Justification for never running again

I found this article at: http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do;jsessionid=52581B1402D69C3F61DE3B7433E87952.hydra?id=1785278


Running To Get Fit
by Tony Gentilcore

Mike Boyle has often been quoted as saying, "You can't run to get fit, you need to get fit to run." I couldn't agree more with this statement. Most (read: not all) people shouldn't be running in the first place. This is especially true for women.

What's the first thing that women do to get into shape? They hightail it to the local store and buy a new pair of pearly white running shoes and go for a jog outside. Conversely, what's the first piece of equipment that women will gravitate towards if they've never set foot in a gym before? The treadmill. And more often than not both scenarios do notlook pretty.

I watch some of these women running (you men too--you're not off the hook) and it just looks painful. How can they possibly think this is good for them? I can walk on a floor of broken glass barefoot or listen to Paris Hilton speak and both would be less painful than watching some of these women run.

I'll admit, the girls on the left are rockin the headband.

Why is running not so great for the majority of women? There are a few reasons, but the main one boils down to basic biomechanics and the Q-angle. Women by nature have a greater Q-angle compared to men (wide hips, narrow knees), which predisposes them to a number of problems that aren't normally an issue for men. Research has shown that women are six times more likely to tear their ACL compared to men.

Add that to the fact that many women tend to be very quad dominant and are weaker than a baby's fart (i.e. they don't lift appreciable weights; sorry, pink dumbbells for 20 reps don't count) and you have a recipe for disaster.

Women aside, running is a fairly advanced form of exercise. Within any given mile there are roughly 1500 foot strikes. Ask any strength coach or decent personal trainer (yes they do exist) if they'd ever allow an elite athlete (let alone your average weekend warrior) to perform a plyometric protocol which calls for 1500 foot strikes on a daily basis, and I'm willing to bet you'll get some perplexed looks.

Yet day in and day out I see men and women who are 20-50 lbs overweight trudging over to the treadmill to get their three miles in because this is what they feel will get them fit. Even worse, I'll often hear trainers or internet gurus on various forums tell these same people that they should be doing sprints to get lean. [Picture me here banging my head against a brick wall.]

Bang away

Before you send the hate mail, please understand that I'm not saying that running is "bad" for everyone, nor am I saying that it's "bad" in general. There are a plethora of health benefits to be had by including aerobic training such as running/jogging into your repertoire.

However, I feel there are better options for those people who are overweight and relatively new to training looking to get into shape. And that's the point... you need to be fit to run and not vice versa.

Side Note: Eric Cressey wrote a fantastic newsletter a few weeks ago detailing how a novice runner's stride (heel strike) is different from the advanced runner's stride (balls of feet). Long story short, "we" need to teach people how to run.