Thoughts On:
Training, Rehabilitation, & Best Care Practices
Runners in Utah and all over the country have expereinced that stabbing knee pain, during and after a run, that seems to come out of no where, leaving you sidelined and unsure what caused it or how to deal with it. Iliotibial Band Syndrome, or ITBS, is one of the most common injuries experienced by new and veteran runners alike. We discuss some of the basics and a few simple tools to help deal with it.
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.
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.
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!
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.
