Blog Post

 Entering the bridle trail

The Bridle trail gets a little messy

So, who's up for a run as long as you can race? Happening in my neighborhood. The Wings for life world run, a charity event to run for those who can't. http://www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/en/locations/oeland/facts/#map-202

From the web page: "100% of the proceeds from the event will go to the Wings for Life foundation, which funds research into curing spinal cord injury. The run will unite athletes around the world, in one race running for those who can’t!"

So, I'm thinking: might be I nice start of next year's season. And if my running can make someone elses life better, well there's a nice catch to that. Anyone else in? If you can't come to my neighborhood, maybe somewhere else in the world? There are 35 locations to sign up for and we all run at the same time :)

In my last post I told you I was waiting for snow, and you know what. I'm still waiting although we had a blizzard for one day, but that snow cleared away quite quickly. Did a 10+ mile run in the blizzard. Wasn't mean't to go IN the blizzard but it arrived so quickly that I ended up right in the middle of it. No worries though as I was running in civilized areas. Since, the temperature has dropped to 26 F and been like that for a week with a freezing wind (as I live on an island it's always windy). So I have had to adjust my gear for colder temperatures.

It's a great feeling to get out for a run independent of the weather (as long as you are prepared and don't go out beeing stuborn and stupid, mother nature can be harsh...). After the blizzard run I felt stronger.

That's all for now

Regards

David 

I really wanted a more clever title but the name sort of says it all.  I'm not entirely sure where to begin, except to say that I finished the race and that's an accomplishment. Yes, it took me longer than I had planned but I learned a lot and just have to keep reminding myself that patience is a virtue and that I just need to keep training and running and trying!

Anyway--here's a brief rundown of the race.  

The trail was COVERED in 10-11" of snow.  Powdery, beautiful, deep snow.  Which made for some amazing scenery and views from the tops of the hills--but boy did it make the actual running part hard. 

The volunteers were amazing and supporting and really helped us get through the race. I can't begin to express how much they meant to me as I was out there today. Truly great folks. The aid stations were stocked with great food, aspirin, handwarmers, tissues, every drink imaginable...you name it and they made sure that it was there and available.

The PsychoWyco has been going on for several years now and it consists of a 10 miler, a 20 miler and a 50k.  It's done in laps, which means that us on the 10 mile run get to see some of the distance runners as they bound past us.  I saw several of those folks today as I slogged my way up the hills and through the snow on my way towards the finish.  They were all so supportive!  At one point, myself and another guy who was running the 50k were walking up the same hill--I told him he could pass me anytime he wanted and he simply said "hey man, I'm walking up this hill too, so no worries". 

It struck me pretty hard in that moment (I was tired and cold and really battling my inner demons at that point)--but it dawned on me that, for those few minutes, there was no real difference between he and I.  We were both just runners out doing what we do, in some intense trail conditions, walking up the same hill.  And yes he was there to do three laps to my one, and yes he was in better shape and has gobs of experience on me, but for that split second--I could see myself being THAT guy.

Little moments of humility and humanity can really change your perspective on a situation and yourself.

Overall the consensus is that these were some of the gnarliest trail conditions people had seen--to the tune that one of the 50k runners got frostbite on four toes! 

As for the trails and the run organization itself--you couldn't ask for a better, more challenging yet fun course I don't think.  The folks at TrailNerds put on a great run every event that they do--everything from the awesome tech hoodies,coffee mugs, tasty food and finishers medals that they offer to the course organization, aid stations and overall "event" that they host.

Technically speaking, the hills on this particular trail set are pretty crazy.  They are steep, long and aggressive.  Personally speaking, I think I would take the snow conditions of today over mud but I have nothing to really compare to so I could be crazy. 0_o 

I run in Merrell Pace Gloves and had searched all over the KC Metro area last night for YakTrax for traction assistance...no luck.  I got to the race and they were able to screw some parts of my shoes, however.   Somewhere around mile 3 I could definitely feel one of them poking through to my foot, but by mile 5 my feet had gone numb and the adrenaline kicked in so I left it there.  I figured I'd rather have the traction and deal with the pricking than end up a snowball.  It was a good decision, I have a slightly sore pinky toe but the traction was amazing. 

Going into the race I had some serious doubts about being able to finish--I have been training and things were going great, until the Psychodelic 5k two weeks ago.  I ran that (which was an out-and-back tour of the last three big hills of the PsychoWyco) and I guess I got a little ambitious/hyper on the downhills.  I managed to bruise/aggravate something in my right knee and, towards the beginning of the week, thought I really wouldn't be able to run today at all.  It was sore, hot to the touch and a little swollen. 

I opted to take the two weeks leading up to today off of running and lifting and went for some swims, walks and did a lot of Yoga to keep me moving.  When I woke up this morning I felt pretty good but knew that I would have to take it easy on the downhills.  (Downhill running technique on this type of terrain is something I want to work on in the coming months for sure!)

I did find the Sports Chiro at the race this morning and asked him about my knee--he put me through a quick round of Active Release Therapy and it seemed to help.  I made it through the race and overall, things feel pretty good.  

This race taught me a lot about myself and my "race mentality", I think.  I should have broken away from the pack earlier than I did instead of holding back and spent less time at the mile 5 aid station.  I did waste quite a bit of time at the 8.2 mile aid station but they had a campfire going and the idea of thawing my toes out for just a few minutes trumped my desire to finish sooner so, ya know...small pleasures (c:

I am already looking forward to next year and all of the opportunities between now and then to run more trails, set more goals and learn/hone some techniques and skills.

For now--I am going to crawl into my warm bed and enjoy the fact that I don't have to go to work tomorrow.  There may be lots of indulgent Olympics watching and coffee drinking on my couch...I figure I've earned that much just for finishing the thing.

I'm sorry if this race report is a little scattered--I'll try to come back and clean it up when I've had some sleep!  (c:

Happy running!

I have two other blogs that I write at the moment and it seems like they have all been focused, in one way or another, on the idea of the Mental Game...the thing that keeps you motivated and can shoot you down the fastest, the creature that lives in your head...we all know how it goes.

There's always this moment of bliss for me when I start something new, before the accomplishments/goals/expectations can hit..when I'm just doing something that I've never done before and I'm in that testing zone...all doors are open, all things are possible and idea that I can "fail" isn't really there because I don't even know if I'm going to like the thing I'm trying or have any interest in pursuing it, or whatever.

I want to live my life in that stage with all things--I want to learn how to train myself to keep my options open and keep the idea of failure out of it.  More specifically, I'd like to find a way to come to peace with the little demon that lives in my head that gets sick of running before my physical self is sick of running.

This has been the battle the past few runs--I'm going along and everything is fine and then mentally, I just quit...and the rest of the run isn't very enjoyable and it's nowhere near what I could or have done because I'm just not plugged in mentally.  It's really frustrating.  I have been overworked and stressed out lately and I keep turning to my physical activities as a good way to center myself and find some "me time"...and it's been working for the most part--except when I just totally lose focus and have to fight my way through the allotted amount of time I've scheduled for my run or my yoga class or whatever.

I feel like fighting through it is better than just giving up on and letting my brain win--I tend to adhere to the philosophy that says my Motivation/Spirit is just a big muscle that needs to be stressed and worked out and pushed so that it becomes what we know it can be...but boy does it fight back hard!

So, I've got a run planned for my lunch break today and we're going to see how it goes.  It comes back to that whole "ask nothing from your running" line from Born to Run...I'm just going to run.  I'm going to run until my body says stop and if my mind tries to interfere, well..hopefully it doesn't win the day.

I've also found that a good way to shut my Motivation up is to buy a shiny new pair of shoes hehe...so perhaps before lunch I will do that...the vibrams are getting worn out (I have a hole in the toe! w00t!)  (c:

I'm excited--and I can't seem to stop being excited.  I ran the 5k eeeaaarly (for me, ya'll runners are perky ones at 7am on a brisk Spring morning!) on Saturday morning.  My expectations were tempered:  I knew that physically I could run the mileage, I was worried about mentally though.  Could I not talk myself out of doing well, could I avoid getting defeated by the other, faster, more experienced, runners? 

The answer turned out to be yes, I can.  I ran my own race, I picked a faster runner and stayed with them mostly until she ran away from me at the end. Hehe.  That's experience talking, I think.

I came in 187/668 runners overall.  11/77 in my division and 55/377 female runners.  My final time was 28:28:08.  That's what really got me excited.  I was pretty sure I was going to be right at a 10 minute mile, which isn't what I wanted but sort of what I expected.  And I was wrong.  Which can be really nice (c:

Now I want to go do it again, only faster hehe.

The best news, however, is that while my calves hate me and I'm sore and I literally went home and went to sleep for three hours after the race (can we say adrenaline rush?) and all of those things...no IT problems!  None.  Not even a twinge!  That was the bigger, cosmic goal-run this thing without a peep from that ridiculous fascia.

Success.  (c:

Hmm...there's an awesome trail run 5k in Lawrence on May 5th that I might have to go try now...I had to sit out on it last year because of running like a drunken bear...maybe I can get it this year.  I'm going to aim for moderation and see how it all feels between now and then.  But it sure would be cool.

The Destructo Puppy was running free again this morning. I found her tormenting the elderly corgi from the other side of the fence with her freedom. Realizing that it was the second time that she escaped this morning alone (never mind the previous days before that), there seemed to be only one thing to do with all of that excess energy, so I grabbed a leash and away we went (much to the corgi's relief). Along the way, I taught her how to drink from an opened water bottle because it was already hot, but along the way she told me the following:

1. That thing on your wrist is little more than a collar for humans if you're paying more attention to that than the path ahead of you. 

2. You see how I sometimes stop to sniff something cool or slow to a walk when I'm feeling like I need to catch my breath? Yeah, maybe you should do that too once in a while and stop worrying so much about that collar on  your wrist. You'll breathe better and stop worrying drivers with that red face of yours as they go by.

3. It's funny how your form gets better when we speed up and stop worrying, isn't it?

4. There's always time for belly rubs. For humans as well as dogs.

5. SQUIRREL! Sorry, I couldn't resist.

In the six months that she's been a part of my life, I wonder sometimes who has been teaching whom. I brought her to obedience class a couple of months ago (for both of our sakes- and my sanity), but she gets me thinking out on the roads and trails all the time now.

The year has, like other years past, not gone according to plan. I have fallen off of the running wagon yet again, and am slowly ambling back on. It hasn't entirely been due to a matter of willpower, however. I learned a couple of months ago that I have SLE (lupus) and RA. That explains a lot, and yet I quietly vow not to let them run me over (no pun intended). So I am on week 5 of the old standby that I have come to know so well: the Couch to 5K plan.

I honestly thought that I would be running in Tulsa this month. However, I realize now that it may have been for the best. Daytime temps have been in the triple digits for the past month with no end in sight. That has led to concerns about buying hay, how to pace myself when I take the dogs along for a run, and so on (and we won't even go into what it's like on the "bad days"). But I still go out there in my two year old huaraches, three days a week. Maybe I will make it to the Route 66 Marathon this year. Maybe I won't. I've been thinking about 24 the Hard Way too... just not all 24 hours of it. I can make it there. I just have to keep running. 

I have been re-reading bits of "Born to Run" for inspiration, and Jenn Shelton's statement about why she really runs ultras still resonates with me today. I am not at all gifted at running like she is. I have yet to feel "flow" when I run (it's harder to do with two ornery dogs on a leash I have learned, trust me), but the hope that ultras will make me a "better, more peaceful person" is still there. Would it be easier to have humans to run with? Maybe. I have gotten so used to having to do it all on my own, however, that I don't even worry about trying to find a running club to be a part of anymore. I have been researching Sikhism and going over my books on Zen and shamanism. Trying to find that link between the spiritual and the mundane seems to come about through doing, and seems to express itself best in pursuits such as long-distance running and yoga. 

That is what I am thinking about tonight when I should be sleeping. But the answer seems to be coming slowly into focus after stumbling around half-blind in the darkness.

Chris had been experiencing some groin issues during the last week or so and during this run he had me look at his run stride and technique.  I noticed that he was getting "lazy" with his leg lift or what I call knee drive.  This was the same leg he was experiencing the groin pain, so I had him visualize or imagine he had to step over a log each time he took a running step.  The faster he ran, the larger the log, the slower he ran, the smaller the log.  We practiced this for the remainder of the run and his groin pain vanished - which was really a hip flexor issue from swinging his leg on each step rather than lifting it (over the log) properly.

More recently, I have been experiencing slight tightness in my upper hamstring attachment and hip flexor of my dominant right leg.  I was writing this off to too much time spent sitting and catching up on my coaching computer work.  But on today's trail run I decided to spend some time focusing on this with my own technique.  Since this is my dominant leg, my good form awareness always shifts to my left leg and I noticed that my left leg was near perfect.  This is pretty common, to have better form with our weaker or less dominant side or limb.  I was a switch hitter in baseball and my left swing was always better than my right, but I had more power on the right side.  So in discovering that I too had gotten lazy with my right leg knee drive, I focused on this during my 30 minute threshold trail run today and what do you know - my tightness released in both the hamstring and hip flexor.

So inspect my video at the 2:00 mark to understand how the knee drive helps promote stance leg stabilization, allowing the hip flexor to do it's job of lifting the leg and NOT act as a stabilizer - that is the job of the glute medius.  If we do not lift that leg, the hip flexor will be recruited to do more work as a stabilizer, over working it, causing tightness.

And then focus on the 3:19 mark of the video to see how imagining stepping over a log might help with proper knee drive.  Keep in mind that your knee drive height is relative to your speed.  The faster you run the higher the knee and the slower you run the lower your knee will be.  BUT the biomechanics and mindset if lifting the leg stay the same.

Why you lose it
One of the reasons your body is so special is its ability to heal itself. Within your fascial tissueare cells that create fascial adhesions around an injury to provide extra stability and restrict painful movement while the damaged tissue is repaired. The restricted movement is just enough to facilitate the healing process while at the same time allowing you some freedom to move. In the ancient world where the human body was forged, this healing process took place over the course of a few days or weeks.  Movement was a necessary and key factor in the healing process. Early man did not have the luxury to spend a few days in bed to fully recover. He had to move to survive, and so he had to heal while moving, which is why this process of building fascial adhesions is so special. Movement works in unison with the circulatory system as a secondary mechanical pump and flushes the injured tissue with fresh blood. This flush of blood flow removes waste by-products, brings in fresh nutrients and speeds up the healing process dramatically. As the injured area recovers, the body once again is able to utilize full, pain free, movement patterns that completely break down the fascial adhesions.

Today we have a problem: we no longer live in that ancient world. Our cultural landscape has dramatically changed our lifestyle over the past 100 years – especially in the last 20. Instead of hunting, gathering, and harvesting our food, utilizing our body in daily acts of survival, we spend most of our time sitting, in front of a computer or in a car. Compared to a mere couple hundred years ago, the lifestyle of even the most active person in any industrialized country today would be considered relatively sedentary.

When you do not get adequate functional movement, you no longer put your mechanical pump to use.  This slows down the healing process as restrictive adhesionsdo not get broken down. Instead, lack of movement communicates to your body that you are still injured and so it continues to build up even more adhesions to further stabilize and restrict motion around the supposedly injured areas. Over time, thesefascial adhesions become so thick and strong that you permanently lose your full range of motion and function. Examples are: losing the ability to fully turn your head in one or both directions to see behind yourself while walking or driving; the ability to raise your arms fully over your head while maintaining a stable spine and scapula; the ability to do a deep squat with your feet flat on the floor; the ability to walk, run or sprint without pain. Without enough functional movement your body assumes you are in a continual state of injury. Eventually this becomes a full-time reality. This is the primary reason that I find deep tissue massage therapy, such as myofascial release, to be so important. I can manually break down fascial adhesions and increase functional range of motion.  I can prime the mechanical pump, facilitating waste product removal and nutrient delivery back into the tissue. In essence this removes years of fascial buildup and facilitates a speedy return to functional movement.

Not Just Any Movement, What you need is Functional Movement
A sedentary lifestyle means we do not use our bodies the way a human body was designed to move. This has become the reality of our lives.  On a daily basis, we fail to utilize the vast array of movement patterns that are possible.  Plus the intensity of our movements has softened. All kinds of technologies have made our lives much easier in most regards.  This means that we must go out of our way to move our body the way it must functionally move.

Functional movement training is vital. You cannot not get the movement your body needs to maintain pain-free health and vitality by sitting in front of a computer. You must move. I am not talking about the traditional types of exercises that are likely coming to your mind. I’m not talking about running for hours on end on pavement in a straight line.  I’m not talking about lifting weights while sitting on a nice cushioned bench or using a machine. Your body needs functional movement. It needs to move the way it was designed to move. Running and traditional weight training are small portion of functional training and tend to be overly repetitious in very specific movement patterns.  They do not utilize the postural stabilization and functional movement patterns your body craves. To your body not using a functional movement pattern is almost the same as not moving. And as I said earlier, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Even if you run or lift weights 7 days a week, if you do not lift your arm over your head, over time you will lose the ability to do so. Your body recognizes this as an injury and begins the healing process discussed above, but now to your detriment.

What is Functional Movement?
My definition is simple.  You have a body for a reason.  Functional movement is what happens when you use your body to meet all of its designed purposes: flexing, extending, pulling, pushing, rotating, changing directions, running, walking, jumping, sprinting and climbing. If you are designed to do it, then use your body to do it.  If you don’t, you will eventually lose your ability to do it, which will lead to a higher risk ofchronic pain and injury in your life.

As a personal trainer and deep tissue massage therapist, my entire focus is on functional movement – no exceptions. From the start we make sure you have pain free, functional range of motion with a stable posture. We make use of deep tissue massage, flexibility and corrective exercises (you can see examples of corrective exercises here, here and here) to open up your neck, chest, and shoulders so you can turn your neck to check your blind spot, or lift a box overhead without pain or injury.  We increase flexibility in your hips so you can easily squat deeply without knee or back pain.  We get you to walk and run comfortably again – no more dread of a painful trip up the stairs, to the mailbox, or to the car.

Once your functional range of motion and postural stability are improved you get to start having some real fun. In these workouts you fine tune this high performance machine that is your body by working it to meet all of its designed purposes. You will sweat, burn calories, build muscle, get stronger, move better, have more energy, become more capable and productive in your life, look better, reduce body fat, reduce stress, pain and injury, and most importantly: you will feel better in your body.

This week is a video blog with how to instructions for temporary relief from common running/walking pains.

For the best results with this quick do it yourself-massage therapy, spend 3-5 minutes massaging the areas described.

It is important to follow up with full body foam rolling techniques as outlined in my blog.

18 days and I'm going to be running an official 5k.  I know it's only 3.1 miles.  I know I've technically already run that far.  But this is the first all-running event I've ever done.  What's more, like so many others out there, at this time last year, if you'd told me I'd be running anything...away from a bear, to the store, around a track...I would have told you you were crazy.  What a difference a book, some discipline, time and the insatiable "what if" curiosity bug can make!  I'm really looking forward to my little run and I'm already setting my sights on the next goal-10k or half here I come!  While I'm on the topic of dreams, I have a crazy idea: I want to compete in the half Ironman in Lawrence, KS in 2013.  It might be a big bite but it's something I've wanted to do forever.  So, as we welcome a hasty Spring and a fast approaching Summer, here's to big dreams and that streak that drives us to get outside and PLAY!

Spend between 3-5 minutes on each side. It is very important that you spend an equal amount of time on both sides and that you work through each of the areas listed to gain the most out of self-myofascial release.

Lie on your side, your arm overhead and foam roller beneath your lats. Massage from the top of the arm to below the shoulder blade. Do not massage in the arm pit area.

Lie on your side, your arm overhead and foam roller beneath the chest. Do not massage in the arm pit area.

Lie on your side, your arm overhead and foam roller beneath the bicep. Do not massage in the arm pit area.

Corrective Exercises for the Shoulder
The following exercises will help regain functional range of motion of the scapula and shoulder.

Scapular Squeeze on Foam Roller 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDyWyH86h64&feature=player_embedded

Press and squeeze the scapula around the foam roller then reach and extend toward the ceiling.  Repeat 20 times.

Reverse Fly on Foam Roller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CHBOSPy98E&feature=player_embedded

Squeeze the scapula around the foam roller as you slowly drop your arms down. Continue to squeeze scapula into the foam roller as you return your arms to the starting position. Repeat 20 times. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3SQyKiXVuo&feature=player_embedded

Get in push-up or plank position (on feet or knees depending on ability level) with your hands directly beneath your chest. Make sure your body is in alignment with your hips level to your shoulders. Without bending your elbows and maintaining plank position, squeeze your shoulder blades together and press back out. Focus on squeezing together at the base of your scapula and not shrugging at your ears.

Last week I demonstrated that the foot is the foundation of your posture (see: Injury Prevention Begins at your Foot). In the article I discussed the role of the feet in providing stability and mobility for the body and gave examples of corrective exercises to build strength, stabilization, and mobility in the foot. Today I will talk about the hips.

If the foot is the foundation of your posture, the hips are the ballast. The hips provide stabilization, counterbalance, and mobility with an incredible range of movements such as squatting, lunging, jumping, running, walking and climbing stairs.

I discussed a couple of weeks ago that we no longer move the way we were designed to move. We spend hours and hours each week sitting: in front of the computer, in our cars, and in front of the television. The position of sitting places the hips in flexion, or a forward bend, and effectively turns off the postural muscles of the lower core. When the postural muscles turn off they no longer provide stabilization of the hips and low back.

Again, going back to a few weeks ago: When it comes to movement and injury prevention, stability is king. Since stability is so important to movement, when your postural muscles lose their ability to function, your body MUST do something about it. When it comes to the hips, your body recruits stability from the gluteals and hip flexors, both movement muscles. The hip flexors and gluteals take over stability control of the pelvis. In doing so, they are weakened, atrophy and lose functional ability as mobile muscles placing greater stress on the hamstrings and low back. This leads to significant reductions in the range of motion of the hips and secondarily to the shoulders, knees, and feet. It also leads to the saggy bottom phenomena which plagues both men and women. Reduced range of motion causes imbalances throughout the body, which ultimately leads to dysfunction, pain, and injury.

The gluteals are especially important when it comes to posture. Remember, the hips are the ballast of the body, with most of the stability and counterbalance generated through the gluteals, and more specifically the gluteus maximus. The gluteus maximus is the most powerful muscle in the body providing the necessary leverage that sets our species apart from all others – the ability to stand up-right. As I mentioned above, sitting causes the gluteals to lose functional ability, which affects our ability to stand with a well developed up-right posture. Turning the gluteals back on is vital to re-establishing a strong stable posture and developing a nice powerfully round bubble butt.

In order to balance your hips, it is important to flip the switch back on in the postural muscles around your pelvis to remind them to provide for stabilization, and to recruit the mobile muscles to do less stabilization and more mobilization. This can be accomplished through the use of deep tissue massage therapy with a focus on the fascial system, self-massage using a foam roller, flexibility training, corrective exercise, functional strength training, and barefoot or minimalist walking and running.

Below are examples of corrective exercises to help establish functional range of motion, stability and mobility of the hips. I recommend performing these (in combination with the exercises in Injury Prevention Begins at your Foot and next weeks blog on the shoulder) 2-3 times a week for 4-8 weeks. This will establish a balanced and stable posture preparing your body for more functional exercise.

Self Myofascial Release Using a Foam Roller
The goal of self-myofascial release is to speed up the healing and recovery process, reduce pain, improve joint range of motion, balance the body, and prevent injury.

Three Point Toe Taps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSRlH2xt4Po

Balancing on one foot, tap your toe in three spots for one minute on each leg.

Hip Bridge

Lie on your back. Drive your elbows and shoulders into the floor, with your heels pulled up close to your glutes.

With your feet flat on the ground, press through your heels, lift your hips up towards the ceiling, and engage your glutes at the top. Hold for 30-60 seconds.

Single Leg Hip Bridge

This is a more challenging progression to the hip bridge.

Bridge or Plank

Lie on your stomach. Place your elbows directly under your shoulders. Push yourself off the floor keeping your hips straight. Focus on keeping your spine lengthened through the top of your head. Beginners: lift your feet up towards the ceiling with your knees on the floor. Intermediate: Lift your knees off the ground with weight through your toes. Hold as long as you can beginning with 10 or 15 and working towards a minute.

Lie on your stomach. Place your elbows directly under your shoulders. Push yourself off the floor keeping your hips straight. Focus on keeping your spine lengthened through the top of your head. Beginners: lift your feet up towards the ceiling with your knees on the floor. Intermediate: Lift your knees off the ground with weight through your toes. Hold as long as you can beginning with 10 or 15 and working towards a minute.

Side Bridge or Plank

Lie on your side, with your elbow directly beneath your shoulder, and feet stacked. Lift your hip off the ground keeping your spine lengthened through the top of your head. Beginners: bend and hold plank position from your knees. Hold as long as you can beginning with 10 or 15 and working towards a minute. Repeat on opposite side.

Lie on your side, with your elbow directly beneath your shoulder, and feet stacked. Lift your hip off the ground keeping your spine lengthened through the top of your head. Beginners: bend and hold plank position from your knees. Hold as long as you can beginning with 10 or 15 and working towards a minute. Repeat on opposite side.

Hip Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9HZ6gZpfiY&feature=related


Same starting position as the hip bridge. Instead of holding the position, you will do presses, raising and lowing your hips off the ground. Make sure to press through the heels of your feet (keeping feet flat), and squeeze through the glutes at the top. 20 repetitions.

Single Leg Hip Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK7-SU-qGTA&feature=related


This is a more challenging progression to the hip press.

Over the past couple of weeks, I talked about What is Posture - the fundamental need for stabilization to provide healthy movement; and You Cannot Control Your Posture - postural control does not come from conscious thought. This brings up an obvious question. How do you train postural control? The answer is by integrating a full body, holistic approach to health and fitness. The program I use with my clients involves deep tissue massage therapy with a focus on the fascial system, self-massage using a foam roller, flexibility training, corrective exercise, functional strength training, and barefoot or minimalist walking and running. In today’s post, I will take you through the first steps (pun intended) of this process.

IT STARTS WITH THE FEET

The feet are your connection to the Earth.  They are the foundation of your posture and the platform from which you move. In Architecture, the foundation of a building provides a base of stabilization that supports the entire structure. A weak foundation leads to collapse. The same is true for your feet, with a very significant difference… you move! Your feet have thechallenging responsibility of providingstrength and stability while maintaining flexibility and mobility to aid in themovement of the entire body structure. Not a simple task!

THE FEET ARE YOUR FOUNDATION

With a strong healthy posture, the body aligns over the feet.  This is what provides the incredible stability from which healthy movement is derived. Just like the foundation of a building must be stable to support walls and a roof, the feet must be stable to support the legs, torso, spine and head. If your feet are weak, they are unstable. This is equivalent to building a house upon a bed of sand. The feet become misaligned and the ankles, knees, hips, back, and shoulders follow. Misalignment creates dysfunctional movement which causes pain and injury. A healthy foot is fundamental to good posture.

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

What should you do if your goal is healthy feet and good posture? Focus on developingstrength, stability and mobility while staying grounded and connected to the Earth. A great way to do this is to take your shoes off. You can read more on why I am an advocate of making the transition to barefoot or minimalist footwear in Free Your Feet, and how shoes affect running and walking gait patterns. But before you toss your shoes and fully convert to a barefoot lifestyle there is an important step you must take. It is vital that you rebuild the strength and stabilization of the muscles of your lower leg and feet – they are likely weak from decades of neglect.

Remember: the feet you walk on are the very foundation of your posture. The healthier your foot care is the better your body will move and feel. Below are exercises to build strength, balance and stability in your feet and lower legs.

The following exercises will help strengthen the intrinsic muscles of your foot and leg, challenge postural muscles, and train your foot and lower leg to stabilize providing healthy movement for your entire body. I recommend doing these exercises two to three times a week for eight to twelve weeks. As your foot gets stronger you can continue to perform these exercises for maintenance on a weekly basis.

SELF-MYOFASCIAL RELEASE USING FOAM ROLLER THERAPY

By performing self-myofascial release techniques using a foam roller or ball, you canreduce trigger points, decrease tissue tension, and break down scar tissue adhesions in injured myofascial tissue (muscle and fascia) formed by a combination of acute trauma, poor posture, repetitive movement, over-training, or inadequate sleep. The goal of self-myofascial release is to speed up the healing and recovery process, reduce pain, improve joint range of motion, balance the body, and prevent injury.

Stand on each foot for one minute. Try to keep the inside ball, outside ball, and heel of the foot in contact with the ground for the entire minute. Do not stabilize with your opposite leg.

Stand on a stability disc with each foot for one minute. Do not stabilize with your opposite leg.

From a seated or standing position, lay a towel on the floor beneath your foot. Using your toes, grab the towel and hold it for a few seconds and release. Repeat 20 times on each foot.

Standing with your forefoot on a platform, press through the ball of your foot lifting your heel as high as you can

Drop our heel. Make sure as you press, you don’t roll to the outside of the foot. Do 2-3 sets of 12-15.

Now that all of the shoe company's are NOW claiming to be experts on barefoot running and making a good run form transition, many in the industry are asking me how my program differs.  Below is one of my recent email responses to this question.  See you on the Naked Tour - E

My approach is to build foot, leg, glute, core strength thru a potent strength program that can take as little as 5 minutes or up to 30 minutes several times per week based on the runners time frame.  The aim here is to strengthen the feet, which in turns creates strength up the leg, thru knee and glute stability, firing the core appropriately.  I also incorporate barefoot running as a way to continue developing foot/leg/glute strength and to help develop better form. These runs are done as recovery runs within the weekly program.  But what everyone is missing is how important it is to develop economy and efficiency.  This is the holy grail for running and improving, whether it be speed, injury, endurance, etc.  Improving strength and run form is just one part of this, as my programs really focus on economy and developing what I call speed-strength and this is done by executing run workouts: sprints, hills, strength intervals, strength endurance run, etc.  I design this based on HR and pacing zones, so the runner is always working within their ability, as most runners don’t run fast enough or slow enough – just somewhere in between.  So this not only improves their run fitness, but develops fat burning efficiency, raw speed improvements, and creates muscle equilibrium throughout the running gait so there is less muscular-skeletal breakdown when endurance or weekly volume is increased.  Most runners are taught to develop a base of long and slow miles FIRST, but I believe you need to develop strength and muscle integrity first and THEN build volume so each step is a “good” step.  If they build volume first without muscle integrity, every step is muscle break down – which was Chris’s problem.  Once I got him strong with appropriate run intensity training, he went from 90 min runs to 5 hours.  Most people never quit running because they are out of breath, they stop because something hurts….but most people take this to mean they should just shuffle or not work on speed-strength, just the opposite. 

All this dysfunction leads to improper muscle firing patterns that lead to issues, IT Band pain, tight hip flexor, PF, poor core and glute activity….my aim is to eliminate this dysfunction with proper form, strength, and run training.  OVERLY tight muscles are a sign of poor muscle firing patterns that lead to muscle overload dominance, which is why stretching may feel good but very rarely eliminates the tightness over time.

“The heel cushions and arch supports within modern shoes have made our feet weaker, the foot has so much support in these shoes that the muscles don’t need to work as much as they would otherwise and have grown weaker … If you transition to barefoot running slowly and run correctly, so you build up to it, you could decrease the risk of injury over the long term.”Science News

I want to return to the discussion of minimalist or barefoot walking and running to stress a point that I may not have made strongly enough about the transition to minimalist or barefoot shoes and the process of changing one’s walking and/or running form.

Please be aware that changing your walking/running mechanics will place new demands upon muscles, joints, and tendons that are weak and unstable due to under use. If you are a habitual barefoot runner or walker, then your body is more prepared to make this transition. For everyone else, plan for the transition away from shod running/walking into minimalist or barefoot running/walking to be very slow.

I definitely do not recommend that you throw your shoes away and go run the same way you have been up until now. Until you develop strength and stabilization in the foot and leg, even half a mile of barefoot running can cause a serious injury which can take months of recovery.

My suggestion is to plan to take between six months up to three years to fully transition into barefoot/minimalist running/walking safely. A very small few can make the transition quicker, but they are taking a very big risk. Far too many people who attempt a quick transition end up injured. Spend the extra time now; it will pay off the rest of your life.

Good indicators that you are doing too much too fast: extreme soreness in the calves, achilles tendon(s), and/or arches; pain on top or beneath the foot; and/or knee and hip pain after you run.

No Pain = Your Gain

My number one goal with my clients is pain-free movement. The feeling ofpain is an indicator of a problem; it is the body’s way of communicating that something is wrong. It is important to listen to this 911 call. Stop what you are doing and utilize the appropriate treatment for the issue before returning to the activity in which you were participating.

By not doing this, you are placing yourself at an increased risk of significant pain and injury. I cannot stress this enough; I consistently see it each week with new clients. Ignoring pain leads to even greater pain.