The Newsy Neighbour Magazine
June Issue #116
Article Provided By: The Bank Athletic Club
Neutral
Feet
Practice
standing, walking and running with a neutral foot position. This is the
position that is optimal for the muscles, joints and tissues of the foot to be
in to avoid many of the common injuries experienced by runners. While orthotics
can often help people regain and maintain a lost neutral foot position (as long
at they have their orthotics on), the ideal is for us to develop our own
stability in the foot through developing strength and control of the whole
lower limb – the most notable in this instance would be to work on
strengthening the glutes and the intrinsic muscles of the feet.
A
Supple Thoracic Spine
We all
spend far too much time with our arms out in front of us – sitting at a
computer, driving a car, playing on our smartphones. There is a constant
barrage of strain on our thoracic spines, that ultimately leads to decreased thoracic
mobility. This directly impacts our ribcage mobility and consequently, our
breathing mechanics. After a sprint when you find yourself trying to breathe as
deeply as possible, do you automatically hunch over in the back and curl up in
a ball to help you breathe more deeply, or do you put your hands behind your
head and stand as upright as possible? Spend some time mobilizing your thoracic
spine into extension and rotation to counterbalance the over exposure your
t-spine gets to flexion.
Full
Ankle Range of Motion
If you are
a runner, you want to make sure you have full dorsiflexion range of motion (think
trying to bring your foot up towards you so your toes are pointing up to the
sky). This is very common and leads to issues like rolled ankles and plantar
fasciitis. The easiest way to increase ankle dorsiflexion range of motion is to
stretch and roll your calf muscles.
Full
Hip Range of Motion
Again, we
all spend far too much time sitting down, which plays havoc on the muscles and
tissues around the hip. If you do not have full hip flexion and extension, when
you run at anything more than a jogging pace, another joint in your body is
going to have to compensate. Normally this is either your knees or lower back.
Sound familiar to anyone? Where to start – stretch your hip flexors (to improve
hip extension) and your glutes (to improve hip flexion).
Warm
up and Cool Down
Everyone
knows this is what we should do, but in our busy lives how many of us actually
do it? Warm ups should include non-linear movement (think arm circles versus
straight punching jabs). This prepares the body for the three-dimensional world
of movement and applies to all muscle groups and joints. Warm up for a time
inversely proportional to the activity you are going to be doing (for example –
a 100m sprinter’s warm up would be a lot longer than that of a marathon runner).
Cool downs are equally as important to help propel metabolic waste products
through the blood and lymphatic systems.
Practice
Good Movement
Can you
squat to full depth without rounding your back, your knees going forward over
your toes, your arches collapsing in or your knees dropping in? Can you jump
and land on one foot without compromising a neutral foot position or your knee
dropping in? Practicing these types of movement with good technique in a slow
and controlled environment will transfer into better mechanics when
running…which means less injuries!
Focus
On Your Hot Spots
Pain when
running is a sign that something is angry and is being pushed too far. Try not
to ignore the pain until it gets worse and stops you from running altogether.
Instead, explore your tissues above and below the area that is sore. For
example, the majority of people I see who come to me with knee pain, have
brutally tight quads and calf muscles. When I palpate these muscles, the client
often hits the roof because these muscles are so tender! When you push on/roll
out a ‘normal’ muscle, it should not hurt. When you push on an overworked,
overtight, angry muscle you will often find ‘hot spots’ that are very painful
to push on. Focus on these hot spots. Although they may feel uncomfortable, a
bit of foam rolling or myofascial ball rolling directly on these ‘hot spots’
works wonders.
Samuel is a
physiotherapist and owner of Functional Strength & Mobility Physiotherapy.
FSM Physiotherapy is located within The Bank Athletic Club in Strathmore, AB.
Samuel uses a combination of hands on manual therapy and clinical exercise
prescription to help relieve pain, restore range of motion and develop strength
and control. Make sure to check out his website at www.fsmphysio.ca.
No comments:
Post a Comment