Rolfing for Long Distance Runners

Poor posture, stress, and injuries can cause us to develop certain patterns of posture and movement that negatively impact the fascia or the tissue envelope that encapsulates our muscles, organs, ligaments, and tendons. Compromised fascia becomes fibrous and dense, which keeps us from moving freely and comfortably. Through a technique called Structural Integration, Rolfing works for resetting or realigning your body’s fascia network, enabling you to move more freely and with less pain.

Rolfing’s Structural Integration has proven beneficial to sufferers from desk jockeys with locked up necks and spines, to weekend warriors suffering pain from exercising with poor body alignment, to professional athletes and dancers rehabbing from injuries. However, as a group, long-distance runners may well stand to gain the most benefit from Rolfing.

Runners, particularly long-distance runners, routinely push themselves past normal physical limits making them uniquely prone to over-use and stress injuries. At the same time, serious distance runners are dedicated to preserving their longevity and improving their performance.

As a runner who rarely misses a day of pounding the pavement or running the trails, you may be painfully acquainted with shin splints, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, runners’ knee, or any of an unfortunate array of tendonitis. If so, you have probably tried sports massage, physiotherapy, or even acupuncture to relieve the pain. While these treatments can help, they primarily work on the current injury without preventing future pain and injury.

Scar tissue and tightness from injury and over-use will pull your body out of alignment as you run, putting you at risk for further damage and chronic pain. In addition to realigning the fascia, structural Integration works to break up scar tissue built up over years of running. Runners are often surprised to find that Rolfing eliminates years of their chronic pain. Your Rolfing practitioner will teach you to develop a feel for your body and how to keep it in symmetry. He or she will focus on improving your posture and form while running to maintain alignment and reduce the risk of injury.

Your body wants to move correctly. Structural Integration and your Rolfing practitioner will help you achieve that goal, prolonging your running career and maybe even improving your performance!