If you have ever rolled an ankle, pulled a hamstring, or thrown a ball too hard a few too many times you have probably heard of and used RICE. You remember...
Running Into The Ages
There are many myths about the effects of running on your body as we age, some positive, some negative, many rooted in hearsay. Most of the negative remarks we hear about running as we age often come from ‘non-runners’ - but do their comments have validity? I want to take a look at a few concerns and address what current literature has to say, give some suggestion on training, and just help you continue running... because any way you look at it, healthy and safe running is a fantastic way to maintain strength, mobility, and quality of life to age successfully!
How 'The Big 3' Can Decrease Low Back Pain and Make You Stronger & Faster
If you are among the estimated 50% of all athletes who experience recurrent low back pain, don’t stress, there are exercises that can help…and a couple you should probably avoid.
Our ‘core’ is the link between our upper and lower bodies, and mastery of control here is the secret to improved strength, running efficiency, faster speed, and overall health and athleticism. In regards to back pain, our core needs to be solid to not only support a stable spine but provide for proper biomechanics when running, throwing, squatting, swimming, and even just walking.
7 Things You Need To Know About Dry Needling
The more we study dry needling, the more we understand its benefit and expand its use in the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. Addressing everything from low back pain, migraines, and sports injuries; dry needling proves beneficial in the most common muscle, tendon, ligament, and joint issues seen in a physician's office.
As more practitioners utilize this technique, it is important to know the basics about dry needling, what to expect from treatment, and what conditions can benefit from this therapy. Below are seven important items to understand when seeking treatment.
What's The Deal With Hip Internal & External Rotation?
As I near my 2 year mark in clinical practice, you start to realize trends. Sometimes these trends solidify what we already know, align greatly with what we are already practicing, and allow us to continue down the beaten path. However, there are things we begin to see as key indicators on how an injury occurred, things that are so simple, they often get overlooked in a treatment plan. Today I want to briefly discuss an item that falls under both of these categories.
Hip range of motion (ROM) is often taken for granted, until that time comes where one side is severely restricted and we are unable get up off the floor without the use of our hand, or the assistance from another. As I have progressed clinically, hip ROM started as just something to jot down in a patients notes, but has quickly become one of the first areas I look to and address for nearly all of the low back pain** and lower extremity complaint (acute and overuse) patients that come into our clinic.
The problem we see is that the restriction is never symmetrical, causing compensatory patterns that quickly lead to injuries and confused patients. While getting you out of pain is our job, our goal is education and prevention. Below are some great stretches and mobility movements that are not only easy to perform, but effective is restoring symmetrical movement. Enjoy.
Break Up the Endurance Training With Some Strength!
Endurance athletes, especially runners, tend to shy away from strength training due to what I would consider a misunderstanding of what it can provide. After working with hundreds, probably thousands by now, of runners and triathletes over the last few years, I find very few have a regular strength plan. Some are afraid of getting hurt, some do not know how to effectively strength train, and some still have the ridiculous notion that if they lift weights they will get so bulky, the can no longer run!
What Do My Hands Do When Running?
Every runner has been through this, and most of us have tried more styles than Tiger Woods has swings, but seriously…what the heck do I do with my hands when I am running?
Lets get something straight from the start, when we are on our long run or are racing, wasted energy is just pure evil. With that, being relaxed up top while running is the name of the game. There should be no clinched fists, shoulders floating up around your ears, violent rotation from side to side or veins popping out of your face and neck like you are trying to pass a block of cheese. Everything above your waist should be relaxed and fluid…like a breeze blowing through a meadow (I don’t know…it sounds relaxing, just go with it).
A Quick Take on Running Form
As our last article, stretching, went well, lets keep on the controversial topics and take a brief look at another that gets runners all up in a huff, because my technique/form is better than yours! SPOILER — it IS the best…for you!
S T R E T C H I N G
Do you stretch? When? How? More importantly WHY? This will be brief, and there are many sides to this table, but where do you sit on this topic? When the discussion about stretching arises, it is sort of like the old saying on religion and politics; no matter what you have to say or how compelling your argument, you will never change the views of the other person and will usually walk away further apart on the subject than when you began.
Hamstring: Proximal Strain & Tendinopathy
Hamstring injuries can be a beast; they drag you down mentally and physically as treatment tends to draw out and disrupt your training plans and goals. They present with pain and tenderness near the gluteal fold and over the posterior thigh, making it sometimes difficult to run, ride, walk and even sit. What I would like to do here today is briefly (as a longer post is to come later) give you some basic suggestions based on research findings, what patients have responded positively to, as well as what to do about your training and overall fitness.