Running - are you fit enough?

  

 “Movement is understood as a transfer of energy between two directions, up and down, heaven and earth. The most effective centre is empty, available.”

Aline Newton - (Dynamic Body –Exploring Form  Expanding Function – pub: freedom from pain inst 2011 ) author of articles on aspects of movement, biomechanics and psychodynamics – www.alinenewton.com

Running has been a long standing favourite fitness activity for millions of people, and has seen a large upsurge in popularity in the recent economic downturn.

However as more and more people are catching the running bug, more and more people are presenting with overuse injuries.

Running occurs mostly in the Sagittal Plane, it is repetitive and tends to be high impact, and thus many runners fall foul to postural imbalance and injury.

Common running injuries stem from issues with muscle length (flexibility) mobility or strength – Pilates principled Movements or Evolved Movements can be invaluable to the runner if incorporated into their daily fitness regime.

At BODYFIRM Pilates / Fitness studios we offer workshops / private training sessions for runners.

The objective of these workshops/sessions is to offer an injury prevention class that can be taken as part of a group or integrated into a personal routine. (We fully appreciate that the optimum route to take is a movement screen first)

These sessions are structured in 4 distinct but integrated zones.

Zone 1 Flexibility/ Fascial Elasticity - Zone 2 Mobility - Zone 3 Strength - Zone 4 Core alignment

We will approach our workout from the perspective the body is a moving, expressive system. Feel a sense of elegance – avoid jerky movements – avoid repetitive movements add variation in terms of direction / tempo / resistance

Flexibility / Fascial Elasticity thought out the body coupled with joint mobility and shoulder / pelvic balance and stability will feature heavily in this program

Using this approach – our ‘core activation / stabilization’ technique is very important

·         Leave the centre open – a centre that is rigid will hinder movement

·         Start with a slight activation of only the front triangle of the pelvic floor

·         Let the breath flow – whether we are running, singing, or sitting the respiratory diaphragm has to be free to follow the changing needs of respiration

·         Timing – timing for the stabilizer system is important – take time over this area allowing your client an opportunity to develop good technique

·         Brace – not hollow (remember keep the ‘centre open’

Aline Newton - (Dynamic Body –Exploring Form Expanding Function – pub: freedom from pain inst 2011) author of articles on aspects of movement, biomechanics and psychodynamics – www.alinenewton.com

The Pilates Manual – PROGRESSIVE Pilates Academy 2012

There is a lot more to running than putting one foot in the other – the body needs to be able to sustain repetitive movement in a (predominately in a ) single plane – it needs to move with fluidity and with balance (anterior / posterior / left & right).

The “Sitting” Psoas

Have you ever driven for hours – sat for hours – or cycled for hours and found that the transition from sitting to standing to moving was affected by a tightness in your hip flexors, that your ability to walk upright even momentarily was inhibited by 
the long bout of a ‘tightening psoas’

Hours of sitting (repetitive working position) affect the psoas’s ability to extend to its full and natural length - this length allows us to stand in postural alignment and perhaps more importantly allows for hip extension as we walk.

So how many of our clients come to running / fitness following 8 hours of sitting at their jobs (multiply that by days / weeks and years in a repetitive postural position) that further perpetuate the skeletal arrangement of a shortened psoas – then is should come as no surprise that the exercising population has so many psoas – related issues of the lower back, pelvis and hips 

Given the repetitive nature of the sport, running injuries can be very specific and can be caused by either the body’s own intrinsic factors or extrinsic factors

Before we start  – training or running an event regardless of distance, there are some very important questions that should be considered first

Are you fit to run? –

 Is your body structurally and postural sound to run – is your core strong enough – are you fluid and flexible in your current adl’s [activities of daily living] (intrinsic factors that effect running)

When running the body is operating in a closed chain system as the foot comes into contact with the ground – all the forces / mechanics are transmitted along the leg to the spine. Repeated step by step means if anywhere along this chain there is dysfunction / misalignment there is a potential for injury

Is your preparation correct

What is your running or proposed running shoes like – do you have the correct training program – does it include the correct prep and closing phase – is your nutrition / hydration program suitable for what you are about to do (extrinsic factors that effect running)

So are you fit enough to run? 

All sessions and classes are lead by qualified Corrective Exercise / Performance and Pilates Coaches 

Call BODYFIRM Studios at 01 868 4600