My Running appears "ret*d" - any fix for this?

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I'm hoping some of you have some strategies to share for improving gross motor skills for running (and even walking quickly...) despite being in my 30s and improved in other areas of AS, my wife has pointed out to me that when I run, it appears as if I'm "ret*d" - sometimes also when I'm walking fast. This appearance has also manifested at the gym when I'm on a treadmill or similar device.

Of course, in true Aspie style, I have no instinctive idea of when I'm running awkwardly or what "awkward" really means. A fitness trainer at my local gym, where I have a membership, tol d me that he'd be willing to coach me into proper running technique, but at quite a fee!! I can't help but wonder if he's trying to take advantage of me, and if I'll really get anything out of it - even though these trainers have heard of Aspergers it doesn't mean they are educated in it.

I'd be willing to go for a couple of times with him, but refuse to be coaxed into some sort of ongoing arrangement. Is there any other avenue out there? The health care system won't cover it, but I know that there are programs for brain injury victims, or people who have had a stroke, and surely they must teach something about proper running technique. Or maybe it's just learning to walk again. I don't know. Can anybody advise me with this dilemma?

I had a lifelong problem with improper gait that finally caught up with me in my mid-30's in the form of foot and knee pain. All my life people had said I walked "funny" but none could exactly explain how nor show me a better way. I attempted to imitate them but that didn't work. It turns out that if you don't have a natural proper gait, you do have to be explicitly taught by somebody who understands biomechanics. People who don't understand biomechanics won't be able to move past "it looks funny" (or "ret*d" or "wrong").

In my mid-30's, foot and knee pain forced me to go to a podiatrist. He made orthotics for me (of course, that's what they do) but he also had me walk up and down the hall while he analyzed how I walked. Then he taught me step by step (ha ha) how to walk properly so that my feet and knees could heal. They don't hurt anymore. If he hadn't shown me what to do, they probably still would despite the orthotics. The reason he could teach me and nobody else could is because he had professional training in biomechanics.

This is a long way of saying it might be worth the money for the gym's fitness trainer to coach you in proper technique, but only if he's qualified. Some of these guys have degrees in exercise physiology and have studied biomechanics. That's a good qualification to teach you proper technique. Some of them have just been hired by the gym because they were in pretty good shape themselves and had a hearty motivational style that people like. That's not a good qualification. You need somebody who understands biomechanics. Before you commit to a program, ask for his qualifications.

If not him, you might be able to find somebody else locally by googling who is qualified. Or you might do what I do and wait until it starts to really hurt your feet and knees, wind up in a podiatrist's office, and either get lessons from him or a referral from him.

This is worth looking into and paying money for (if you have it) because it isn't really about how it looks. That's just what people notice. But doing this for decades can really do a number on your musculoskeletal system and cause some real pain and sometimes damage.

If I could just see you run, I bet I could help you fix it. Maybe you could get someone to record you running, and post it somewhere that only invitees could see, like your facebook or something. We have enough fitness folks right here on Wrongplanet that one of them should be able to give you tips.

my name isn't "crazy legs" for nothing. That was what the kids would say when they saw the way I would run. I've recently, drastically improved my balance deficiencies and have learned how to posture efficiently so as to not damage my already well-damaged joints. I identified a couple of places that were basically "injured" and have been exercising them to recovery. My body prefers long, full breath (and then even fuller), slow, concentrated and focused full body movements, especially when I

-Stretch and focus on the "inside lines of my arms and fingers.
-Focus on what hurts and using your own body weight with your hands and feet gradually but somewhat painfully apply tork.
-keep your teeth closed and breath from your nose in a very precise fashion so that you are only trying to intake air that is hovering right in front of your lips, below your nostrils
-Start with your bad foot, once your bad foot starts feeling good it will start to behave like a "born again christian"
-your good leg is the "big brother", the strong brother, the "Able" brother, if you will. It's job is to help the other.
stability is a group effort
-when you do pushups or stretching, concentrate on creating strong triangular figures out of the spaces between your legs and between your arms (and where they touch your body or the floor)
-do "flexing" and relaxing exercises with no weight where you work on flexing the muscles around the joint, ever so gradually until you are able to flex and relax the muscles in a slightly hyperextended position (and that's your balance reflex point)
-concentrate on creating long, clean, straight, balanced, strong lines when you stretch
-concentrate on standing so that your hips are as narrow as possible. if you have to reach for the sky, clinch your buttcheecks together, sqirm around, whatever it takes... make your hips narrow)
-practice being "narrow hipped"

I'm not a doctor. These are things that have helped me fix my crazy legs.

Hope that helps

I think you would be better off seeing a physiotherapist privately than a fitness coach if you are handing over your hard earned cash they are much better trained to deal with these sorts of issues and much better at fixing them.

I can tell you what worked for me, but I'm not sure you'll like it. When I was a kid I was always told I walk, run and stand like a girl. I was told I had this whole hip swinging thing going on. When I got older I got a big beer gut. That completely changed my way of walking, running and standing. I haven't heard any girls comments since the beer gut has come in.

i don't know if beer gut is on your short range list of goals.

i also have a bit of the 'hip-swing' going on.
my fix for running oddly is actually very simple though; i dont run, not unless i have no other option...

Why are you so concerned about how you walk or run? If you are not having pains or injury, if you are not then I wouldn't worry about it.

I don't recommend putting this off until pain and injury happens. That's what I did and it took months to heal. Improper gait causes damage but the damage happens slowly, over the course of years.

I like another person's idea of a physiotherapist. This isn't really about how things look, although that's what everybody comments on. Improper gait puts a strain on the musculoskeletal system that will eventually lead to pain and injury (and knee replacement, for some unlucky people). So why wait until that happens. Addressing it now can prevent future pain and injury.

Actually has anybody ever tried martial arts as a conditioning remedy? I did before back in the early 90s, in my teens, before I knew my diagnosis (was still labelled with "a form of ADHD"), and it was embarassing b/c the instructor would always have to individually correct my posture. He'd say "relax your [insert body part]" and I'd say "You mean like this?" then he'd say "no, move it more to the left/right" or "move your elbow in closer" and sometimes have to come up and manually adjust me

I think that this would be better nowadays when Aspergers is more prevalent & more widely known; and who knows, the instructor might even have a family member with it!!

In case you were wondering, I made it halfway to black belt. Never had the guts to use it, always stayed clear of physical conflict...b/c I didn't feel confident enough to prevail.

hmm... maybe concentrate more as you run. dunno.

i agree with the physiotherapy. they are trained to teach people to learn how to walk again after spinal cord injuries and such, so i think they could assist very well with helping the OP change his gait.

i was a toe-walker as a kid, and combined with bad posture it created a very odd gait. after that i always walked like a boy, so lately i've been trying to "loosen up" from the hip to walk more like a girl.

my former husband was a toe-walker too, but he got broken of the habit by his dad one day. he was about 10 years old and happened to walk in front of his parents and a group of their friends, and his dad said in front of everyone, "why are you walking funny?" (and sorta laughed i think). the humiliation cured him instantly, and to this day he feels like everyone is watching him when he walks.

This seems very strange to me. There seems to be a lot of people out there that can analyze a person's gait. I have no training in the matter and short of seeing an expert I have no idea how I walk. I do know that I walk faster than about 90% of the population and am sometimes accused of speed-walking. I don't see a need to slow down though. I don't seem to have any injuries so I don't have a problem.

Is this really this obvious? Short of an obvious physical issue like cerebral palsy or something I don't notice anyone walking strange. Maybe I need to be more observant.

I think professional help would be a good idea, it helped me, but don't get ripped off.

I think this probably comes from dyspraxia. Lots of people who have intellectual disabilities also have dyspraxia; so, naturally, the two have become associated in people's minds. But they aren't actually related. So, what you're dealing with is probably simple dyspraxia, which is a fancy word for clumsiness.

Honestly, I would say this isn't necessary. I had a very similar problem. Until my mid-twenties, I couldn't run gracefully, either--I fell with regularity, lost my balance, twisted my ankles. The thing that solved it was simple practice.

I generally don't have access to a car, even though I can drive; so I walk or bike wherever I go, unless it's too long and I need a taxi or a bus. That means I spend anywhere from half an hour to two hours a day walking; and all of that practice has paid off. Nowadays I walk in a somewhat bouncy but still quite efficient manner; and as of last year, I've also been able to run pretty efficiently.

The thing about walking long distances is that you can get into a rhythm more easily. It's that rhythm you're looking for. Ideally, your feet hit the ground with as little force as necessary to get good traction; you lift your feet just high enough to avoid having your toes brush the ground; you move your arms to keep your center of balance constant. Studying that specifically is probably not a really necessary thing because if you spend a lot of time walking, I think it will probably come to you just like it did to me. The way the human body is shaped, there's a certain gait that's most efficient; and if you walk for a long time, and a lot, for a few years, then you'll gradually approach that because your body will naturally want to spend its energy most efficiently. At least, that's how it happened for me; and maybe it'll be the same for you. At the very worst, you'll get some exercise and get some sun on your face, and that's never a bad thing.

If you do want help from a professional, maybe you can get a physical therapist? It might be covered by your health insurance because it's affecting your ability to exercise and stay in shape; so your doctor can legally refer you for a session with a PT. You probably won't need more than one appointment--if they can show you what an efficient gait looks like and feels like, you can practice on your own and eventually get it.

People who know me used to tell me I had a robotic gait. One day in my late teens, I decided to go walking. And guess what? I liked it. Walked at a brisk pace for years. Now my walking looks almost totally natural (my posture's still a bit off).