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

Jay Dicharry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2012

With training tips, exercises, and injury remedies, this is a book that every runner and coach should have!

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. Author Jay Dicharry was tired of getting the same treatments from doctors that didn’t heal his joint and muscle pain from running, so he 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.

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 have: Do runners need to stretch? What is the best way to run? What causes injuries? Which shoes are best for running? Is running barefoot beneficial?

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!

162 color photos and illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The biggest challenge running coaches encounter is discovering the balance between maximizing workload while holding off injuries. Jay Dicharry presents years of knowledge and useful practical information in a format that's understandable. I am certain Anatomy for Runners is spot on because Jay has helped several of my athletes both remain healthy as well as get back to championship form.” (Jason Vigilante)

“This is the best resource on running biomechanics and injury prevention. The corrective exercises have become part of my training routine, improved my performance, and reduced my injuries.” (Alan Webb, American record holder in the mile)

“Running is a simple sport, right?  But why does almost everyone get hurt? As Jay discovers in this valuable guide, the reason is an amazingly complex mix of anatomy, strength, forces, vectors, and footwear effects.  Alas, after reading this book and feeling what running really is, you will rediscover and understand its simplicity . . . then you can throw the rest of the library away.” (Dr. Mark Cucuzzella)

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing; 1 edition (August 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1620871599
• ISBN-13: 978-1620871591
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Dicharry, MPT, SCS

Originally from New Orleans LA, Jay completed the Masters of Physical Therapy degree at Louisiana State University Medical Center and is a Board- Certified Sports Clinical Specialist. Jay built his international reputation as an expert in biomechanical analysis as Director of the SPEED Clinic at the University of Virginia. Through this innovative venture, Jay was able to blend the fields of clinical practice and engineering to better understand and eliminate the cause of overuse injuries in endurance athletes. His unique approach goes outside the traditional model of therapy and aims to correct imbalances before they affect your performance.

Jay literally wrote the book on running gait assessments: he is author of "Anatomy for Runners", writes columns for numerous magazines, and has published over a dozen professional journal articles and three book chapters. Jay has had an active research career, teaches nationally, and consults for numerous footwear companies, the US Air Force and USA Track and Field. His ongoing research focus on footwear and the causative factors driving overuse injury continues to provide him cutting edge knowledge to educate and provide patients with an unmatched level of innovation and success. Having taught in the Sports Medicine program at UVA, he brings a strong bias towards patient education, and continues to teach nationally to elevate the standard of care for Therapists, Physicians, and Coaches working with endurance athletes.

In addition to his clinical distinction, Jay is a certified coach through both the United States Track and Field Association and the United States Cycling Federation, and certified Golf Fitness Instructor through Titleist Performance Institute. He 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. In addition to helping you achieve your passion, he enjoys exploring his new home in the Pacific Northwest with his family on knobbies, skis, boards, and soles.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars No index and frustrating to decipher the self-assessment and exercise sections January 6, 2013

By osugrad85

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am 50 years old and have been a lifetime runner who has suffered a variety of running injuries (plantar faciitis, shin splints, posterior tibial tendonitis, piriformis syndrome, IT band syndrome, and most recently a stress fracture of the distal head of my left fibula, just to name a few). This book does a great job of explaining the mechanics of the human body in layman's terms and how to apply that knowledge to improving running gait and efficiency. And, the book as self assessment tests that help you determine deficiencies in your own body mechanics (core stability, flexibility, strength, etc.), and provides a slew of exercises to improve your identified deficiencies.

This is one of two places where the book could be improved. At the end of the self assessment tests there is a chart that lists exercises (by name) to perform to correct the deficiencies, and the next chapter contains those exercises listed first by number, then by name. Why the author did not include the exercise "numbers" in the chart at the end of the self assessment tests is beyond me. I felt like I was having to solve a puzzle in flipping through the exercise chapter looking for each of the exercises recommended for me. I ended up creating a cheat sheet for me that listed the exercises recommended for me by name, then matching them up with the numbers (and page numbers) of the exercises in the following chapter. Had the author included the exercise numbers in the table it would have made the book much easier to use.

The other criticism I have of the book is that the book does not contain an index in the back. How can you write a book like this and not include an index?

Update: I've dropped my rating from 4 to 3 stars. The reason? Frustration!... Every time I turn to this book to use the exercises "prescribed" for me in the self-assessment section, I get frustrated for the reasons I've already discussed above (no index and no matrix connecting the exercises by name to their location in the book). But, I've also found that several of the exercise names used in the table at the end of the self-assessment section do not match the names used in the exercise section, leaving finding the proper exercise up to the reader's interpretation. For example, I think, where the self-assessment section identifies exercises "T-Ball Rock and Roll", "Lateral Hip Bridge", and "Rotational Lunge", the actual exercise names in the exercise section are "T-Ball Triad", "Side Lying Hip Bridge", and "Twisting Lunge." Add to that the fact that the self-assessment section names the following exercises that do not appear at all in the exercise section: Squat Training and Swiss Ball Triad (which I do not think is the same thing as "T-Ball Triad"). And, there are several exercises in the exercise section that are not mentioned at all in the self-assessment table. Something definitely went amiss during editing.

Good book to read, but very frustrating book to actually use which is the whole reason for purchasing it. Ugh! Read more ›

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional July 21, 2012

By R.M.F.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Packed with information on why injuries happen and how to prevent them. Not just the basics, but in depth explanations on why your muscles, ligaments, and tendons act the way they do. I had been struggling with chronic hamstring strain for a long time. This book was my ticket to recovery.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Must read for avid runners. October 29, 2012

By SRKCNU

Format:Paperback

This is a very thorough and well stated explanation of common running related injuries. This book helps runners maintain a balanced approach to avoid common training related injuries, as well as, inform those who are perplexed about lingering soreness.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading October 3, 2012

By Lori WV

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book contains a WEALTH of information for anyone who wants to run "smarter", instead of just harder. Beautiful simplicity in that several of the tests for stability are also the exercises you perform if you need to improve. Well thought out and engaging.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Reader Friendly September 16, 2012

By Julie Curtis

Format:Paperback

This book is a great find for anyone who wants to dive deeper into their training. Sure we may all know to a degree that our bones and tissues and movement matter, but just how and why? And where do they all connect to all the other information we're always noticing?

Anatomy for Runners breaks it down into an easy read with great full color visuals. I am HUGE on graphics in a training book, I need to see it more than I need to read it a lot of the time. There are medical quality images, charts or graphs, general photography and probably any other visual aid printed within this text. One thing I enjoyed was the mix of information with "how to" in order to take it to the next level. From what I noticed there was not a need to buy or learn any complicated equipment in order to use the moves in the book or understand the basis of the body.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for runners, coaches, PTs, personal trainers, and more August 31, 2012

By bdodson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great resource August 24, 2012

By A. Husain

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book is very good in listing specfic exercises to fix problems. I think his conclusions are practical and easy to understand. It is very good resources to fix problems, but I two issues. First issue is he had two ads for products in the book. Yes, they are ads. Secondly, there is no set way to optimize the correction process. Meaning he doesn't say do tissue work and then corrective exercise for this issue. He just lists the exercises for each problem and a progression. There should be a little more of flow chart to optimize the process. However, it is still a great resource a must read.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book August 23, 2012

By JLD

Format:Paperback

Excellent information. Should be on the desk of every Physical Therapist and Physical Medicine Doctor. I'm sure that many hours went into researching and putting together this great book for athletes of all kinds.