A Pre Running Season Program: A Three Part Series

 

Part 1: Why do a Preseason Strengthening and Stretching Program??



If, like me, you are a fair weather runner, it's time to get ready for your next outdoor running season! It's time to strap on the runners and just go right? Not so fast. If you want to avoid injuries, as well as following my previous tips, you might want to add a pre-season primer to prepare your body for the upcoming season. The following are a few reasons why you might want to incorporate this program into your season's plan:

1. You need to address the muscular imbalances that have built up after a winter of couch lying (or working too many hours at a desk) and might contribute to your next running injury.
2. Strengthen stabilizers to withstand the repetitive impact they are about to incur throughout the upcoming season
3. Improve muscular endurance to improve running performance

In the upcoming blogs MacLean Sport Physiotherapy will give you an overview of a few of our basic, favourite strengthening and stretching exercises to prepare your body for the upcoming running season! Stay tuned!

Image courtesy of google images.

What is Fascial Stretch Therapy?

Fascia is a network of layered connective tissue that is present throughout the body and helps keep tissues supported and in place. The diagram pictured at the side will give you a good visual. The white areas represent fascia where it is thickened, but in reality, there is fascia surrounding all the muscles. In the realm of physiotherapy this tissue is important because it helps keep muscles and tendons in place. It hosts the nerves and blood vessels that supply muscle, ligament and tendon. It also weaves into structures such as ligaments and joint capsules which help support joints. This becomes critical in rehabilitation when the fascia becomes adhesed to its surrounding tissue due to acute or overuse injury and limits its function.

Fascial Stretch Therapy or FST (TM) uses multi-planar and multi joint stretches to target the fascia. They are bed and anchor based stretches. For more a more detailed idea of what this is about check out the Stretch to Win website. This treatment aims to do the following by "unsticking" that fascia:

• Relieve chronic muscles tightness and tension
• Improve joint mobility and overall flexibility; often reducing stress on other structures
• Improve posture
• Improve circulation, relaxation and sleep - thus maximize rehabilitation and sports recovery

 

It is a great compliment to other forms of rehabilitation and soft tissue therapies, including ART, massage, acupuncture, and of course exercise therapy.

Think this therapy would be beneficial to you? We proudly provide FST (TM) to the Burlington, Ontario area. Please check out our website for more information.

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

Top 4 ways to Avoid an Injury from a Fall this Winter

 

With this year's thaws and freezes, as well as my own slip on the ice, I thought a blog on falls would be topical this winter. According to Stats Canada falls are the leading cause of injury and the most common cause of injury hospitalization in Canada. The most susceptible demographic are seniors with 85% of all injuries in seniors being a result of a fall. One statistic that surprised me, was that the majority of falls among seniors occur in their own homes. So here are 4 ways to avoid falls or their negative ramifications this winter:

1. Clear the Path: This not only includes shoveling your driveway and walkways which is obvious at this time of the year, but also clear the path indoors. Reduce clutter, make sure edges of rugs are flush with the ground (or get rid of them) and wipe up water spills immediately.
2. Stay Active: Engage in physical activity every day. It's your best defence against falls. Increase or maintain muscle and bone density with resisted activities. Consult your doctor before engaging in a new activity.
3. Live a Healthy Lifestyle: Smoking, poor diet and inactivity can all lead to weak, brittle bones and turn an otherwise innocuous fall into a debilitating injury. Get your bone density checked if you suspect an issue; you may need medical intervention on top of healthy changes.
4. Be aware of Your Surroundings: Get your eyes and ears checked, ensure adequate lighting as much as possible and practice mindfulness.

If you have any questions about our services in dealing with these issues, please visit our website or call us at 905.333.1267.
As always, thanks for reading, Rebecca

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

7 Most Common Work Station Mistakes

As well as sport related injuries, I see lots of work station related issues; mostly neck and headaches, but also low back, shoulder and elbow. The following are a list of work station mistakes that may be contributing to your injuries:

1. key board and mouse position. If either of these are too far away, too high or too low, you will run into problems.  The biggest issue I encounter is if the mouse or keyboard are too far away. This most often can contribute to shoulder issues as the shoulder is forced to engage on a continuous basis (remember, it might not seem like much, but you are doing it for up to 8 hours!) Your elbows should be at your side and at 90 degrees when using both.
2. screen position. If your screen is too low (or you are using a laptop) the tendency is to be looking down - again for 8 hours a day. The screen should be positioned so that when you close your eyes, move both your head and eyes around then find a natural position, you should be looking at the middle of the screen. Another marker is that the top of the screen should be approximately at eye level.
3. using two screens. Using two screens for 8 hours a day probably means you are turning your head to one side for prolonged periods. This can lead to serious neck pain and headaches. Try using a split screen or moving your body each time you use the second screen.
4. cradling a phone with your shoulder. Another no-no for the neck! A headset is a great neck saver for that reason.
5. no work station. Do you work from home and use your laptop anywhere? On the couch? I am constantly saying that laptops keep me in business because people have terrible neck and back positions when they use them!! Set up a work station.. invest in a separate key board so you can fix the arm and head positions for at least part of your day.
   
6. poor lumbar position. Lumbar support in a chair can help, but just becoming aware of your sitting posture will do more. A standing work station can also help
7. sitting too long. Regardless of how perfect your workstation is, we are just not meant to stay in one position for prolonged periods. Set a timer to go off once an hour to get up and get a glass of water or do some stretches.

Also visit my previous post on how your work station could contribute to your sports injury!

If you have any enquiries regarding our services please visit our website for more information.

As always, thanks for reading! Rebecca

Pictures courtesy of Google Images

6 Training Tips for Avoiding Running Injuries

Injuries are the bane of every runners existence and sometimes are a fact of the runner's life, but here are a few training tips that might help you avoid injuries before they start.

1. Slow and steady wins the race. Give yourself lots of time to train for your event. You may need an extra week of recovery.  Do not increase any element of your training too quickly. 10% per week is a good amount of distance to increase per week. I always stick to 1 km to keep it safe.

2. Do more runs, not less. You are better off to do 4 runs of 20 min runs in a week instead of  a 40 minute run twice.

3. Only change one element per week. Do not add hills AND intervals in the same week.

4. If you feel an injury coming on, take a step back (see my previous blog on managing your own running injury)

5. Stretch and strengthen. There is plenty of information out there to keep you strong and healthy for your running season (see my favourite running website strength running) . A good base before your running season of glut, hamstring, hip flexor and core strength will go a long way and maintaining that strength throughout  the season will really help keep you injury free (and running better!). Anyone who runs needs to incorporate some stretching into your program too - especially if you sit at a desk all day (one of my previous blogs details the "dangers" of sitting at a desk all day). I have some insomnia issues so do my stretching before bed every night. I find it doubles as both injury prevention and relaxation technique!

6. Keep a healthy weight. Of all the factors associated with running injuries overtraining and a higher body mass seem to have the highest correlation. On the flip side, a low BMI has also been associated with an increase in stress fractures and spinal injuries in women. Stress the HEALTHY in healthy weight!!

If you find you are injured and would like more information on our services visit our website.

As always, thanks for reading, Rebecca

Photos courtesy of Google Images

Top 6 Signs You Need Physiotherapy

My husband has been complaining about an Achilles issue for a couple of years now. With two little ones to be constantly trading off, there is no time for in clinic, hands on treatment from me. But as you may have guessed, I am a big exercise pusher... So a couple of weeks ago he lamented (again) "am I never going to be able to run again?" And, my response (again) was "Have you been doing your eccentric exercises?" This time, though, he has actually followed my advice and has been doing them regularly. Last night he said to me "I think those exercises are actually working."
Really? Was my advice your last resort?
So, when do you know that you need an expert (physiotherapist or otherwise) opinion in regards to your injury?

1. You have an acute injury. Heard a snap? Have bruising? Swelling? Are you limping? Time to see a doctor or physiotherapist. Your physiotherapist can assess your injury and will help maximize your recovery as well as give you a program to help you get back to your sport/activity of choice while minimizing the chance of re-injury.

2. You have had surgery or been immobilized. Surgery and immobilization can lead to limits in strength, range of motion, proprioception (balance and motor control) and gait. your physiotherapist is trained to maximize your recovery of all these elements.

3 Pain is holding you back from your normal activity levels. I am a firm believer in living an active lifestyle. Activity helps you heal faster, sleep better, live longer and improves mental and emotional well-being. And in my opinion REST RARELY fully RESOLVES the issue (see my instructions on dealing with running injuries!) So do what ever you need to get back to it!


4. You have numbness. Any numbness indicates there is a pinched nerve. Your sports/orthopaedic specialist (doctor, physiotherapist, chiropractor) will help diagnose where the numbness is coming from and how best to deal with it.

5. Dr. Google hasn't helped. It is hard to diagnose yourself. I have a hard time doing it and I am a trained professional! Yes, sometimes you can help yourself with one quick fix, but in most cases someone needs to physically see your weaknesses, tightness, posture and more to really give you an appropriate diagnosis and program.

6. All else fails. Hopefully you will not be like my husband and wait until this happens, but if you are at this stage maybe its time...

To see what a physiotherapist at our clinic can do for you, see a list of our services on our website.

As always, thanks for reading, Rebecca

Guidelines for Dealing with your Running Injury

As I was out enjoying a beautiful fall run this weekend, it occurred to me that some easy guidelines for dealing with running injuries would be helpful to a lot of people. The following are a few simple steps that I tend to follow when I suspect a running injury of my own:

1. Go back to the volume and intensity you were doing before the pain started. The human body has an amazing ability to adapt to stresses placed on it, but if training increases are greater than the body's ability to adapt, you will get overall regression in tissue strength instead of progression. In a study looking at types of running shoe correlating with injury, it was actually body mass index and training intensity that were correlated to injury; shoe type had no correlation! And try to do this AS SOON AS you realize there is a problem. I always tell people the longer you have an overuse injury, the longer it will take to heal from it. The tissues have be degrading the whole time you have been in pain, often even longer!


2. If the pain persists after a week of reduced running volume and intensity, do modified activity for a week. This could include running in the water, biking, hiking or a yoga class. Anything that will decrease the impact on your body, while maintaining some fitness.


3. Do some specific rehabilitation exercises. While you are doing your modified activity, it is a perfect time to try to do some exercises to promote your healing and address imbalances. I would recommend eccentric strengthening (see my previous blog on eccentric strengthening) if you think it is a tendon issue, ITB roller or some specific massage ball work, gluteus and core strengthening and lots of stretching. Every runner I have ever treated could do more hamstring, calf and hip flexor stretching. Do them every day you remember.

4. If after a week of modified activity and rehab exercises your pain has reduced significantly (80%better) go back to #1. If not, I would suggest consulting a sports medicine specialist or physiotherapist. You probably need specific exercise prescription as well as some hands-on treatment or modality intervention.



If you are lost trying to figure out which rehabilitation exercises are right for you or if you are on a rigid training timeline, you may need to see your physiotherapist even sooner!


Happy running!!
For more information on our practitioners and services, please see our website www.macleansportphysio.ca.

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.