126. How Physical Therapist Chris Johnson Prevents Running Injuries
The Strength Running Podcast
Jason Fitzgerald
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2020
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Chris Johnson is a physical therapist, Ironman triathlete, coach, and a three-time All-American triathlete.
He started studying physical therapy as an undergraduate while he was captain of the tennis team at the University of Delaware. Chris then earned his PT degree while completing an orthopedic and sports graduate fellowship before working in New York City as a physical therapist and researcher.
Chris then moved to Seattle where he started Zeren Physical Therapy. He's also a certified triathlon coach, three-time All American triathlete, two time Kona Qualifier, and is currently ranked 16th in his age group in the country for long course racing.
I’m excited to bring you this conversation focused on injury prevention. We’re exploring a lot of fascinating topics:
- Stride smoothness
- Form drills and corrective exercises
- Injury assessments (like the Functional Movement Screen)
- Predicting injuries
- Rehabilitation exercises vs. prevention exercises
Chris possesses a wealth of information about movement fluency, injury prevention, and treatment. I was honored to speak with him and I hope that you get a lot of value from this conversation.
Show Links & Resources:
- Follow Chris on Instagram
- The RunCadence app
- Chris' Physical Therapy Practice in Seattle, WA
- Elite Athletes on Injury Prevention (free)
- Running Injuries resource page
More Prevention Advice From the Best
One of my favorite projects recently was asking nine elite athletes about their favorite injury prevention strategies.
The result is The Little Black Book of Prevention & Recovery. It features:
- Dathan Ritzenhein – 3x Olympian, 3x National Cross Country Champion
- Devon Yanko - 100k National Champion and 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon Qualifier
- David Roche – 2x National Trail Running Champion
- Amelia Boone – 3x World’s Toughest Mudder Champion
- Andy Wacker – Trail Half Marathon National Champion
- Ian Sharman – 3x winner of the Leadville Trail 100
- Joseph Gray – Mount Washington American Record holder and World Mountain Running Champion
- Kelly O'Mara - Professional triathlete
- Max King – US National Ultra Running Champion and 2x winner World Warrior Dash Champion
Each of these athletes share their most effective recovery or injury prevention strategy – and you'll see a lot of options for staying healthy.
Strategies include post-race recovery, why eating is critical for prevention, how to come back to running after you get hurt (and what mistakes to avoid), and the power of eliminating busyness from your life.
Pick and choose the tactics that most resonate with you. Start using them and you’ll start feeling a lot more resilient.
Click the image below to download the free book. Enjoy!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Ready, set go. |
| 0:04.0 | This is episode one, two six with Iron Man Triathlete, |
| 0:08.0 | physical therapist, multi-sport coach, |
| 0:10.0 | and two-time Kona qualifier Mr. Chris Johnson. |
| 0:14.0 | Welcome to the Strength Running Podcast. I'm your host Jason Fitzgerald and what I do here |
| 0:27.5 | on the pod is bring you the brightest minds in the fitness industry to help you become a |
| 0:32.4 | better runner. |
| 0:33.2 | Yes, you'll hear from the elite runners, but you'll also be surrounded by their support team. |
| 0:38.4 | The sports psychologists, strength experts, coaches, and physical therapists who make it all possible. |
| 0:45.6 | The goal is to always be giving you new ideas for elevating your running. |
| 0:51.0 | Because as I like to say, knowledge is a competitive advantage. |
| 0:54.4 | If you're new to the show, feel free to browse the other 125 episodes or our website |
| 1:00.3 | Strength Running.com for more details on strength training for runners, |
| 1:04.8 | injury prevention strategies, mindset training, and how to optimize your training to always |
| 1:10.0 | keep improving. My guest today is Mr. Chris Johnson. Chris started studying |
| 1:15.2 | physical therapy as an undergrad while he was captain of the tennis team at the |
| 1:19.7 | University of Delaware. He then earned his PT degree while completing an |
| 1:24.1 | orthopedic and sports graduate fellowship before working in New York City as a |
| 1:28.6 | physical therapist and researcher. But Chris and his wife wanted to prioritize a more active outdoor lifestyle, so they |
| 1:36.2 | packed it up and moved to Seattle. Kind of sounds like my story with moving to Denver. But in Seattle, |
| 1:42.3 | Chris started Zaren Physical Therapy and in addition to being a |
| 1:46.4 | physical therapist, Chris is a certified triathlon coach, a three-time all-American |
... |
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