Your spine starts showing signs of aging at age 20. Is too much running putting it at more risk?

We talk about the spine a lot to our athletes. Your posture and spinal mobility are huge players in good running form, which allow you to run faster and longer with less effort. Flexibility in the thoracic spine in particular allows you to run light and tall, as well as makes more room for lungs to fully expand to their potential.

So what can we do to make sure that our spine is supported, helping us run faster and pain-free? And what happens to our spinal health as we age, especially if we've spent years pounding out mile after mile?

Brigham Young University's Dr Ulrika Mitchell researches the spine and is on the show to talk about it.

Dr Mitchell was born in Germany and got her degrees in Sports Science and Physical Therapy there before moving to the US in the 90s. She got her PhD at BYU and now teaches Functional Anatomy and Orthopedic Impairment at the university. Her research is mostly focused on the spine, low back pain, and she frequently studies runners as she is a runner herself.

Coach Claire asks her all about how the spine functions when we run, how to make sure that it is optimally supported, what exercises we can do to maintain proper spine alignment as we run, and what happens to our spines as we age.

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