Do’s and Don’t’s for a New Exercise Regimen in the Spring

With the weather finally getting better, I see runners zipping down the sidewalks to Central Park or West Side Highway, and I think to myself “Oh boy, here come the knee injury, hip pain and shin splints patients.” If you ask a running coach she would say these injuries are due to overtraining or the common, “too fast too soon.” Repetitive force from each step causes injury to the the tendons and ligaments around the joints, causing inflammation to occur to protect from further damage. The inflammation triggers pain and swelling bad enough to bench most runners. Tendons, ligaments, and cartilage take a long time to heal since those types of tissue are not very well protected. Chinese medicine has a more poetic explanation of...