Running form app for injury-prone runners

If you keep getting injured running, the usual reasons are too much load too soon, not enough strength, and a stride that puts the load in the same place every step. A phone clip can only show you the third one. That is worth doing, because it is the one you can see. But be honest with yourself about the first two as well.

A video cannot tell you the cause of an injury. It shows the stride. Take the clip to a physio if you are in a cycle of getting hurt.

What form patterns often go with repeat injuries

Runners who describe themselves as injury prone tend to show one of these on side-view video.

1. Reaching forward with a straight knee. The foot lands well ahead of the hip. The impact travels up a stiff leg. This is often linked with knee and shin complaints.
2. Low cadence and long steps. Under 160 steps per minute at easy pace. Each step is bigger and there are fewer of them, so each one carries more.
3. A stiff midstance. Little knee bend as the body passes over the foot. Less absorption.
4. Sitting hips and a folded trunk. The pelvis drops back, the glutes stop working, and the calves and hamstrings take the load instead. Often linked with calf and Achilles complaints.
5. A dropping hip line. On a front or behind view, one hip dips each step. Often linked with pain on the outside of the knee and hip. Caden does not analyse this view, so check it on your own footage if a clinician has raised it.

The important word is "linked". None of these is proven to cause your injury. They are patterns worth changing because they load one spot hard.

What to film

Side view, outdoors, phone at hip height 6 to 8 metres from your path, 10 to 20 seconds at easy pace. That is the only view Caden analyses. If a physio has asked about hip drop, film a separate behind clip for them to look at, running straight away from the phone.

Film when you are healthy and pain free. If you are injured now, rest, see a clinician, and film once you are cleared to run.

Film again at the end of a long run. Many injury-prone runners look fine fresh and fall apart tired.

See how to film yourself running for framing.

What Caden shows you

A form score out of 100, six dials and cadence. For repeat injuries, read:

• Where your foot lands. Foot landing as a fraction of leg length. "Reaching too far ahead" is the flag.
• Knee bend on landing. Flexion at midstance. Low means stiff.
• Upper body lean. Torso lean in degrees. Too much, with hips back, is the sitting pattern.
• Cadence. Steps per minute.

Breakpoints freeze foot strike, midstance and toe-off with a skeleton overlay. The coach's tip gives one cue per dial. Stats keeps all of it over time, so when you next get hurt you can look back at what your form was doing in the weeks before.

A sample 4-week plan

Caden builds a 4 or 8 week plan on the Exercises tab from your lowest dials, three short sessions a week at a session length you choose. For an injury-prone runner the plan leans on strength. Change one form cue at a time, and do not add running volume in the same month.

Weeks 1 and 2: strength and landing.

• Slow calf raises, 3 × 12.
• Glute bridge, 3 × 12.
• Split squat, 3 × 8 each side.
• Single-leg balance, 2 × 30 seconds each side.
• Dead bug, 3 × 8 each side.
• One cue, 30 seconds, four times, on two easy runs.

Short, quiet steps.

Weeks 3 and 4: add spring, slowly.

• Step-ups, 3 × 10 each side.
• A-march, 3 × 30 seconds.
• A-skip, 2 × 20 metres, only if pain free.
• Hip flexor stretch and ankle rocks after every run.

Film again in week 4. Open Before and after in Stats. Keep the same weekly mileage through the whole block.

What Caden will not do for an injury-prone runner

It will not tell you why you keep getting hurt. Load, sleep, strength, shoes and history all matter, and a video sees none of them.

It will not promise you will stop getting injured. A change in landing reach may help. It is often linked with less load in one spot. That is all a video can say.

It cannot measure force, pronation, leg length difference or 3D hip rotation. It sees a 2D outline. Ask a physio for those. See the physio page for what a clinic can measure that a phone cannot.

How to do it in Caden

1. Open Caden, tap Run a new analysis and film 10 to 20 seconds from the side at easy pace, pain free.
2. Read the Where your foot lands, Knee bend on landing and Upper body lean dials and the cadence number.
3. Tap Breakpoints, then Foot strike and Midstance. Look at the ankle position and knee bend.
4. Open the Exercises tab and start a plan. Do the strength sessions three times a week and change only one cue.
5. Re-film in week 4 and open Before and after in Stats.

FAQ

Why do I keep getting injured running?

Most often because mileage went up faster than the body could adapt, or because the muscles that hold the hips and absorb landing are not strong enough. Form can add to that by loading one spot every step. Check all three, not just the video.

Can changing my form stop me getting injured?

It may help. A shorter landing reach and more knee bend are often linked with less load at the knee and shin. No video can promise it, and changing form too fast is itself a common way to get hurt.

Should I change my form while injured?

No. Rest, see a clinician, and do the strength work they give you. Film once you are cleared to run and change one thing at a time.

How fast should I change my stride?

Raise cadence by about 5 percent, not more. Use one cue for short stretches of easy runs. Give it four weeks before you judge it.