Running Through the Line
Should You Try Structural Integration?

(This article originally appeared in the October '01 Running Times)

Source:  Reprinted in OnLine Guild for Structural Integration

by Laura Lensman

Runners who want to excel at their sport are constantly searching for new methods to increase their speed, improve their endurance, or reduce injury. Although not a new method, since it was originally developed in the 1930s, a type of bodywork called Structural Integration (SI) is gaining popularity among athletes.

Structural Integration (SI) is bodywork that manipulates the tissue that surrounds and connects muscles, organs and bones in the body. It is different than massage therapy in that massage focuses on working the muscle. While massage therapy can provide temporary relief of muscle soreness it doesn’t address the structural imbalance that creates muscle pain. It is also different from chiropractic work, which focuses on skeletal alignment and doesn’t correct muscle or tissue restrictions. In contrast, SI is a form of deep tissue therapy affecting the body on a deeper level than most other forms of bodywork.

SI is progressive, educational bodywork that achieves lasting results. It is performed by a specialist in a series of ten private sessions called "The Ten Series." The sessions are performed weekly and last approximately one hour each. SI is usually performed on a massage table, in either a lying or sitting position.

Although every session is customized to the needs of the individual, most sessions begin with a discussion regarding tension or limitation of movement in the body. The client is asked to walk around the room so the SI specialist can observe how the body is moving. This is the best time for a runner to address specific issues that may be affecting their running ability.

The objective of an SI session is to remove restrictions to motion while educating the client about how their body moves, where it is restricted, and why it is restricted. The client is actively involved, not only during the session but afterwards, identifying incorrect movement patterns, determining how the incorrect movement affects their body, and changing the pattern both mentally and physically.

An Apt Example

Kirk Apt, the only runner to win both the Leadville 100 and the Hardrock 100, received his first Structural Integration Ten Series in 1997, six years after his first ultra. His interest in learning the mechanics of good running form led him to massage school. It was through this study and his interest in deep-tissue work that he learned about Structural Integration. "It was the most holistic and comprehensive type of bodywork that I found," states Apt.

The client will be asked to breathe into the part of the body that the specialist is working on, visualizing the breath entering that space and the restriction in the tissue being released. They will also be asked to move specific body parts back and forth in a slow motion, facilitating lengthening of the tissue. In subsequent runs, the client will focus on a specific part of the body, integrating the work of the SI session into his or her form.

"Structural Integration improved my running ability. I became a more efficient runner and increased my endurance," Apt says. "Vital capacity, the ability to take in oxygen, is critical to a runner. Structural Integration facilitates opening the rib cage, allowing the lungs to expand to full capacity. Structural Integration also teaches you how to move from the center of the body, which allows the impact of each foot-strike to be evenly distributed throughout a runner’s structure rather than directly onto the joints and low back. The result is a smoother, less injury-prone running form."

Whatever length of time you choose to receive SI sessions, the results of receiving a Ten Series are long lasting and life changing. A successful SI experience results in an aligned, efficient, and healthy body.

"Each session in Structural Integration emphasizes the release and alignment of a specific part of the body," Apt explains, ranging from neck to toes, feet, torso, pelvis, spine, shoulder blades. "In the first seven sessions there are key points that can be applied to running movement." Apt recommends visualizing the points of each session for one to two minutes during a run. "This ‘Line Run’ helps you deeply integrate the Structural Integration method into your body and mind."

These visualizations range from imagining the impact of each stride on your feet, to relaxing your neck and visualizing your head as a golf ball resting on a tee.

Apt is now a Structural Integration practitioner in Boulder, CO, specializing in working with runners. His training method is based on a concept called "The Line." The theory is that a central vertical axis exists through the center of the body, where your body is most upright and aligned with gravity. When your body is aligned it is in its most efficient state—it moves effortlessly.

Lana Lensman is a freelance writer specializing in health and fitness.