Running Strengthens Intervertebral Discs

• What can you do to strengthen your muscles? Studies say high resistance exercise like weight lifting.
• What can you do to strengthen your bones? Studies say high impact exercises like running and jumping.
• What can you do to strengthen your heart and lungs? Studies say any cardiovascular exercise like running, swimming, or cross-country skiing.
• What can you do to strengthen your cartilage in your joints? Studies say cyclical loading exercise like running.
• What can you do to strengthen your intervertebral discs? Nothing. At least that's what people believed until recently. Before this year there were no scientific studies that showed you could strengthen your intervertebral discs, but a new study has changed all that.

Running is one of the oldest and most popular forms of exercise, second only to walking, and for good reason. Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman, leaders in the field of human evolution and anthropology, have found fossil evidence that our human ancestors started running around 2 million years ago and that "running is one of the most transforming events in human history." Our human ancestors had walked on two legs for 2.5 to 3 million years and did not look like humans. Only when our ancestors started running did our bodies change to look like they do today. The transition to running caused natural selection and the adaptation of:

• a strong Achilles tendon for improved energy storage and return (cutting the energetic cost of running by about 50%!)
• arched feet which provide increases stability and rigidity to improve running efficiency
• long legs for more efficient running
• large joint surfaces for improved shock absorption
• flatter faces, smaller teeth and noses making it easier for us to balance our heads while running
• increased sweat glands on the face to help with evaporative cooling
• nuchal ligament (ligament that goes from the skull to the spine to help with shock absorption while running)
• narrow trunk, waist and pelvis to make running more efficient
• larger vertebrae and discs for better shock absorption and distribution
• shoulders that are "decoupled" from the head and neck allowing the head to stay level and straight while the shoulders rotate during running
• shorter toes and a big toe that points straight ahead for better push off when running
• a big butt which provides stability essential for running

source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human_Running_Adaptations.png

Running needs no equipment, doesn't require a playing field, you don't need to learn rules to run, you can do it by yourself or in a group, and you can do it at any age. Running is a necessary part of childhood development and kids who don't run when they're young can suffer health consequences because of that later in life. Running is a very efficient workout and has many benefits.

• Running helps develop important hip, leg, and core strength in children starting between ages 1 and 2.
• Running builds essential bone density during childhood that we hold onto for the rest of our lives. 
• Running is a key component of most other sports we play: basketball, soccer, lacrosse, rugby, field hockey, tennis, track and field, and even baseball and football. 
• Running seems to be the most efficient activity for improving cardiovascular, building bone density, strengthening ankle, knee, and hip cartilage, and now strengthening intervertebral discs. 

Wolff's Law states that bone will adapt to the load placed upon it, meaning that the bone will get stronger to resist the specific type of loading it has experienced. Science is now showing that not only do bones adapt to load, but so does cartilage and intervertebral discs (related to Davis's Law that explains how tendons, ligaments, and fascia adapt to mechanical stress). An important factor that will be talked about a lot more over the next 10 years is cyclical loading. Cyclical loading is now considered very important in developing, building, and maintaining knee cartilage growth, density, and strength and I believe future studies will show the importance of cyclical loading in developing, building, and maintaining intervertebral disc strength and resiliency. 

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervertebral_disc

Any repetitive movement can produce cyclical loading, but running produces more load than walking or cycling for example, and running has been shown to produce better bone density, cartilage density, and now intervertebral disc density than walking. You can read the study here.

So if you want strong healthy muscles, bones, cartilage, and intervertebral discs do this running warmup and then go for a run. If running causes you any pain or issues, contact me for a free 30-minute posture evaluation and I'll help you figure out why and help you create a plan to fix it and get you running pain free. Remember, you weren't just born to run, you were born to run pain free!

Me trail racing at night in Forest Park.

Born to run pain free T-shirt.

Sources:
​Running exercise strengthens the intervertebral disc
Humans were born to run
How running made us human

Related articles/videos:
Running warm-up and cool-down
How to build and maintain bone density 
How shoulder posture affects running performance
Does running help or hurt the knees?
Benefits of running 5 miles per week