Audience: Therapists and strength coaches
Purpose: Questioning a common belief with the use of simple joint mechanics and anatomy.
Caveat of Ignorance: This post is probably one that is more about splitting hairs and quibbling about small details than saying anything ground breaking. This post is unlikely to change your training routines, assessments or rehab protocols. Ideally, it sheds some information on how we explain what we do. (more…)
Update: I am not the first to write about this area. I found a great post by Todd Hargrove tackling the same topic and saying much the same (he does it more succintly and I address a few other areas as well). His post is here: http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/does-excessive-sitting-shorten-the-hip-flexors/
The Tight Hip Flexor Bogeyman
We too often tell patients that their pain, dysfunction or poor performance on any movement is due to the great bogeyman of hip function - TIGHT HIP FLEXORS. It is quite a go-to explanation for all things bad. Where this idea started I don’t know but it is certainly propagated by the Lower Crossed Syndrome Theory. This theory contends that dysfunction occurs when your pelvis is tilted forward as a result of tight hip flexors, weak glutes, tight low back muscles and weak abs. At its heart, this theory assumes the body works like a puppet where we can tension and loosen our strings (aka muscles) and watch our pelvis dance into some assumed nasty or happy position. (more…)
Repost: I originally posted this in October 2011 but lost it in the great porn/spam database hack debacle of January 2012.
Purpose: To highlight some key differences in impact loading in older runners versus younger runners (more…)
Below are Tensioner videos for your irritated and sensitive peripheral nerves.
Warning: please only do this if your knowledgeable health care provider has taught these and specifically said that you should do these exercises.
Gentler “Slider” movements can be seen at a previous post here: Slider Videos
Audience: Therapists and Patients
Purpose: This post is video overview of the sample exercise progression I might advocate for patients (primarily runners) who present with persistent longstanding high hamstring pain.
Background
Runners, particularly faster runners, will often present with high hamstring tendon pain. The pain is typically felt where the muscles insert into the bottom bone of the hip (the ischial tuberosity). In addition to the hamstrings the adductor magnus can often be involved.
Below are a number of exercises that are typically called stability exercises. While this might be true they are really movements to me. These movements can make you stronger, can calm down your pissed off nervous system and can increase your capacity to withstand stress. We typically say that they increase your stability but I think it is more complicated. They are many reasons to do these exercises and if you are unsure please ask. The body is smarter than we are. If our spine could talk I bet it would be pretty condescending discussing how we try to explain its function.
Audience: Patients
Purpose: Exercise videos for patients wishing to train their trunk and hips
This article is just a video series for runners to do some basic strength work. Stop worrying about the core. Just get strong during all movements. We try to build capacity to withstand load. We might also improve running efficiency with strength work. There could probably be thirty different exercises below. This is not a program just a few suggestions for what can be easily done. You will notice that there are no exercises that are specifically “core” exercises. I am of the opinion that this is over rated for running and that any benefits to training the core can be gleaned from the appropriate choice of compound exercises. (more…)
Audience: Runners and Therapists
Purpose: A quick guide to running injury prevention.
Preamble
Injury prevention for runners is not rock-solidly founded in science… and may not even be possible. With runners it is more injury management. You are going to get injured and you are going to have some aches and pains. The ideal is to minimize your lost training time and avoid some of the nasty injuries that can jeopardize your long term running and goals. (more…)
Audience: Patients and therapists
Purpose: A brief argument on why attempting to lengthen your IT Band with stretching or foam rolling is a waste of time and not possible.
I am in the minority when I cringe at the rampant unjustified use of the ubiquitous, seemingly harmless but actually evil foam roller for IT Bands. I’ve seen their use climb in the past 5 years and I am sure that my success rate at convincing my patients to not roll the crap out of their IT Bands is less than 10%. Those rollers are WINNING. Perhaps this post will sway the voters. (more…)
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