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…)
Audience: Runners and therapists
Purpose: A reference to compare running technique
Limitations: Many of us assume that there is one right and better way to run. Deviations from that ideal are assumed to lead to injuries and decreased economy. This is still a debatable concept. Everything I write can be questioned so please do so.
Below is a video of Nicole Stevenson (www.nicolestevenson.com). Nicole is Canada’s former number 1 in the Marathon with a personal best below 2:33. Nicole is also a running coach
I wanted to highlight some probably beneficial components of her running gait. Future posts will look a deviations from this gait and how they might relate to injury. (more…)
Audience: Runners
Purpose: To give a pictorial basic background into the movements that occur in the sagital plane (i.e. looking from the side) of the lower extremity during running at 3.1 meters/second (about a 5 minute km) and “sprinting” at 3.9 meters per second (about a 4.17 minute km). (more…)
Audience: Runners and therapists
Purpose: advocate hip strengthening exercises
The “core” gets all the press. But when it comes to running research and injury prevention I would sooner extol the virtues the butt. The side of the butt to be most specific.
These muscles (gluteus medius/minimus and gluteus maximus) are huge in the relationship to injuries to the knee, hip and spine. If you want to split hairs you can call them part of the core (you should, but most people don’t).
For a decade, I swear its been that long, researchers (and their readers like me) have advocated that runners should train these muscles and forgo stretching if they had to pick between the two exercise possibilities (I’ve softened my stance on stretching, more posts to follow). The exercises are easy to do and can be fit in after a good run.
To support these views the Toronto Star just published a summary of a paper by Reed Ferber out of Calgary. He runs a great lab and worked with Irene Davis (a superstar researcher in running biomechics), before starting his lab in Calgary. His research publications are quite exceptional and if I were still a researcher they would make me envious.
See the Star article here: http://www.healthzone.ca/health/dietfitness/fitness/article/960175-researchers-get-hip-to-the-root-of-knee-pain-for-runners
For those interested in training their hips here are a slew of exercise programs (click on the links):
1. Patellofemoral pain treatment
2. Neuromuscular control of hip and knee function
4. Side Bridge variations - the best exercise to work the gluteus medius
One of my favorites is below. The one leg squat with leg raise. Most Toronto Physiotherapy places advise that you do the clamshell or side lying leg raise. The problem (click here for a detailed review) is that the exercises only work the hip stabilizing muscles about 40% of their max. This is not enough. Muscles get stronger when you stress them. Unless you just had a hip replacement forget about these remedial exercises - unless maybe you truly are super weak here, then you need them.
Otherwise, train harder. You are an athlete and a runner.
Have fun,
Your Toronto Physiotherapy snob,
Greg Lehman
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