Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 96, July 2017 | Page 36

By Norrie
Williamson
Destruction
by Technology
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking recently
suggested that rapid technological advances
could ultimately threaten the human race.
While the 75-year-old visionary feels that the
advances combined with humanity’s naturally
aggressive instincts could lead to destruction
by nuclear or biological war, the reality is
that the degradation of everyday human
performance has already been seen through
the advancement of technology.
In these positions, we take on what I refer
to as a floodlight position: Our head is tilted
forward, creating tension over the shoulder to be
anchored at the lower back, and hence ‘pulling
and tilting’ the hips and pelvis, which then has
negative effects on the rear leg muscles. This is
typically augmented by twisting when people try
to multi-task: The computer is placed to one side
of the desk, leaving an area for documents, and
yet another direction for personal interaction.
Add to this a chair that pivots and rotates, and a
tendency to sit on the edge of the chair and the
natural strength and good posture of the human
design is destroyed. The ability to maintain full
function of the lower back and joints, the stability
of the hips and core, and balance that typifies
the skeletal structure is all lost. Furthermore,
such twisted and distorted positions are held for
hours at a time – and the myth that the skeleton
holds the muscle and soft tissue in place is soon
disproven as the change in tension results in a
semi-permanent structural distortion.
It’s in the Hips
What has this to do with running? Everything!
Running is a natural and intended action for
36
humans: We are indeed designed to run, but
injuries often come from doing too much too
soon, which typically results from overloading
the soft tissue with loads greater than they
are currently capable of withstanding. With a
normal erect posture and structure, running
has a balanced minimal loading, but the simple
and everyday example of an office set-up given
above can result in the tilting of hips. As the imbalanced loading will naturally highlight
the weak links, runners become injured from
this basic postural imbalance. Importantly, the
distribution of load means the site of injury is
rarely the site of the imbalance. Virtually all
injuries have their root source in the twist and tilt
of the hips and core. If this is out of alignment,
then virtually all peripheral structures can be
expected to be affected.
When then hips tilt, there are several knock-
on distortions: The head is then adjusted in
order to keep the view of the screen horizontal
as determined by the eyes, and this results
in the spine being bent to support the head.
Furthermore, the tilted hip makes one leg appear
to be shorter than the other. This means that
one foot has to push more in order to maintain
an equal stride length in order to run in a
straight line. This alone changes the loading
in the muscles, but add the imbalanced forces
from the head – the heaviest part of the human
structure – having been displaced over its natural
spine position, and suddenly the whole body is
not only skew, but displacing relatively massive
and unbalanced loads from one leg to the other
when running. Ironic and frustrating as injury may be, be
thankful that you are a runner: Those who
do not run are probably considerably more
imbalanced than you – and are unaware of these
problems that will likely catch them up just in
time to limit their retirement (and incur major
medical costs). The message for runners is
simple: Become aware of your everyday posture,
and correct it to be as balanced, symmetrical
and functional as possible.
Triple the Effect
When walking, these displaced loads are
relatively small and often go unnoticed until
one’s mature years, when the body’s resilience
is reduced, but running is a different matter. We
know that bounding from one leg to the other
typically carries three times the body weight of
walking. However, a distorted structure, like a
displaced or lost column in a building, can result
in significantly greater loads being directed onto
one side, and in an effort to compensate these
loads are transferred to a range of joints or soft
tissue, which typically results in overloading and
injury.
ISSUE 96 JULY 2017 / www.modernathlete.co.za
About the Author
Norrie represented Scotland and Great Britain
in numerous ultra-distance events, then
emigrated and represented South Africa in
triathlon. He is an IAAF-accredited coach and
course measurer and is the official Old Mutual
Virtual Coach. He counts 21 Comrades medals
amongst his more than 150 ultra-marathon
medals. More info at www.coachnorrie.co.za.
C
omputerisation of the workplace,
communication and everyday tasks is a
silent and gradual ‘disease’ that results
in a loss of function. Humans are primarily born
symmetrical and have the potential to perform
equally well to either side. We are also born to
be vertical and balanced around three axes. For
example, in good posture we would stand with
our head directly and centrally balanced over
the shoulders and spine. This is challenged on
a daily basis through actions such as texting on
a phone, or sitting on the edge of a chair while
working on a computer and staring into the
lower than ideal screen.