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Build a Better Runner: Rehab, Prevention, and Peak Performance

A systematic evaluation and progression for injury reduction and peak performance.

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About this Certificate Program

Running continues to be one of the most popular sports, despite the fact that up to 70 percent of runners will sustain overuse injuries during any one-year period. This certificate program features a systematic approach to improve the care of your running athlete. This innovative series will optimize your clinical role in endurance sports, from evaluation and assessment of gait and form to strength training for power and speed, to the interaction between shoe, function and form.

Jay Dicharry, MPT, SCS, uses the principles of tissue adaptation biomechanics, case scenarios, and objective lab data to show you how to best return your athlete to running, and improve their performance along the way.

Target Audience

Physical Therapists
Physical Therapist Assistants
Certified Athletic Trainers
Strength and Conditioning Specialists

Goals & Objectives

  • Understand the extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting successful rehab, injury prevention, and performance planning with the running athlete.
  • Discuss the impact of mobility and stability, specifically as it relates to running and the essential criteria for optimal gait and the types of issues that can be expected in running form if isolated deficits are identified.
  • Develop specific exercises, cues, techniques, and progressions to improve the deficits observed in your athlete and optimize neuro-muscular recruitment for running performance.
  • Optimize strength training and posture to directly transfer into better running and daily activities.
  • Apply a systematic method called the Visual Gait Tool to guide a clinical gait evaluation.
  • Develop the tools to successfully cue gait to ensure that clinical goals can be incorporated by the runner for long term success.
  • Integrate relevant research and clinical experience to select the right running shoe for your athlete.

What's Included in the Certificate Program

Courses
Accredited Online Courses*

10 hours of online video lectures and patient demonstrations.

Courses
Interactive Learning Assessments

Case-based quizzes to evaluate and improve clinical reasoning.

Courses
Case Study Interviews

Recorded Q&A sessions between instructors and practice managers.

Section 1: The Clinician's Role in Endurance Sports

1 Chapters

Connecting the Dots: A Clinician’s Role in Endurance Sports Performancekeyboard_arrow_down

Course
  • Understand the Body, Understand the SportChapter 1

    Understand the rationale for tissue dysfunction that contributes to injury and performance. Understand the compounding effects of deficient stabilization and compensatory overuse patterns that individuals build into their activity. Develop a working hypothesis to best target the weak link. Progress clinical thought process from the exam room to functional sport training.

  • Tissue SpecificityChapter 2

    Be able to apply the load-deformation curve as it relates to stress, strain, and tissue remodeling. Understand the unique role of the structural alignment of collagen. Have a working understanding of the impact of training on tissue specificity, highlighting the capacity of each respective tissue within the body to adapt.

  • Q&AChapter 3

    Discuss common questions regarding the clinician's role in endurance sports performance.

  • View full course details »

Section 2: Assessment of the Runner

2 Chapters

Clinical Examination of the Runner: Assessment, Testing, Gait Correlations, and Correctionskeyboard_arrow_down

Course
  • The Reason for Clinical Exam Table Analysis in RunnersChapter 1

    The participant will describe the relationship between running form and body function, and explain the need for a runner to adopt gait pattern that reflects their individual structural alignment. The participant will also describe the need for adequate mobility and dynamic stability to achieve a running gait that minimizes stress on the body and optimizes economy.

  • Identifying Problems: Musculoskeletal Examination of the RunnerChapter 2

    The participant will describe critical clinical tests and movement screens that are specific to running athletes, and be able to successfully conduct these assessments on their patients and athletes to identify specific deficits. Participants will also develop the skills to explain the impact of isolated deficits on body function both at the site, and the entire kinematic chain.

  • Clinical Limitations on Gait: What Does This Look Like?Chapter 3

    The participant will examine how clinical deficits in body function directly impact running gait, and describe how running with this compensated form can alter biomechanics and compromise the body via tissue overload or sub-optimal bioenergetics.

  • Putting it All TogetherChapter 4

    The participant will identify critical restrictions that impact postural alignment, joint mobility, stability, and end range control. Based on these observations the participant will develop a specific treatment plan to correct clinical imbalances and optimize body function for running.

  • Exercise PrescriptionChapter 5

    The participant will demonstrate corrective techniques for tissue mobilization and elongation to the upper and lower quarter, and apply corrective exercises, drills, and feedback to optimize postural alignment and joint stability. The participant will learn to target specific techniques toward the level of deficit of each individual patient in order to optimize neuromuscular control, and to ensure that new movement skills are reflected in running training.

  • View full course details »

Clinical Gait Assessmentkeyboard_arrow_down

Course
  • How to Look at Gait with the Visual Gait ToolChapter 1

    Participants will learn the need to objectively describe a runner’s gait, and how to use the visual gait tool as an evaluation algorithm. Participants will also create a framework to integrate clinical information to firmly grasp the link between form and function.

  • Gait Cues for Specific DiagnosisChapter 2

    Participants will discover the gait patterns that influence key diagnoses in running athletes, and learn to integrate clinical skills into the patient’s motor patterns to minimize tissue strain, alter kinematics, and kinetics. The participant will also discuss observed problems in a runners gait and/or clinical presentation and systematically dissect ways to address each causative risk factor for a specific diagnosis.

  • Clinical Running AnalysisChapter 3

    Participants will apply critical gait analysis concepts by conducting three running analyses on actual subjects.

  • Q&A SessionChapter 4

    Participants will discuss additional topics related to clinical gait assessment.

  • View full course details »

Section 3: Running Performance

2 Chapters

Run Better: Strength and Power Development for Endurance Athleteskeyboard_arrow_down

Course
  • Baby BiomechanicsChapter 1

    Participants will discuss the need to understand a holistic model of causative mechanics (rather than isolated symptoms) when examining gait. Participants will also explore the need to look past kinematics, and develop a link between the abilities of the athlete and running gait.

  • Building a Paradigm of Strength and PowerChapter 2

    Participants will develop an understanding of the importance of mobility, stability, strength, and power as they relate to the running athlete. Participants will also explain how ground reaction force influences the bioenergetics of running and discuss the role of symmetry, body stress, and economy with respect to optimal running form. The chapter concludes by describing how contact style, cadence, contact time, and stiffness influence form, and by applying these concepts to four real-world case scenarios.

  • Getting to WorkChapter 3

    Participants will discover how athlete’s symptoms, performance, and objective gait and body metrics are put to work to improve athletic capacity.

  • Strength and Power Moves for Endurance AthletesChapter 4

    Participants will apply specific mobility, stability, strength, and power exercises and drills to optimize athletic capacity, with an understanding of its specific impact on running gait.

  • Q&AChapter 5

    Participants will discuss common questions regarding the development of strength and power in endurance athletes.

  • View full course details »

Running Footwear: Shoes Impact Form, and Form Impacts Shoeskeyboard_arrow_down

Course
  • Debunking Industry LoreChapter 1

    Participants will review the history of shoes, identify classic footwear categories and how they match up with foot type, and review the conventional tests used to prescribe footwear. Participants will then understand why these categories are not supported by the research, and debunk conventional footwear classification.

  • How Footwear Affects GaitChapter 2

    Participants will understand the research in barefoot and shod running gait, identify the four aspects of conventional shoes that impact gait, and discuss how heel height impacts running. In this chapter participants will also learn the impact of posting on knee kinetics and arthritis, be able to describe the impact of midsole stiffness on gait and stability, and describe shoe wear and its effects on gait. This chapter will conclude by providing essential criteria for shoe prescription.

  • Picking the Right Shoe, and Transitioning into Different ShoesChapter 3

    Participants will identify essential criteria to transition patients into different shoe types, and apply foot mobility and stability assessments to shoe prescription. Participants will also be introduced to shoe trends looking forward, and the need to answer the right questions about shoe prescription moving forward.

  • View full course details »
Instructors
Jay Dicharry

MPT, SCS

CEU Approved

10 total hours* of accredited coursework.
MedBridge accredits each course individually so you can earn CEUs as you progress.

      Our clinic could not be happier with MedBridge.

Amy Lee, MPT, OCS
Physical Therapy Central

       MedBridge has allowed us to create a culture of learning that we were previously unable to attain with traditional coursework.

Zach Steele, PT, DPT, OCS
Outpatient Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Services

    MedBridge has created a cost-effective and quality platform that is the future of online education.

Grant R. Koster, PT, ATC, FACHE
Vice President of Clinical Operations, Athletico Physical Therapy

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I get CEU credit?
Each course is individually accredited. Please check each course for your state and discipline. You can receive CEU credit after each course is completed.

When do I get my certificate?
You will receive accredited certificates of completion for each course as you complete them. Once you have completed the entire Certificate Program you will receive your certificate for the program.

*Accreditation Hours
Each course is individually accredited and exact hours will vary by state and discipline. Check each course for specific accreditation for your license.

Do I have to complete the courses in order?
It is not required that you complete the courses in order. Each Certificate Program's content is built to be completed sequentially but it is not forced to be completed this way.

How long do I have access to the Certificate Program?
You will have access to this Certificate Program for as long as you are a subscriber. Your initial subscription will last for one year from the date you purchase.

Sample Certificate

Sample Certificate

Complete this series to receive your certificate.

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Certificate Program
Earn an official certificate of completion from MedBridge.
  • Show the world your achievement
  • Share your course record with peers and employers
  • Show patient and clients your commitment to education

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For groups of 5 or more, request a demo to learn about our solution and pricing for your organization. For other questions or support, visit our contact page.