Treating and Training the Female Runner

Equip and empower all professionals that treat female runners (or any female athlete) with the ability to understand at depth, reason through and build programs that simultaneously address musculoskeletal, pelvic and performance needs. At the end of the course, participants will be able to address clinical questions including:

• Articulate the challenges facing female runners due to unique anatomical, physiologic, pressure and neuromuscular variables.
• Distinguish between the demands (speed, endurance, load, impact, intra-abdominal pressure etc.) placed on the stability system of a female runner by different fitness and sport pursuits in order to develop targeted treatment strategies to meet those demands.
• Discuss the evidence demonstrating the link between the central stability and pelvic health systems to broaden practitioner theoretical understanding of intervention strategies that simultaneously impact both systems.
• Recognize the relevance of pelvic health considerations to musculoskeletal and performance issues in orthopedic and sports medicine clinical settings.
• Develop clinical strategies that access the anticipatory postural control system through breath mechanics interventions, muscular recruitment order, pelvic floor integration, alignment support, and intra-abdominal pressure management to promote continence, prolapse and diastasis management within fitness activities.
• Learn to monitor, cue, and modify function and fitness form and strategies to facilitate impact attenuation, manage intra-abdominal, and promote proximal hip control in order to simultaneously optimize pelvic, musculoskeletal and performance health.

1. Collect a video of yourself and one other person running* (*female runner/athlete is ideal for all videos). Videos should be from the front, side and behind.
2. Collect pictures of yourself and one other person* from the front and side.
3. Collect video of yourself, and one other person* performing bilateral single leg stance, squats, bilateral single leg squats, a squat jump and bilateral hops all from side and front views.
4. Collect video from head to pelvis of yourself and one other person* taking a deep breath and then speaking or singing the ABC’s. Catching them laughing is a bonus! View should be from the side.
5. Have a full length mirror on hand, room to move, and some type of resistance equipment on hand (bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, etc.).
6. Sign and return the course Terms and Conditions.

This course is intended to equip and empower professionals with the current evidence, theoretical constructs, clinical reasoning and practical tools to help treat and train female runners (or any female athlete). The information bridges the gap between musculoskeletal, and sports performance and pelvic, abdominal and pregnancy/postpartum health considerations for female athletes. All participants should apply the information within their State/jurisdictional scope of practice.

The PT/DC (medical pros) The course is intended to be an entry level (and all external/functional) opportunity for musculoskeletal and sports medicine practitioners unfamiliar with pelvic health AND pelvic health providers unsure of how to prepare a patient for a return to fitness and sport to gain the foundational knowledge, clinical reasoning and relevant skills to integratively assess and address the full clinical picture for their female runners (or any female athlete).

The PTA will gain insight into the theoretical basis for assessment process, and clinical reasoning behind the POC designed by the therapist. Course participation and self-reflective learning experiences with specific cueing, exercise guidelines, monitoring for signs of intolerance, program modifications, progression parameters and treatment methods will insure continuity of care.

The Athletic Trainer/Kinesiologist (AT/Kin) will gain insight into theory, evidence, reasoning and practical tools for integration of the POC into an athletes training program. Observation, and participation through self-reflection, will assist with monitoring and modifying an athelete’s program to keep pelvic, musculoskeletal, and performance health in mind.

Intended Audience: This course is intended for rehabilitation professionals. The course focus on clinical assessment, clinical reasoning and treatment strategy falls under the scope of rehabilitative intervention. Other professionals enter into this for informational purposes only to be understood and applied within their state/jurisdictional scope of practice.

You will have the option of two different course completion certificates depending on the regulatory requirements of your professional licensing body. Option one for international professionals that do not need CEUs and option two for US based PT and PTA professionals that require CEUs (available in 41 states and counting). For both options, new regulations require that you complete all course modules in order, achieve a passing mark on the post-course quiz, and complete a course evaluation to receive a Course Completion Certificate. You will have 3 attempts to achieve a score of at least 70% to unlock the course evaluation. All participants will be eligible for a course completion certificate generated through the Teachable School. Those who require evidence for CEUs must take the additional step of following a link to the regulator website, Redefine Health Education, to receive your CEU Course Completion certificate**

**Julie Wiebe PT is a rule-approved provider of the Physical Therapy Board of California, a Recognized Approval Agency of the Physical Therapy Board of California, has approved this course in California for Physical Therapists and Physical Therapy Assistants for 16 contact hours from. In addition to California, the blue states on this map are likely to accept courses approved by other state boards, pursuant to regulation. As regulations may change over time, please confirm current accuracy with your state board, eg. that they will accept courses approved by other state boards. If you have any questions about CEU approval for this course, please reach out to [email protected] with the course title.

This course is hosted on the teachable.com online streaming service designed to handle any system setup. So if you have a computer and an internet connection you should have access without issue. If you have issues with a slower bandwidth connection then you can change the video settings to a lower quality to help improve any loading issues.