Griffith Park Runners: Running Should Feel Good — Not Hurt

Jurijs Semjonovs
Aug 7
3 min read

Almost every morning, I'm at Griffith Park doing my exercises, mobility work, and stretching.

And every morning, I see people running.

Some look strong and effortless.

But I also see something else:

People struggling.

You can see the compensation in their movement. One hip drops. One foot turns out. The ankle barely moves. The upper body rotates excessively. The runner keeps pushing—but the body is fighting every step.

And eventually, something starts hurting.

The knee.

The hip.

The ankle.

The Achilles.

The lower back.

Running isn't necessarily the problem.

The way your body is running may be the problem.

Before You Run More, Learn How Your Body Moves

Running is thousands of repetitions.

If your movement is balanced, that's great.

But imagine taking one small movement problem and repeating it thousands of times.

A stiff ankle doesn't suddenly become better because you run five miles.

A weak or poorly controlled hip doesn't automatically become stronger because you run faster.

Your body often finds another way to complete the movement.

That's called compensation.

And compensation repeated mile after mile can contribute to overload, discomfort, and injury.

Your Hips Matter

Your hips and gluteal muscles play an important role in controlling your pelvis and legs while you run.

If you have poor hip mobility, strength, or control, you may notice:

Knee collapsing inward
Uneven stride
Hip discomfort
Lower back tightness
Poor balance
One leg working differently from the other

Don't just stretch the painful area.

Find out why it's working so hard.

Your Ankles Matter Too

Your ankles need enough mobility and control to absorb and transfer force efficiently during walking and running.

Limited ankle movement can change mechanics farther up the chain—including the knees and hips.

Your foot hits the ground.

Your ankle responds.

Your knee responds.

Your hip responds.

Your pelvis responds.

It's all connected.

Running Should Be Fun

Running through Griffith Park should give you energy.

It should clear your mind.

It should challenge you.

It shouldn't become a daily battle with knee pain, hip pain, ankle stiffness, or lower back discomfort.

Before adding more miles, more speed, or another hill, learn something about the machine doing the running:

Your body.

Glendale & Burbank Runners — Come Check Your Movement

At LifeRX Agency in Glendale, we work with runners, athletes, and active adults who want to understand how their bodies move.

We can assess:

✓ Hip mobility✓ Hip stability✓ Ankle mobility✓ Posture✓ Range of motion✓ Left-to-right differences✓ Basic movement mechanics✓ Areas of muscle tension and restriction

Depending on what we find, your session may incorporate PhysioMassage, sports massage, manual therapy, myofascial techniques, mobility work, and corrective exercises.

The goal isn't to tell you to stop running.

The goal is to help you keep running.

Sports Massage & Runner Assessment in Glendale

If you're searching for sports massage in Glendale, massage therapy in Glendale, running injury recovery, manual therapy, PhysioMassage, hip mobility treatment, ankle mobility, knee pain massage, or lower back pain massage near Burbank and Griffith Park, come see us.

Don't wait until discomfort becomes the reason you stop doing something you love.

Assess it. Understand it. Work on it. Then keep moving.