I hear lots of people, novice runners specifically, complain that new running shoes gave them back pain. Subsequently, they blame the shoes they just bought and so figure that exchanging them for a different make and model will solve their complaints. Unfortunately, they just return with the same complaints! So what gives?
Lots of people don’t realize that the fact they got new runners is motivating them to run more. Lots more. They think, gee these new shoes sure look fast! So they run more than their body is ready to do. Since they’re novice athletes, they don’t realize also that lots of their muscles are tight, especially their hamstrings. Running more makes them flex their hips higher with running, and tight hamstrings don’t like the hips flexing so high, and if the hamstrings aren’t flexible enough to allow for such hip flexion, that flexion has got to come from somewhere. Just where, you ask?
That’s right, your back! Now your hip bones start to rotate about your lumbar (lower) spine. If you have tight back muscles, which the novice athlete probably does, those tight muscles sure aren’t going to like being pulled in every which direction. Furthermore, lots of nerves go through your lumbar spine vertebrae. If those vertebrae start to move excessively, the canals through which the nerves pass will start to change in size, which can end up squishing nerve roots every so often, which can also lead to back pain. Ah, it all makes sense now.
Remember this the next time new running shoes give you back pain. It’ll spare the sales clerk from unnecessarily getting yelled at. Not that I’ve been there before.
