Is Running Putting Your Spine at Risk? Dr Ulrike Mitchell
Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running
RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog
4.5 • 936 Ratings
🗓️ 7 July 2021
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Your spine starts showing signs of aging at age 20. Is too much running putting it at more risk?
We talk about the spine a lot to our athletes. Your posture and spinal mobility are huge players in good running form, which allow you to run faster and longer with less effort. Flexibility in the thoracic spine in particular allows you to run light and tall, as well as makes more room for lungs to fully expand to their potential.
So what can we do to make sure that our spine is supported, helping us run faster and pain-free? And what happens to our spinal health as we age, especially if we've spent years pounding out mile after mile?
Brigham Young University's Dr Ulrika Mitchell researches the spine and is on the show to talk about it.
Dr Mitchell was born in Germany and got her degrees in Sports Science and Physical Therapy there before moving to the US in the 90s. She got her PhD at BYU and now teaches Functional Anatomy and Orthopedic Impairment at the university. Her research is mostly focused on the spine, low back pain, and she frequently studies runners as she is a runner herself.
Coach Claire asks her all about how the spine functions when we run, how to make sure that it is optimally supported, what exercises we can do to maintain proper spine alignment as we run, and what happens to our spines as we age.
CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY:
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts! A great FREE way to support the show!
Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram
Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Orico Mitchell. You're listening to the Run to the Top podcast. |
| 0:21.0 | Hi there, my running friend, this is Coach Claire Bartholic, the Planted Runner, and this is the Run to the Top Podcast, one of the first and only |
| 0:25.6 | running podcast dedicated to making you a better runner with each and every episode. |
| 0:30.8 | We are created and produced by the expert team of running coaches at runnersconnect.net where you can find the best running information on the internet as well as running coaching plans to fit every runner and every budget. |
| 0:44.0 | When I was 14 years old, I went to move a big heavy terracotta pot in my mom's garage for her. |
| 0:55.0 | I bent over to grab it and immediately felt an excruciating stab in my lower back. |
| 1:02.0 | That was the start of years of on and off lower back pain |
| 1:06.2 | for most of my life. That is until I became serious about running and strength |
| 1:11.6 | training. For me running has always been good for my |
| 1:14.3 | back and as I got stronger in the gym to support my running I gradually have become a person |
| 1:20.0 | who no longer complains about having a bad back. |
| 1:23.0 | Well, except if I'm bent over a computer too long, |
| 1:26.0 | as I'm sure most of you can relate to. |
| 1:29.0 | As a coach, though, I have seen that running is not always a cure for an aching back. |
| 1:34.9 | Some runners actually experience more back pain, seemingly from running. |
| 1:39.3 | I've often wondered, does it have something to do with the particular way they run |
| 1:44.0 | could it be some sort of imbalance or maybe the supporting muscles of the spine have |
| 1:48.8 | not been strengthened enough in the gym? I talk about the spine a lot to my athletes. Your posture and spinal |
| 1:56.8 | mobility are huge players in good running form which allow you to run faster and |
| 2:02.4 | longer with less effort. |
| 2:04.0 | Flexibility in the thoracic spine in particular |
| 2:07.0 | allows you to run light and tall, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.