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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Treating Running as a Skill

By: Joel Luedke

We touched on it last week with our Study Spotlight looking at the perceptual illusion of cushioned footwear and how that can set you up for injury.  It wouldn't be fair to put out that information and not follow it up with something to help move you forward on to the next step.  That is the point of this article.

I truly believe running is a skill and should be treated like one, but that wasn't until recently.  I ran a bunch (like actually quite a bit) in grad school and just went out and did it.  No thought about form, technique or anything of that nature.  I just put on the shoes and off I went.  Things ached and hurt but with time they subsided and it wasn't always bad when I was running.  I also learned that pretty much 80% of people need to be in some type of pronation supported shoe (learned that from some high up shoe guys).  So I thought I was set.

Then a few years later I started digging into it more.  We treat every other sport technique just as that a technique or a skill.  We practice our throwing, shooting, passing, even defense with great focus on how it is done but we just assume we know how to run without paying much attention (other than sprinters, they pay a lot of attention to this).  It is thought that we actually run 'natural' and with our skill early on in our development, pretty much leading up to the first grade.  Then shoes happen.

This is our first time getting introduced to a set of "high-heels".  No not the pumps people wear out  on the weekend but the very different heel to forefoot height of traditional running shoes.  There is often a difference of 8mm or more (some much more).  This may not seem like a huge different but add up the time you're in shoes and how much that is shortening your Gastroc-Soleus-Achilles complex.  The amount can become mind numbing.  This seems to be where skill goes out the window and the heal striking shoes up and any thought of practicing is now gone.

For the remainder of article we are going to overview why 'heel-striking' can be so hard on your body and why we need to focus on more of a skill approach and utilizing techniques to accomplish those tasks.

Heel-Striking

You generate a ton of force into the ground when you strike it, 2-3x body weight to be semi-exact. Your bones and joints aren't meant to take all this force alone.  When we 'heel' or 'rear foot' strike we set up to put most of the force through the ankle joint, travel up our tibia, directly through our knee, onto the femur, up through the hip and potentially putting your hips/pelvis out of alignment. All not good things.

Often times with heel striking there are lots of other abnormalities in gait.  Your legs can swing around because there is no lift in hip flexion.  Your knee may dive in and cause patella femoral pain.  Your arch may collapse and then you start developing shin splints.  These are the reasons I really believe that you should treat running like a skill and you can prevent so many things from happening.

Treating it as a Skill
I was skeptical at first. I'm not a little guy, I've run before and been somewhat successful so why change it up but it made sense to do so.  The great thing about doing this new technique/skill is it was much more efficient and less painful (when done correctly).  First you switch to a midfoot/forefoot strike instead of a heel strike.  This immediately takes away from the pounding on your joints and switches the weight and absorption of it to your muscles and tendons and allows them to act as shock absorbers.

It also is more efficient because you are using gravity to assist you. How?  You are leaning forward and using your hamstring to act as a piston and pull your foot around to land underneath you.  You aren't pushing yourself off the ground with each step and if you do in this form your calves will tell you about it and allow you to adjust and refine your technique.  This allows for instant feedback without all the pain that could come along with it.  Along with more efficient you are better able to keep your hips, knees, ankles and feet in line and limiting excessive movement that is robbing you of energy and efficiency.  Very much a win win.

This is just the surface of how treating running like a skill can help you. Please check out the videos below demonstrating the different that these couple running techniques can do for you.  I also highly recommend checking out Running Revolution for more ideas and a ton of exercises to practice to perfect your form, reduce your injury risk and improve your performance.

Chi Running Example




Pose Method Example






Monday, February 27, 2017

Mobility Monday: Mob Rx for Loud Creaky Knees


I've been having a few people asking about general knee pain and what they can do to help with it.  "Should I ice it?"  Well only if ice cures everything for you but generally this isn't going to make a lasting change to your knee because it is maybe just masking the symptoms.  This video gets after all the problem areas I end up explaining to everyone and that is why I wanted to get it out.  It addressed all aspects of where you knee creakiness might be coming from and all the tools are extremely easy to use at home.  Please check this one out if your knees are constantly sore and stiff.


Things It Helps:
-General Knee Pain
-Quad Tendon Issues
-Patella femoral pain
-Hamstring/calf tightness

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Mobility Monday: Spinal Cord and Sciatic Nerve Flossing


We don't focus a lot on true static stretching when it comes to helping increase mobility and while this post goes down that direction a little bit we still aren't jumping into full static stretching. 


We are introducing 'nerve flossing' in this Mobility Monday.  To start off we are looking at the spinal cord and sciatic nerve and how to mobilize them through your muscle tissue to help out with potential symptoms.  When you combine this with your mobility work and creating great ranges of motion in your hips and low back you can get a lot of relief you might have been missing.

Careful when you do it to make sure you don't irritate the nerve.  Quick on and quick off to mobilize but not overstretch.

Things It Helps:
-Low back pain
-Upper hamstring/glute pain
-Burning/Tingling down the leg


Thursday, February 16, 2017

Friday Food: Omega-3 Stuffed Crab

We are big on Omega-3s because of all the good things they can do for you body.  We are especially big on them when you can stuff crab meat with them.  This is on the 'fancy' side but wow does it sound good and I have a feeling you will impress some people with it.  Well worth the nutritional components as the fantastic taste at the same time.  Enjoy.

Ingredients
            1 pound shredded crabmeat (6 crabs)
            Freshly ground black pepper
            Paprika
            Turmeric
            Flaxseed Oil Mayonnaise
            1 clove garlic
            Olive oil
            Cucumber slices

The Game Plan

-Combine the crabmeat with the pepper, paprika, and turmeric to taste.  
-Add sufficient Flaxseed oil Mayonnaise to moisten.  
-Rub six crab shells with the garlic and oil.  Pile the crab mixture in the shells.  
-Cover with foil and place in a large baking dish.  
-Bake at 400degF for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done.  
-Garnish with cucumber slices. 

Serves 6

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Study Spotlight: Effect of Warm-Up with Different Weighted Bats on Normal Baseball Bat Velocity

By: Joel Luedke


We are fans of challenging long held thought processes that never really had ever been challenged.  Things such as do we really want to ice absolutely every injury we have?  Well this study spotlight takes a look at one of the oldest held traditions in sports...warming up with a weight bat in baseball.  You've likely seen or done it yourself before.  Putting the donut around the baseball bat (or multiple bats), swinging through a couple times to warm up and then trying to time up the pitcher.  Get your swing going with the heavy bat so you swing faster with the light bat.  Makes sense right?  Well kind of, see more below.


What They Did: 
Researchers randomly had each participate swing each of the differently weighted bats: light weight, normal weight and heavy weight.  Each trial consisted of 5 maximal warm up swing with the bat followed by 30 seconds of rest and then 5 maximal swings of the normal weighted bat.  Researchers were measuring velocity of the bat during the normal swings to gauge the best results.

What They Found:
Researchers found that when utilizing the same swing and rest protocol using the light bat produced increased bat velocities when switching back to the normal weighted bat.  This velocity was increased when compared to warming up with a normal and heavier bat under the same circumstances.

What It All Means:
The results may not be what you thought, at least not what I thought anyway.  Seems to be very counter intuitive at first glance.  We could dive deeper into different type of training with weight but we will stay with baseball.  It appears that utilizing the protocol of swinging 5 times with a lighter bat will then increase you bat speed with the normal bat after a 30 second rest.  This challenges (with science) a very long held belief you had to swing a heavier bat to increase normal bat speed velocity.  It appears that is not the case and you can do it swinging lighter, getting a better result and most likely reducing risk of injury when using a heavier bat.  Give it a try, see what you think and don't always accept the status quo.

LINK: Effect of Warm-Up with Different Weighted Bats on Normal Baseball Bat Velocity

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Mobility Monday: Neck Tissues


We've focused on the next quite a big over the last several weeks and for good reason.  When 'text neck' becomes a billable code in the insurance industry it might be time to do something about it.   We have also run into a few athletes over the past several weeks that appear to have disc herniations in their neck.  While that might be the result of a traumatic event that doesn't mean the poor posture over time isn't making the problem worse.


In this Mobility Monday we look at some ideas to help get the neck tissues loosened up and help you on the path to correcting your posture.  Trust us, we need to do this as much as anyone else.

Things It Helps:
-Tight & Sore Necks
-Bad Posture
-'Text Neck' (yep, that is a real thing)

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Friday Food: Roasted Cornish Game Hens

We are always looking to change up the recipes and find something new and this one we looking into paleo, and it happens to be for athletes.  Cornish Game Hens sounded like something you don't do very often but they are a great meal.  High in protein, not too bad on fat and the seasoning you can put on them takes it over the top.  Check this one out for a great meal in the near future.

Ingredients: 

            3 Cornish hens (1 ½ pounds each)
            ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
            2 tsp lemon juice
            ¼ tsp rubbed sage
            ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
            ¼ tsp paprika
            ¼ tsp garlic powder

The Game Plan:

-Preheat oven to 350degF.  
-Remove the skins from the hens and cut the hens in half lengthwise.  
-Place in a shallow glass roasting pan lightly coated in olive oil.  
-Combine the applesauce and remaining ingredients.  
-Brush half over the hens, and set aside the remaining mixture.  
-Bake for 30 minutes.  
-Baste the hens with the reserved applesauce mixture, and bake for 15 to 30 minutes longer, or until done.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Study Spotlight: Effects of Manual Therapy and Exercise Targeting Hips in Patients with Low Back Pain

By: Joel Luedke


I found this one posted from our friends at the Motion Palpation Institute.  We are big believers in mobility work at TAT (see Mobility Monday) and think you can't just treat passively with modalities or just do rehab there has to be a full spectrum of care when addressing pain.  We also think often times we only treat pain as the problem and not the symptom that is being caused by something else (Article: Pain is a Symptom).  This Study Spotlight looks at how back pain can be helped with adding focus to the hips.


What They Did:
A group of 84 subjects with mechanical low back pain were separated into two groups.  One group followed pragmatic rehab for the lumbar spine as has been suggested in the research.  The other group also followed the pragmatic treatment for the lumbar spine but in addition has prescriptive treatment for the bilateral hips.  These hip exercises focused on the gluteal musculature as well as mobilization techniques targeting the hips.  Patients were assessed at baseline, 2 weeks and discharge.

What They Found:
Significant differences in the scales use to measure satisfaction and function were found between the two groups with the group having the added hip work being more satisfied and functional.  This was also seen at discharge from the study.

What It All Means:
Like we mentioned in the introduction we can't just treat the area of pain.  All too often even though there is dysfunction in that area there are also many other things going on that won't allow your body to function how it is meant to.  This study shows that working on strength and mobility of the hips can help stabilize and support your lower back and improve pain to a greater degree than just focusing on the low back. 

Look upstream and downstream and focus on those areas and often times you'll find added relief.  And really, what is it hurting if you are addressing those other areas?


Source Link: Effects of Manual Therapy and Exercise Targeting Hips in Patients with Low Back Pain-A Randomized Controlled Trial

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Collateral Fattening

By: Andrew Jagim

First of all, can we all take a moment to appreciate the clever title of the article (which was used in the original scientific article might I add)?  So what is this term referring to and why should you care? Collateral fattening is a term coined by Dr. Dulloo in a recent review article. In the article, Dr. Dulloo discuss the dynamic relationship between different components of body composition and how they may drive energy intake aka the amount of calories we eat on any given day.  The author discusses specifically how there appears to be a relationship between fat-free mass and one's body fat percentage and collectively this also appears to influence energy intake.  Such that, if someone is increasing fat-free mass it may serve as a signal to increase energy intake to facilitate the increases in lean mass and support the increased metabolically active tissue as evidenced by observed increases in resting metabolic rate following increases in lean mass. 

However, interestingly enough this drive to increase energy intake also appears to occur when there is a reduction in fat-free mass.  This appears to be a result of a feedback signaling pathway which is our body's way of trying to increase energy intake in an attempt to restore the lost fat-free mass. 

The problem is, when we do this, we are more likely to store those additional calories as fat mass rather than fat-free mass thus leading to "Collateral Fattening." Part of the reason is because our daily expenditure is reduced as a result of the lost fat-free mass making us more likely to be in a state of positive energy balance as depicted in the figure to the right.  

So when individuals lose weight, particularly fat-free mass, they are more susceptible to experience subsequent increases in fat mass as they will feel more hungry, leading to an increase in energy intake, and their resting metabolic rate has been lowered. To make matters worse, often times people will gain more body fat than they even started with and "over shoot" their previous body fat levels as their body is still trying to restore fat-free mass.  

Individuals who continually get caught up in weight cycling and intermittent dieting likely are experiencing these feedback loops with subsequent fluctuations in body composition, for the worse unfortunately; something that will just get worse over time unless more focused diet and exercise efforts are implemented.

So how does one prevent collateral fattening? 
If you are someone who is looking to lose weight, try to minimize the amount of lean mass you lose in the process? How, by performing strength training throughout your diet and making sure to eat adequate amounts of protein to preserve lean mass while in a caloric deficit. This will help to minimize reductions in lean mass and minimize reductions in your resting metabolism which ultimately should help to curb hunger cravings and prevent collateral fattening from occurring.


Reference:
Dulloo, A. G. (2017), Collateral fattening: When a deficit in lean body mass drives overeating. Obesity, 25: 277–279. doi:10.1002/oby.21734

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Mobility Monday: The Twin Bowstrings-The Psoas & Scalenes


The title of this video could not be any better.  These are two sets of muscles that carry so much tension in our body compared to what they should.  Have low back pain?  Could be your posture and your psoas taking too much tightness and pulling on your low back.  Sit at a computer all day or always looking down at your phone?  I bet your scalene locked down and the mere thought of working on them can make you cringe.  In this video we take a look at how to start addressing them and unwinding yourself.



Things It Helps:
-Neck Tightness
-Upper Back & Neck pain
-Tight Hips
-Low Back Pain