Restored Fitness

Flip through any health-related magazine and you’ll find study after study highlighting what to do and what to avoid.  I take these studies lightly because the next week I inevitably read another study contradicting the first. With so many studies and conflicting results, which one are we supposed to believe?

I was flipping through the IDEA Fitness Journal and found another study—this one observed running-related injuries (which many of my clients come in with). The article cites that other research has reported that 70 percent of runners sustain some form of running related overuse injury, with 80 percent of injuries occurring at or below the knee.

According to the lead author, “Based on the literature review, it appears that foot pronation and inadequate hip muscle stabilization are the top categories for injury.  Hip muscle weakness especially appears to lead to atypical lower extremity mechanics and increases forces on knees and feet while running.”

Here’s an easier way to look at it.  Your knee is a reactive joint; it does whatever your hip and foot tell it to do.  If your hip is unstable, your knee will have to work overtime in order to compensate.  If your foot is unstable, the same thing can happen.

When I see clients experiencing knee pain, often times one of the first things I check is the stability of their hip.  If the hip is stable and not causing the pain, I see if I can find any imbalances in the foot.  Remember, the site of pain is typically not the source of the problem.  Another important note here is that the source of the pain could be coming from anywhere.  We mention the hip and foot, but those could just be starting points.  Could a limitation in your shoulder affect your knee?  You betcha!

That’s the goal of Muscle Activation Techniques: to address muscular imbalances that lead to pain and injuries.

A couple of weeks ago, I was a vendor at the GW Classic 10 miler in Old Town Alexandria.  We had a really great turnout and I  talked to a bunch of runners about Muscle Activation Techniques™ .  After conducting range of motion evaluations  and performing muscle testing, it was amazing to see how quickly the runners responded to MAT.  Check out the photos from the race–hope to see you next year.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by on Sunday.  It was great talking to all the runners that participated in the GW Classic 10 Miler.   Many of you were experiencing a wide range of symptoms including hip pain, knee pain, IT band tightness, foot pain and shoulder pain.  Although I only had about five minutes to spend on each of you, I hope you learned a little bit about how Muscle Activation Techniques™ may benefit you.  For many of you, I was able to find at least one weak major muscle on your body and explained how that can negatively affect your running.  If we can strengthen at least one muscle in five minutes, imagine what we could do in one hour!

This Sunday, Restored Fitness will be sponsoring the 25^th annual GW Parkway Classic in Old Town Alexandria. I will be providing complimentary on-site demonstrations using Muscle Activation Techniques™ and offering post race treats. If you’re looking to become stronger and more efficient during your training and improve your athletic performance, be sure to stop by to learn more about MAT.

Restored Fitness is also sponsoring the Junior League of Northern Virginia’s Stride for Success 5K Run and Children’s 1K Fun Run/Walk this Sunday in Fairfax, Va.

It looks like there will be good running weather this weekend—good luck to all you racers!

Seriously people: no pain no gain? After a quick Wikipedia search, I learned we can thank Jane Fonda and her exercise videos for that phrase. Even though it should be as outdated as the big hair and spandex of the 1980s, I still hear this phrase at least once per week. Simply put, pain indicates dysfunction—your muscles aren’t working right.

I hear so many people say they just “work through the pain.” If you’re running and begin to experience knee pain after the first few minutes, do you stop? Or, do you just work through it, and figure it will go away?

Even if your knee stops hurting, does the problem really go away? In a word: no.

You may think you can alleviate knee pain by adjusting your stride, but it’s likely that your body just compensates for the muscular instability causing the discomfort. The human body is incredibly smart, and will do whatever it takes to get from point A to B. So, other muscles that are firing properly will pick up the slack for those that aren’t working as well.

Let’s say, for example, you use 20 muscles to run on the treadmill (which really isn’t even close). Don’t you want all 20 muscles working properly? I sure would. Could you run with only 15 muscles firing? Sure, but you might have a little hitch in your giddy up. 10 muscles? You could give it a try. Five? You might be safer staying home on the couch.

Have you experienced pain while running—such as plantar fasciitis, low- back pain or knee pain—and wondered what was really going on? Shoot me an e-mail and maybe I can offer up some thoughts.

Remember, the best way to prevent pain and injury while exercising is to make sure your muscles work properly.