Loss of coordination in leg - Official runner's dystonia / focal dystonia discussion thread

I really think this is muscle imbalance/weakness issue. The workouts I have been doing as well as the hamstring and glutius medius AND gluteus maximumus strengthining I have done in the weightroom have helped me have a successful cross country season. I also have a full length lift in my good leg that I wear during training and racing and I think I'm starting to see its effects.

The distance it takes to make my leg go bad is generally around 10k now, if I run a well paced race, whereas it was about 1.5-2 miles two years ago.

I can now race 8k's (25:30 PR, but consistantly under 26:00) at a faster pace than my high school 3 mile (15:34) so my advise is: do the strength work, check out pelvic allignment and leg discrepencies, and if needed get a lift to balance them out. Also, change your workouts. If you leg goes bad during a hard 4 mile tempo at mile 3.5, either 1) slow down the pace, and increase the distance of the tempo or 2) do a 2 mile tempo, do intervals, and then do another 2 mile tempo.

where can I get a full length lift for my shoe...I just have a heel lift and I strike midfoot?

Have to agree w 16x on that.

I realise there r many possible causes for every single individual's condition in this board, but I would just like to add some points which I hope will help.

I read that many have done the prescribed exercises whether by doctors or from the suggestions on this thread, but have not gotten better.

Let me add the following (which yr therapists might already have covered also):

1)Before u do the glute, hamstring, core exercises, STRETCH the tight muscles (inhibitors)first. The sequence is important. If u only do the strengthening ex.s but fail to stretch the inhibiting muscles (eg tight hip flexors), there will be no lasting change. If u stretch AFTER u strengthen, same thing happens; the muscles will 'rebound' to their previous state after a while.

2) Its best to do these ex.s as close to bedtime as possible, because you'll be resting immediately after, and this enables yr tight muscles (wh u have just stretched) to heal in a lengthened state. (I know this is not always practical or desirable, but many therapists recommend this; worth a try bec it makes some sense....)

3)Regarding the ankle problems and other lower leg issues, I think if u experience any tightness in yr hip area, it is fairly certain that they r caused by pelvic misalignment/weakness. For eg, if your left hip is tight, its likely that that same leg has become an acquired short leg, and so when u r running, that leg has to 'reach' further downwds w every footfall, and land toe/forefoot first. The angle of footstrike may vary depending on where u experience tightness in yr hip/leg. Some may land with the outer foot first and overpronate, while others may land nearer the big toe and oversupinate.

U need to locate where it is that's tight and short and stretch them, and where its long and weak and strengthen them. Yr running gait and postural habits and training surfaces/methods will affect these areas.

4) Stretching. To truly lengthen the inhibiting muscles, hold stretches for more than one minute, to enable 'plastic deformation' to occur in the shortened muscles. This means that the lengthened muscles will retain its elongated state.

If u hold stretches for the standard 2-30 sec range, what u have is 'elastic deformation' of the muscles, which will return to their previous length in a relatively short time (ie the change is not permanent).

Remember, as often as is possible, stretch the inhibiting muscles b4 u proceed w strengthening the correspondingly restricted muscles (eg. overused and tight hip flexors will pull down pelvis, thereby inhibiting glutes/hams. Stretch hip flexors for 1 min++ for 1 or more sets b4 proceeding to do glute ex.s)

Once more, I hope these points will help some of u at least in some ways.

Keep the posts coming!

I believe my leg is getting worse as it has been bothering me a lot more as I walk around. I do not really have any tightness in my hips or anywhere, but I do know that my left hip, and shoulder are higher than my right, and that it is my right ankle that is bothering me. As far as getting treatment done, where would be the best place to start? PT, Chiro, Massage?

lizard king,

Is it possible that u may have an anatomically shorter right leg? I don't know who best to approach for this (maybe a chiro?), but its a possibility. Usually the shorter leg lands more forefooted and this can strain yr metatarsals, shin, ankle ligaments, achilles tendon, calf, iliotibial band, iliopsoas,etc.

However, for now, fr yr shoulder and hip height description, there's definitely a pelvic misalignment. The left shoulder is probably yr upper body's way of compensating for the possibly shorter right leg, as yr right shoulder tends to lean lower in keeping w the right leg needing to drop slightly further to touch the ground.

If it checks out that u do not have an anatomically shorter leg (but probably an acquired/functional one), then my guess is that glute med ex.s will be part of the solution.

thanks for the reply. I know my left hip is much higher, but do not know if my right leg is anatomically shorter, or just out of alignment shorter. I have an appt at a PT/chiro place that sponsors my racing team on monday, so hopefully they have can give me some good insight. Also, from what i have gathered, a higher hip on one side results from a weak gluteus medius on that side. So my left side is weaker even though it is not the one giving me problems. I have started to do some exercises got the glut med, should I perform the same amount of them on both sides? or more on my left? I dont want to create another imbalance, os i was just curious. And if there are any simple to explain exercises that have been "magic" for someone out there I would love to hear them. I am in the best shape of my life right now and I don't want it to go down the drain.

any luck on finding the full length lift i have a 15mm and use a 10mm heel lift.

Does using a full length lift help to cure the problem in any way, or just disguise it?

actually my difference is structural. Xrays showed a significant difference 15mm.

TLD - I actually have not noticed any difference with the wear pattern of my shoes. I was a neutral runner before this condition and I still am. I'm sure if was doing speed workouts and triggering this condition regularly there would be a noticeable difference on my wear pattern.

Like you, I've done a ton of core and glute strengthening and never really felt that it helped. I'm just going to continue building up my hamstrings now and hope for the best.

Another question that I wanted to shoot out to everybody. Were any of you doing lower body weight training before you first got this condition? I injured my hamstring pretty badly a few months before the initial symptoms and I followed (bad) advice to strengthen my quads and hips religiously to take the emphasis away from the hamstrings when running. Then this problem appears a few months later and now I'm diagnosed with "overpowering" quads. It just makes me wonder if maybe I screwed something up with all of that weight training. On the other hand, this was almost 2 years ago so I'm not sure why I would still be affected by it.

track dude,

I have always had very tight quads. I first lost coordination on a 10 mile tempo run on a flat bike path in Sept. 06, but was fine after that until mid Oct. 06 when I lost coordination again on a 4 mile track tempo run. It continued happening after that on runs longer than 60 mins in duration, but other than feeling like my quads were trashed and tighter than normal, I'd feel fine up until 60 mins. When my cross country season ended, I began lifting weights, and in particular, squats and deadlifts. I hurt my back during my week off from running from performing a lift incorrectly, and when I resumed running, I'd feel awkward and my legs would buckle right from the start. I do also remember trying to massage out my hamstrings around this time by rolling on a baseball. Maybe I struck a nerve and that's what causes my upper hamstrings to lock up at times.

It's interesting because I've noticed that aggressively stretching my quads seems to help a bit, although my left quad will still gradually get tighter as I run further on flat surfaces.

That is what happened to me.I had plica in my left knee, and the doctor subscribed left leg exersices, and wham 6 weeks later i am a left quad dominate person.My left tfl is very over developed.I need to stretch my left glute max and strengthen my left glute med.i still am stuck in this position.less motion control is better and running with shoes on is better.

just found this--very insightful http://www.acay.com.au/~mkrause/chronic_low_back_pain.htm

hillrunner8 wrote:

so this has happened several times. I'll be running fine, then as I pick up the pace a little my right leg starts to tighten up, then it gradually gets to the point where I feel like I've lost coordination in that leg, has this happened to anyone? Any suggestions?

Ever tried compression shorts? I lose coordination at faster speeds and my problem seems to be located in the glute/hamstrings region. I feel a significant improvement wearing compression shorts, it makes it possible to run fast for longer periods again. But they must be really tight to add any benefit.

Studies show that compression clothing enhance proprioception and coordination. Might worth a try.

I believe my back has much to do with my problems. Whenever my back acts up, I have a much more difficult time running due to coordination loss.

I haven't posted in a while, but felt I should share some things I've tried that have dramatically improved my loss of muscle coordination in my left leg.

First, after a moment of particularly extreme frustration this August, I decided to take matters in my own hands and design my own orthotic. If I always get severe knee and foot splay when I start to lose muscle coordination in my leg, then why not try to force that left foot to roll back in (to not let it supinate) with some sort of orthotic? Essentially, my foot starts to tip out/supinate when my loss of coordination starts up. So, at a loss of what else to do since I couldn't get a doctor to go with my idea, I took an old arch support for pronation from my right foot, and shoved it in my left shoe for my supination. (Picture an insert with a plastic mold to hold up the arch on the right, so that when you put it in on the left, it has the opposite effect, and holds up the outer/lateral part of the left foot.) Holy shit if I didn't nearly (I say 'nearly' because now that I've ramped up my mileage, I do occassionally have problems for the first time in about 10 weeks) eliminate any symptoms of loss of coordination on my mileage runs. Still, I get occasional problems on up-tempo workouts, but whereas before when I would be running a standard 10miler and feel good and start dropping my pace under 6:45, my leg and foot would go gimpy. But, not anymore. I can't tell you how truly amazing it was to realize after a couple weeks that I wasn't even thinking/worrying about my foot/leg losing coordination anymore on EVERY run. I was JUST RUNNING. My loss of coordination was all-consuming before when I would head out for a run- ie: 'would it happen today? when in my run would it happen? does it feel like it's happening?' Now it had become such a non-issue, I wasn't even thinking about it, that's how good it was. I could even feel my arch again, that I could rise up on my forefoot and my foot wasn't just uncontrollably slapping the ground.

[Just to clarify: I also wear a second insert on top--- a Wrymark flat insert (standard flat). I know we've been over this many times regarding the significance of a true leg-length discrepancy, but my scan showed my left leg to be 8mm shorter than the right. For the average citizen, this may not be a big deal, but being a competitive long-distance runner looking for an answer to my disorder, it could be significant enough that correction might give me some relief of symptoms, so I've been using one since fall 2004.]

Second thing, and this just as important as the insert, I started following an active isolated stretching routine (hips, back, lower leg) from Phil Wharton and his The Stretch Book. Last training season, on a good day, I could get through 3 miles of tempo work before my leg would shut down, and then I'd have to break up my workout into intervals and give my leg a rest, rather than doing the continuous tempo/threshold--- my leg just couldn't handle the repetition. Now this training season, I can get through 8 miles of tempo work no problems. I can feel both my legs smoothly cycling/striding, no "hitches" in my step that usually precede my loss of muscle coordination. Also, I used to carry my arms quite high when I started to get tired in a workout, and now my back is so loose, my shoulders are relaxed/down and swinging freely--- they're not up to my earlobes.

I completed an 8-mile tempo on a flat, smooth surface successfully for the first time since 2004 on Friday (50:10--- not amazing, but getting there; in the midst of a 90mi week). This is by far my greatest mark of progress of correcting the loss of muscle coordination in my left leg. Earlier this training cycle I've gotten through a 5miler on the same even, smooth path, and an 8miler earlier on a different ROUGH trail, but this is my longest successful tempo run on an EVEN surface yet.

My quads are very tight, too, but getting much better through active isolated stretching. I am incredibly hopeful about the progress of my running, and would be more than happy to answer any questions that might help anyone else.

bump

So i finished my first collegiate cross country season yesterday with the following results:

fast course 8k- 25:38 leg went bad in the last mile

slow course 8k- 26:00 no leg problems, just a slow course

fast course 8k- 26:14 leg very bad in last 1.5 miles, I went out too hard given the humid conditions

slow course 8k- 25:58 no leg problems + a sub 5:00 last mile

very slow 8k course - 26:21 no leg problems

fast course 8k- 25:10 leg problems in last 400, not a big deal, hit even splits

Though the leg problem was a factor in many of these races, it has improved so much since high school. I am basically running my high school 3 mile PR en route to my 8k. In high school I couldn't run 3 miles without the leg acting up, and now I can run significantly faster for 3 miles en route to my 8k without problems.

Does these mean that this problem is entirely muscular?

The only thing I am doing differently mechanically is running and racing with a full length lift in my good foot (PT's idea after taking a look at my body structure). I also hit the hamstring curl machine 2 times a week and did 50 reps x 60lbs on each individual leg, as well as the glutius medius machine 50 reps x 100lbs.

Should I just keep doing what I am already doing and hope that eventually I will be able to consistantly race 8k's without the leg problem?