in my toolbox. Massage, topicals, kinesiotape, targeted stretches - static and AIS - rolling, hot soak... no workie.

Dicharry's book is exactly what I was looking for. As well as helping me troubleshoot my own issue (which turns out to be very little to do with my lower leg, and everything to do with stability above and below,) I think it will be invaluable for my work.

The irony is that had a client come to me with this issue, I would have addressed it in a similar way (minus the physical therapy aspects) as the book describes, but when it comes to myself, it's impossible to do the evaluative tests I do with my clients. Reading this book gave me new tools for self-evaluation, and I'm very grateful and hopeful I can find a solution before it becomes a serious injury situation.

I've read a lot of theory and technique books. This one is well written, with lots of biology/physiology stuff for the anat/phys geeks like me, but accessible, so that runners without the physiology background will understand the "why" not just the "how."

I especially appreciate that the work Dicharry does (and writes,) is not only in line with what I've learned from very progessive bodywork instructors, but also acknowledges that there are aspects of bodywork, treatment and fitness, that we just don't have any answers for... yet. Within that framework, we can take what we do know, and extrapolate concepts, but don't get married to those concepts. We may know more soon.

Highly recommended for weekend warriors, athletes, trainers and bodyworkers.

[Ci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contributes greatly to my understanding of the biomechanics of running. The author uses several visual and mechanical analogues to make convincing arguments for better running forms and corrective drills. This book is not about sample training plans nor human anatomy. It is a highly stylized and effectively simplified book to educate general readers about running mechanics.

A few highlighted points:

(1) running requires stabilization in the lateral and rotational planes in order to move forward effectively. This means the "core" strengthening exercises of crunches and twists do not service much in terms of "stabilization". Running is about holding upper body stable in a dynamic fashion; obviously six-packed core adds only aesthetics.

(2) body-mind connection, or the "neuromuscular control" needs smart training instead of just piling on miles. If uncorrected, poor forms and imbalance can ossify into limits of one's performance while increase severity and frequency of injury. One's mind needs to learn to sense one's body in space, both the central- and peripheral- adaptions in the whole body. In other words, one needs to understand the origins of injuries in biomechanics forms and correct them.

(3) Gait. Why we are told not to "over-stride"? Or it is not good to "heel strike"? The author uses a sling shot to explain why good gait means good mechanics in using our energy in running.

(4) Balance. If our left and right sides are not balanced properly in running, peripheral system has to overcompensate for the imbalance. Many of the injuries are caused by tight hip flexors, or ankles, or even big toes (which is relating to problems in planar fascia. This surprised me).

The book includes good photo graphs to add visuals to many segment. One can quibble about some of the Powerpoint charts being overzealous and superfluous, but most of the points are well-made. The tone of this book is casual and even slangy at certain points; but the information presented are well-organized. I highly recommend this book for any runner.

[Rose Jakeways · Rating 2 out of 5]

good info but aggressively misogynistic at points

[James Brisbourne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting, didn't magically fix my injuries so 4/5 stars only

[Anna]

I was hoping for more diagrams and really disliked the chatty writing style.

[Ionut Ciuta · Rating 5 out of 5]

O carte care va sta mult timp pe noptiera mea pentru re-citire. Fascinant cum ceva atât de banal și natural ca alergatul este de fapt foarte de complex și ușor de făcut greșit.

Aparent, dupa câteva mii de kilometri alergați, am învățat că nu știu să-mi aleg încălțămintea potrivită. Nu mai zic de tehnica în sine.

Cel mai mult am apreciat sfaturile și indicațiile practice oferite de autor care include totul de la variante de stretching, la tehnici de recuperare și corecție.

[Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of excellent information buried in an agonising and at times sexist writing style that meant I stopped reading it afew years ago.

I’ve picked it up again and finally finished it. I’m glad I read it and the background information and exercises are helpful, but it could be drastically improved by being edited down to less than half the length (preferably by a woman).

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really, really good! I thought it was going to be boring, but it's well-written, interesting, funny at times and with good illustrations/pictures! It made me understand injuries and what to do if you get them (hint: it's not always what you might think) AND, best of all, helped me understand what to do to prevent them and become a better runner. Also, it had just good information on efficiency and how to improve speed/endurance. This book should really be required reading for ALL runners!

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! This excellent book covers the physics of running and what your body is designed to do when you are an efficient strong runner. But it's also extremely practical because there are tests to perform so you can evaluate yourself and then exercises to do so that your can correct the imbalances you have. I am on my way to becoming a stronger runner with much less risk of injury! Thank you Jay Dicharry!

[Dmitry Khvatov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t forget to check out the bonus PDF!

[Chris M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read for anyone who is interested in running. There is a lot of detailed information about the most common injuries related to running as well as exercises and strategies to address and prevent these injuries. If you work in physical medicine such as physical therapy or chiropractic, the content will be a great refresher, but the information is presented in a way that is very accessible and easy to understand.

[David Dai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read and has some useful content. I personally thought the book could have been much shorter. I did not particularly enjoy the author’s use of analogies, and didn’t find that they added to my understanding. Overall I would recommend this book for runners who are trying to better understand their body and how it relates to their running performance.

[Macklin O’Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit heavy on the science at the beginning as long as you expect that going in it’s not bad.

Once through the learning sections, it’s far and away the best book I’ve read on understanding muscle and mobility imbalances.

The tests at the end were particularly impactful. I’m excited to implement some of this stuff in my routine.

[Shane Skelcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read covering what runners can do to help improve their mechanics. Very user friendly and never gets overly technical. I have already begun using some of the tips, stretches, and strengthening exercises mentioned in the book and have felt better!

[Snorre Lothar von Gohren Edwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book about running health. But I think I personally is a step before so it became quite advanced

[Michał Hawełka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to more complex topics for runners. The "theoretical" part of the book is really well made. The "practical" is a little bit too chaotic to my taste - probably that's why the author wrote Running Rewired which is kinda the same content, but assembled in a better way :D

[Việt Anh Nguyễn Lê · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit heavy on theory but it's very informative and concise. The book clears a lot of misinformation out there in terms of running technique and injury prevention with good back up researches

[Kelly Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content of the book is good but the tone is terrible. I don’t need to be negged by a book.

[Daniel Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't deny that I learned some things about what muscles are composed of and how tendons, ligaments, muscles, and bones all work together to help us run (and do everything else, for that matter). So I don't have any complaints about this book as far as the information itself is concerned.

However, this book definitely has other issues working against it. First of all, this book seems to place itself somewhere between a reference manual and self-help book for runners. I say it felt like a reference manual because the last couple of chapters contain all of the exercises and tests that the author recommends runners to do determine and improve their mobility and stability. It was a constant frustration to be reading the book and have the author mention that planks and sit-ups don't do anything for core stability, but then I'd just be left to hope that the author would later tell me what things DO aid in core stability. I would've loved it if the exercises and tests were introduced throughout the book so that as I read I could take bite-sized chunks of tests and exercises instead of having them dumped on me at the end. The author could've also provided a downloadable PDF from their website if he wanted to provide the reference manual experience.

The structure of the book was an issue for me, but the worst part was the sexism, though. All of references to women in this book are negative. The author makes attempts to be humor (I hope that's what he was doing), but they just become offensive, such as when he introduces his idea of FATS (Female Adolescent Texting Syndrome) which he uses as reasoning for why adolescents these days have such bad posture. First of all, that didn't make a lot of sense to me since I'm pretty sure there are a LOT of activities that negatively contribute to poor posture, not just texting. But even worse than that, it explicitly says that girls and women have this problem. It's part of the name of the "syndrome"! Does that mean that boys and men are walking around with perfect posture? Even worse than that, he makes sure to clarify that he doesn't mean that women are FAT, just that they have bad posture from all that texting. I almost closed the book and didn't finish it at that point, because I hoped he'd get better. This was definitely the worst example from the book, but there are several other incidents where the author says similar cringe-worthy sexist things.

Ultimately, this book was informative and I believe that the exercises listed at the end of the book are probably good ones to introduce into your routine. For a more enjoyable reading experience, though, I recommend searching elsewhere.

[PJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suffer from knee pain when running, this notes helped:

1. Run from the butt. Think bring your heel back with glutes+hamstrings, not bring knee forward with quads. Likewise, do not step overly far forward, think skipping rope, not forward lunges.
2. Don't sit back on your hips while running/walking.
3. Optimal running cadence hovers around 180bpm. Find yours with a metronome and skipping rope until you find the "bounciest" jump cadence.
5. Prevent internal rotation. Imagine your kneecaps are flashlights and shine them forward.
6. Stretch your hip flexors so your gait is not forward dominant.
7. Squat with vertical tibia so your glute drives the movement.
8. Glute bridge exercise is driven solely by the glutes.
9. Practice one leg balance regularly.
10. Practice jumping without making a sound.
11. Practice sideways jumping over an obstacle.
12. Practice jumping on one leg to different directions.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book for every runner especially if they've been injured in the past. Dr. Dicharry gives an excellent technical description of how the body should work, how to test for weaknesses and most importantly how to fix them and become a stronger runner.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. Sometimes it's a little hard to understand and sometimes it's repetitive, but overall, it makes a lot of sense. This book has already helped me find some of my own weaknesses and I believe it will help me fix them too. Only time will tell.

[Moi · Rating 5 out of 5]

a comprehensive look at the biomechnics of running, along with plenty of exercises and drills for prehab and rehab. dicharry is considered one of the authorities in running PT. i bought a hard copy of this book for my library.

[John Adamski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good, practical knowledge for runners. But really, this book should have been a 30 page pamphlet.

[James Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for runners. I learned a lot about my body's anatomy and physiology, and it provided me with the tools I need to identify and correct my muscle imbalances and weaknesses.

[Hy Hoang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have given this book 5 stars if not for the casual sexism sprinkled throughout this book, which otherwise detracts from this excellent and informative book.

[Kellyann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful information and actionable suggestions if you can look past the terrible dad joke writing.

[Emily Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has no place in the modern world of athleticism and sports medicine. The blatant sexism was infuriating to read. Even when I tried to set that aside and read it for what he had to say about running anatomy and injury prevention, his writing style was so repetitive it was just confusing and hard to follow. Combined with his sarcastic and dry sense of humor which always fell flat and just felt insulting, there are way better books out there covering this topic.

He only ever had negative things to say when talking about women, specifically women athletes. At times it felt like he just loved to provide reasons why you're inferior and a horrible runner simply because you're a woman. I'll provide a few of my "favorite" examples below:

He loves to coin his own terms for common injuries he sees in athletes....yet every single one is targeted at women? Even when the injury isn't exclusive to women? For instance, "The Female Athlete Triad Syndrome:”
Essentially, when athletes have too high of an exercise volume, poor nutrition, and Ammenorhea (I'll give it to him, this third point is more specific to women...yet the others certainly aren't! And he doesn't even go into further detail on this factor). After listing these three factors, he then goes into a rant about how adolescent women love to drink dark sodas (??) and have poor body image, resulting in poor nutrition. Because apparently this only applies to young girls, and teenage boys certainly don't drink dark sodas, or struggle with body image *eye roll*

As another review mentioned, he also coined the term "F.A.T.S" (but don't worry, he's careful to clarify he's not actually calling women fat!) "Female Adolescent Texting Syndrome," referencing poor posture in adolescent youth due to texting and other bad habits. Again, apparently this only applies to young girls, and not boys AT ALL, because otherwise why would he rename an already existing term for the condition, "Lower Quarter Crossed Syndrome," to specifically target women?

The moment that caused me to slam the book shut and officially call it quits came at the end of chapter 6 (yes I made it 6 chapters), where he was comparing the differences between men and women in running (but really, just once again listing off why women are inferior, without providing any actually useful information or solutions).
After discussing how women have a more lax muskulosketal structure to allow for childbirth (alright, he's making a good point so far, surely he's about to dive a little deeper into this and offer some actually useful information about this aspect of female anatomy?) he says, and I quote,

“On the whole, women don't do as good a job of coordinating their movements as men.” (um, sorry what? Do you have literally any evidence to support this claim? Nope? Ok...)
“This means they are always walking the line between injury and injury-free. If you've learned nothing else in this chapter, remember everyone can make huge improvements in control. Do a better job controlling the range you have and you'll be fine. Or maybe just go buy another pair of pink running shoes."

yikes. Just. big yikes. I know this book was written in 2012, which is the only reason I tried to keep writing off the sexism as "it was a different time." But eventually, one has to call a spade a spade and this is just a sexist man listing off reasons women are inferior under the guise of "helping prevent injuries."
Do yourself a favor and skip this book.