Should we stop trying to have “perfect form”?

Can “perfect” running form cause leakage?

Does that question even make sense?!?

Well, hear me out and then decide. 

I was talking to a mom about her experience with a physical therapist she went to see for some hip pain. Her kids are older, so she’s definitely not in the “near postpartum” window. She never experienced any pelvic floor issues, until she tried to follow a running form cue from this physical therapist. 

She tried to “fix” her form and now she has leakage when she runs!

Thankfully, that PT sent her to see me. (See? You ALWAYS need to have a referral system in place when it’s out of your scope!)

I talked to her about her symptoms and when she experienced them, and we were able to determine that trying to change her running form caused her to create more downward pressure. 

We are seeing some new research about professionals being unable to reliably identify which runners are efficient and which aren’t. If we, as professionals, aren’t able to pick out which runners are efficient, should we really be telling people they are running wrong?

If we are trying to change a mom’s running form to be more “efficient”, and in doing so cause them to experience pelvic floor symptoms, is it even worth it?

Has this happened to you, as a provider or a client?

Do you think there is a right way to run or specific cueing?

Do we know as much as we think we do? Do we understand the impact on other symptoms?