Why are so-called "sports medicine doctors" in USA completely oblivious to the MPW a competitive distance runner doe

They are saying that to cover their asses. If you get injured again they can point to the volume of training being your problem, rather than offering an actual solution. On the flipside, you probably won't get injured as severely again if you cut your training load by 1/2 or more. So they are correct in a sense.

If you need to train at a high volume you gotta be prepared to do all of the accessory work that comes along with being a balanced and healthy athlete.

casual commentary wrote:

They are saying that to cover their asses. If you get injured again they can point to the volume of training being your problem, rather than offering an actual solution. On the flipside, you probably won't get injured as severely again if you cut your training load by 1/2 or more. So they are correct in a sense.

If you need to train at a high volume you gotta be prepared to do all of the accessory work that comes along with being a balanced and healthy athlete.

Yes, but what if the injury is totally unrelated to overuse?

They're still saying it to cover themselves. If you're training at an elite level then almost anything can be attributed to overuse.

If the injury wasn't related to running, it could still affect your biomechanics or whatever. Youd' have to be more specific there.

You started off with a faulty premise. Your argument was voided from then on.

If you go to a doctor or lawyer for advice you will almost always get the most conservative advice possible, because they can not get into trouble unless they are aggressive.

The more conservative their advice the less likley they can get into trouble.

A bi-product of our sue happy society.

A lot of these doctors Also freely cite the "Never increase mileage more than 10percent in one week" rule, even though chances are they themselves haven't run any more than Probably 15mpw in their lives.

Simple Truths wrote:

If you go to a doctor or lawyer for advice you will almost always get the most conservative advice possible, because they can not get into trouble unless they are aggressive.

The more conservative their advice the less likley they can get into trouble.

A bi-product of our sue happy society.

So if an NCAA collegiate athlete regularly doing 60-80mpw gets a stress fracture, they'll instruct him to only run 20-30mpw with two off days from now on and blame that "absurd" mileage Level on the athlete.

casual commentary wrote:

If you need to train at a high volume you gotta be prepared to do all of the accessory work that comes along with being a balanced and healthy athlete.

Understood. But any doctor who thinks you're going to run better times cutting back your volume to what they feel is a reasonable RunnersWorld-Esque level is full of sh*t.

Omg What? 30mpw???? wrote:

Understood. But any doctor who thinks you're going to run better times cutting back your volume to what they feel is a reasonable RunnersWorld-Esque level is full of sh*t.

this isn't something doctors think about. They're not in your head thinking about your performance goals, they can't feel your dreams. And they don't give a shi7; you could run 3:59 or 5:01 tomorrow and they wouldn't as much as bat an eyeball, they don't care. They do the service they were trained to do for money and it has nothing to do with your happiness or performance.

I'm with the faulty premise dude. I don't know what it's like in other parts of the country, but in the San Diego area I know a half dozen orthopods who are sports medicine oriented and none of them tell distance runners not to run serious mileage when they are healthy. I occasionally run with one MD who had a 21 year streak of running at least 10 mi/day before he had a knee problem.

Simple, many sports medicine docs never ran competitively as distance runners. They don't teach how to train for distance running in med school or residency. The simple solution is to find a physician who is an endurance athlete themselves.

Great advice to look for a doctor that runs. I saw a doctor that is the team physician for our university track and cross country teams; he knows how to design a recovery program based on your goals and upcoming meets.I would have thought that sports-med orthopedic surgeons and other doctors trained in sports medicine would know something about running, though.

An MD wrote:

Simple, many sports medicine docs never ran competitively as distance runners. They don't teach how to train for distance running in med school or residency. The simple solution is to find a physician who is an endurance athlete themselves.

I met with a sports medicine doc (identifies self as having expertise in sports medicine) whom I told I was doing 90mpw at one point in my training cycle. Their response was "that's too much. Well you could maybe talk to some ultra runners but that's too much."

Then I told this doc when something was hurting I backed down to only doing 40mpw. Doc's response, "ONLY 40mpw?!!??"

chinocochino wrote:

Great advice to look for a doctor that runs. I saw a doctor that is the team physician for our university track and cross country teams; he knows how to design a recovery program based on your goals and upcoming meets.

I would have thought that sports-med orthopedic surgeons and other doctors trained in sports medicine would know something about running, though.

An MD wrote:

Simple, many sports medicine docs never ran competitively as distance runners. They don't teach how to train for distance running in med school or residency. The simple solution is to find a physician who is an endurance athlete themselves.

I agree. I'm starting to get this now. But its not so easy in many areas of the US to find a doc who understands this.

What? More than 30mpw's crazy? wrote:

It's frustrating as sh*t when they offer training advice.

Why would you expect to get TRAINING advice from a Doctor? Sports Docs usually give advice about sports related INJURY.

If you want training advice, get a coach!

Look. The purpose of medicine is to help sick people with real diseases like cancer and tuberculosis. The reason that doctors go to medical school is not to learn about the (often unscientific and superstitious) training philosophies that are prevalent in every sport, especially not one like running that few people care about. "Sports medicine" for the most part is a primitive discipline and an overall joke populated by doctors who really want to be jocks. If you want to indulge in an activity like hardcore running where the potential for injury inherently high, understand that you're on your own. If you get hurt due to some complex biomechanical problem or overuse injury that nobody really understands, don't expect a doctor to be able to fix it.

Groundskeeper Willie wrote:

Why would you expect to get TRAINING advice from a Doctor? Sports Docs usually give advice about sports related INJURY.

If you want training advice, get a coach!

I agree. I DONT WANT TRAINING ADVICE. but i get it from them anyway. some of them think that since they've worked as team physicians at some local marathons that they are qualified to give advice on training and fueling for one. yeah, maybe for a 6hr marathoner they can help prevent them from overhydrating and dying on the course.

Whenever a doctor asks me how many miles I run I feel like I am confessing my sins. No matter what number I give them, they are surprised.

What?! Are you a doctor? Sports medicine fellowships are highly competitive since a lot of doctors want to work with athletes. I would LOVE to get a sports med fellowship.

BRG/253 wrote:

Look. The purpose of medicine is to help sick people with real diseases like cancer and tuberculosis. The reason that doctors go to medical school is not to learn about the (often unscientific and superstitious) training philosophies that are prevalent in every sport, especially not one like running that few people care about. "Sports medicine" for the most part is a primitive discipline and an overall joke populated by doctors who really want to be jocks. If you want to indulge in an activity like hardcore running where the potential for injury inherently high, understand that you're on your own. If you get hurt due to some complex biomechanical problem or overuse injury that nobody really understands, don't expect a doctor to be able to fix it.