Americans are increasingly on the run, with Running USA’s 2012 State of the Sport report counting nearly 39 million runners. Runners spend nearly $2.5 billion annually on footwear, according to the report. But, unfortunately, new shoes don’t come with accurate information and proper training to safely and successfully pursue the activity. For that, Today in PT turned to Jay Dicharry, PT, MPT, SCS, Rebound Physical Therapist, author of “Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention.”
Dicharry, lately of Rebound Physical Therapy Bend, Oregon, was director of the Strength, Power, Endurance, Education and Development Performance Clinic and the Motion Analysis Lab coordinator at the University of Virginia for more than seven years. He’s also a certified strength and conditioning specialist, a certified coach and a certified golf fitness instructor. Dicharry has competed in swimming, triathlon, cycling and running events on the local and national level. Here, he explains how physical therapists can better meet the needs of runners.
Jay Dicharry, PT
Today in PT: How did you get into this practice area?
Jay Dicharry: As PTs, we go to school, and have so much to learn to pass the board exam to become a generalist — no time to get into nuts-and-bolts subjects. Yet we emerge with a PT degree, and suddenly we’re expected to be a running expert. In reality, you don’t get into much of this in school. At UVa it was so interesting to combine the clinical aspects we all learn about in school with principles from the field of engineering. It’s not all black and white. I learned to think objectively when someone says, “I have a pain.” Now, I want to break things down. After all, our goal as PTs is to obtain better information and make better determinations to diagnose and treat our patients.
Full interview originally published on new.todayinPT.com
