Hamstrings

Here is a great post on Hamstring pulls written by Vern Gambetta. Here is a link to his blog. http://www.gambetta.com/blog.html

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Hamstring Pulling Season
We have just started hamstring pulling season (AKA Major League Baseball Season) So far in first two days of the season there have bee two hamstring pulls. Do you ever wonder why? Is it the cold weather? No I don’t think so although can be a factor at times. Are they out of shape? I hope not they have spent six weeks in spring training getting game fit. Based on my observations over the years here is my take on the hamstring pull situation in baseball and for that matter other sports. Too much emphasis on static stretching in warm-up. Warm-up to stretch, do not stretch to warm-up. Flexibility of the hamstring is basically a non factor in hamstring pulls, it is dynamic hip flexibility that is important. You don't get that wallowing around on the ground in pregame stretch. Lack of sufficient warm-up. The current rage in warm-up does not involve enough movement, way too much at walking tempo, you need to build the warm-up in a crescendo to top speed sprints. Another reason is too much emphasis on linear running mechanics, very little on turns. The hamstring is a transverse plane muscle that is stressed when running a curve and on deceleration. There is too much strengthening using non functional exercises in prone and supine positions. The solutions are simple, but require understanding muscle function and compliance to a program. More lunges in all planes, step-ups both low and high, more emphasis on running turns and at least two days a week of all out sprinting outside the game. It takes time and preparation with attention to detail.

Our interpretation for distance runners. Stop doing static stretching as a warm-up! Stop doing hamstring curls for strengthening! As Vern says, we must keep our functional mobility (ability to squat, lunge and step up/down). Check out the archives on our blog for exercises to address functional mobility/strength.

The Step-Over

In response to comments left on "Be Hip" post, I decided to post a new exercise for hip strength and stability. I had written it earlier in the year, but hadn't posted it yet. Here's the link: Step Over. Hope this helps.

Be Hip!

(c) http://www.physiotherapy.co.uk/
This weeks topic on take and run Thursday is running injuries. This guy has a problem. Check out that hip position. This is a great picture of hip drop which is a problem we see often. The left hip drop is most likely because of right Gluteus Medius weakness. The primary function of this muscle during gait and running is to help stabilize the hip when the foot is in contact with the ground. It controls stance leg hip adduction. This can lead to multiple running injuries including ITBFS, knee, groin, lateral hip & lower back pain. The best way to correct this problem is to train/strengthen this muscle the same way it functions during gait. That is with the right foot on the ground. With my left groin strain last year, we noticed that my pain would increase in cushioned running shoes which allowed more pronation. We also noted that along with that I had more right hip drop (left gluteal medius weakness). I initially worked on left single leg stance exercises while simulating where my hip should be during stance (level hips). This is done by contracting or squeezing my left buttock/ leveling the pelvis. I would hold this position for 5 to 10 seconds and would fatigue very quickly. I then progressed to higher level functional exercises but only if I could maintain this position. In my case, flexibility had very little to do with why I was having pain with running. With a different neutral running shoe and increased functional strength of my hip I was able to return to pain-free running.

Our previous post on the step down, is an example of one of the higher level exercises. We will post some more video of others. Check out this related post. Got strength?
I hope this helped to explain this common hip issue.
Be hip!

More on Running injuries

Here is a link to a good post on Universal Truths about Running Injuries. I am pleased with the praise for physical therapy! I want to expand on the comment of "best PT". It is important not to automatically assume a MD or PT who tells you not to run is a bad one. I don't believe this was the intent of the author of this linked post. As I've previously posted, rest is a very important part of training but also of rehab. We must give the body time to respond to rehab without the stress that helped to cause it originally. As a PT, I often have my running patients stop running. In our current health care system, by the time they get to me it is not in their best interest to continuing to try to run through it. Most have already tried that and it hasn't worked. One of my biggest battles is to get my runners to actually stop "testing it out". I try to get my patients back to running as fast as possible but very carefully. I follow the rule of, if I feel my symptoms walking around doing my daily activities, then I have no business trying to run. I start back at a very low level/ walking then progressing to walk /jog then to continuous running. Each phase of this must be symptom free before progression to the next phase.

Please visit our other posts on strengthening, running injuries, prevention & rest.

Ready for summer!

I don't know about everybody else out there, but I'm getting really tired of this cold & wet running weather. Here is a hopeful look forward to summer! A poem written by one of my daughters.

Summertime.
Hear the seagulls,
and halyards hitting the masts
And the laughter.
Smell the barbeque
and smores cooking on a bonfire.
And the chlorine from the pool.
See the crystal clear water in the lake as you glide past on a tube.
And fireworks exploding over the hill
and the sails puffing out in the breeze.
Taste the cold ice cream,
And hot dogs wrapped in a warm bun,
and fresh corn on the cob, dripping with butter.
Feel the warm, setting sun on your skin
and the breeze in your hair
And sand on your bare feet
And the cool, refreshing water after a long hot run.

Yeah, Baby, Yeah!

Getting a new pair of running shoes is a lot like buying a new car. The smell, the feel, the magic of something new on my feet.......ahhhh. I used to think that this strange feeling was something found only in female social circles, where a new pair of shoes was like chocolate. But then i started running.

Last week i decided to step out of my Brooks "comfort zone" and try something a little more on the wild side: The Adidas Supernova Control 10. So far, this shoe is a little piece of heaven. This shoe has just the right mix of medial support and cushion. I'm a "late-stage" pronator and at heel strike i hit very lateral, but the Supernova controls both of these things very well. I had almost conceded the fact that i would always feel some sort of ache or pain with my long runs, but this weekend I ran without even a twinge! Now the question is how long is this going to last? Maybe I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase ;) I guess we'll see, but for now this shoe is making things a lot easier for me. If you tend to need a little stability in your shoes, but don't want a big motion control shoe, i would check this one out.

Learn how to read!

This week's topic in the Runner's lounge: "Take It and Run Thurday" is Building the miles and going long!

My input this week involves learning how to read your body. As the weather finally warms up and the spring races draw nearer, most of us are adding to our training. We are either adding some miles and or introducing some quality (speed). During any change in our training which requires an increase in effort it is important to determine how our bodies are responding to this change in stress levels. We must learn to read our bodies / to be able to determine what we can ignore versus what is trouble brewing.

Here is a common scenario:

Fred ran 4-8 X's 400 in the first week and that this is the first time he has done any up tempo workouts this season. He wore the same shoes that he has been wearing all winter (250 miles) and they are showing some wear. On this workout, he felt really good and went quicker than scheduled. The next day was an easy run and he felt just a little tight. The next time he ran, his legs felt great so he pushed a little, but toward the end of the run he noticed a slight tightness or pinch in his distal Achilles. After the run, he gave it a good stretch. The next day he felt slight soreness during the day but a mile into his scheduled 10 miler it went away. At 3 miles it comes back and by the end of the run it is more of an aching pain. After he stopped, it goes away so he stretches it out some more. The next AM, Fred can barely walk as his Achilles is very sore and tight.

Where did Fred go wrong in this scenario? How could he have avoided this injury?

The biggest issue here, was his inability too read and listen to his symptoms. When he felt the tightness the first time, he should have used ice on his Achilles and avoided the aggressive stretching. But the biggest mistake was continuing to run during the long run when his symptoms got worse. I advise that when symptoms are felt during a run and they don't go away or they worsen, stop. At least slow down and shorten the work out. ICE and avoid aggressive stretching. If the symptoms had gone away and not returned, he could have finished the work out. It still would have been prudent to shorten the run and ice. If symptoms are felt during the day just walking around, it is better to not run. REST and ICE! No running until pain-free during everyday activities. Then the return to running needs to be a short and easy, followed by a rest day. This will allow Fred to evaluate how the Achilles is handling the return to running with less of a chance for re-injury.
Learn to read your body!

Other contributing factors:
Stick to the scheduled pace especially on the first quality run of the season.
Never a bad idea to break out a newer pair of shoes when doing quality runs or long runs.

I hope this is helpful!

More on overtraining & rest!

Here is a link to a great summary on overtraining! Also see the previous post on rest.

If I knew then, what I know now!

Runner's Lounge "take it and run Thursday"

This is the list of the top 5 things I wish I knew back then that I know now.

1. REST! I would have rested more often. In my early years of running, I really didn't understand the fine line between training to improve and over training. I became obsessed with my weekly mileage and taking to many days off. I even ran over a year without a rest day! I felt that I was a machine. Guess what? We aren't machines. We need rest. One of the most over looked aspect of training is rest. Training breaks our bodies down. In order to get stronger and to improve our performance we need to allow for recovery. I now follow the plan of 2 weeks with higher mileage or effort followed by 1 week down. In my down week, I allow for more rest, decrease quality, cross training and I lower my mileage. This allows my body to recover from the previous 2 weeks of training. A rest day is not a cross training day!

2. I would have competed in shorter race distances when I was younger rather than the half marathon and marathon.
Please refer to our posts on 2-8-08. http://inmotion2.blogspot.com/2008/02/half-marathon.html

3. I would have worked on functional strength and mobility and avoided aggressive stretching. See previous posts of 1-20-08 and 1-22-08. http://inmotion2.blogspot.com/2008/01/got-strength.html
http://inmotion2.blogspot.com/2008/01/you-dont-have-squat.html

4. PLAN AHEAD for the day before a race. Plan ahead on how much time you spend at the expo. Plan ahead and make a early reservation for dinner. If you have to share a hotel room, make sure they share similar views about running. I made all of the mistakes before the 1996 (100th) Boston Marathon. I spent too much time at a crowded expo trying to get all the cool gear. I didn't make plans for dinner and settled for a really lousy meal. I shared a hotel room with non-runners who insisted on staying up late and reading. Needless to say, I woke up tired and ran a poor race with GI issues.

5. I would have gone out slower in the first half of the 1983, 1984 and the 1996 Boston Marathon! The first several miles are cumulatively downhill, it is easy to get tricked into a pace that is faster than you would normally attempt. At Boston, this is a much more costly mistake. The wall will hit much earlier which makes for a miserable last 6-8 miles.

Half Marathon

It sure was nice of Lou to point out that I'm a seasoned veteran (see the previous post). I have completed 44 half marathons, 26 of which have been the Indy Mini marathon. I'm not sure Lou was even born when I ran my first one. This is a great distance for a long challenge but not so long that it will zap your legs for several weeks of recovery as with a full marathon. This is not a good race distance for kids and even high schoolers if they are also planning on running track and cross country. I made this mistake in my youth. I was never blessed with wicked fast track speed and I never, as a youth, appreciated track. So, I started running long races at a fairly early age. I raced my first half at the age of 15, my first full marathon at 18 and my first Boston at 19 (2:38). I now know this is not the best plan for our young runners. I try to encourage my daughters to stick to short races. The early years of running are the prime time for developing leg speed. They then need to gradually build their ability to carry that speed. So, again if kids are interested in track and cross country, encourage them to stick to the shorter races. High schoolers and middle schoolers should learn to run fast in the shorter race distances (5Ks and shorter). This will only help them if they choose to move up in later years. Bob Kennedy didn't race longer than 12K until near the end of his competitive career. Many of the great Marathoners were very successful on the track and in shorter races before they moved up to the marathon later in their careers.

As I said earlier, for older runners (high school & up) who don't need to worry about competing in school sports the half marathon is a wonderful challenge. Just follow what Lou said in his post and you should be fine.

Other than the Indy Mini, my favorite Half is the Ludington Lakestride.
This small Ludington, Michigan race is held in mid June. It starts near the channel next to the Lake Michigan shoreline and goes north into the Ludington State Park for about 2.5 miles on a nice hard sand trail. The course gradually climbs to exit the trails over a large sand dune and then rejoins the road for the last half along the Lake back to the start. It is a hard course to run quick times but you can't beat the scenery.

The Mini

It's that time of year again. Here in the great state of Indiana, i think people are surprised to hear that there are other half marathons on this earth besides the famous "Indy One America Mini Marathon". You'll see what i'm talking about while you're waiting the 20 minutes to actually cross the start-finish line after the gun goes off. Personally, the indy mini is the only half-marathon i've ever done. I need to get out more i guess. John has completed many, many more and i'll let him give his own colorful commentary on those (wink, wink...he's been around a little longer than i have). The first time i ran a half marathon, i did it as a challenge to myself. Now that i've finally decided to up the ante and train for a full marathon, i'm beginning to think the half-marathon is the perfect distance for a race. It's not too long and it's not too short. It doesn't require a PDA to schedule 20 mile training runs. I don't need a GPS to actually figure out where i'm going to run 20 straight miles! I don't have to EAT while i run. More on this topic later as i continue with quest for 26.2.

Now for the good stuff:

There are several things to watch out for when training for the half-marathon. Like others have stated, just because it's a "half", doesn't mean it's going to somehow be easier to train for or that it can't cause injury if one doesn't train properly. We see many, many runners this time of year and it always seems to be the result of the same issues. In no particular order:

TOO MUCH TOO FAST
IMPROPER SHOE CHOICE
NOT LISTENING TO YOUR BODY (just because you can, doesn't mean you should)
NOT ESTABLISHING A GOOD BASE (cardiovascular base and strength/core base)

As a fellow runner, i have been guilty of all of these things at one point or another. I really have problems with number 3 eventhough i see the results of it on a daily basis (For a good real-life example see the excellent post by Frayed Laces). Hopefully, in the weeks to come, we'll be able to post some more examples, ideas, questions, and opinions on those issues and more. In the meantime, we encourage your comments and questions whether you agree or disagree. We love reading, learning, and discussing new ideas! Now Hit the Road!

Retro Shoes (part 3) / Firm Midsole & Crash pad

Read the post Retro shoes and Retro shoes part 2.
This video shows me in a neutral shoe with a more firm mid sole and crash pad. Again watch the ankle, foot and knee during all the phases of the running gait cycle. We think when you compare this with the previous video, you will see that there is less compression of the crash pad/ mid sole and thus a much more efficient gait cycle.

Look for the following:
Less toe out during swing/ Foot straighter during gait
More narrow gait cycle (feet landing in front of each other)
Normal amount of pronation

In our opinion, this "retro style" of neutral shoes will be a better choice for most neutral runners who weigh more than a 115 pounds. This type of shoe is also a great choice for runners who wear orthotics. These shoes should last longer and help to prevent injury. So again be careful when you try on those soft running shoes. Give a firm shoe a chance. Compare your shoe in the same way we did these two shoes. If your mechanics look better then you will probably feel better when you run in them.
Good luck and happy searching!