Hey everyone, I was about to go for a run today and I thought of the idea of highlighting some of repeated-end range exercises that I have mentioned in some of my recent posts. Today I will show you two of them that I do try to do before every one of my runs. I learned these from Dr. Erson of TheManualTherapist.com so I can't take credit for thinking of them! I must say that incorporating these two exercises has helped me resolve any lingering heel stiffness/pain that I previously had.
It is very easy to find out if these will do anything for you by giving them a try and checking your mobility to see if benefit from them. If you do, great! If not, you might want to try some soft tissue to assist you reach your true end range or maybe just find something that does work for you!
I am back in my hometown for my little sister’s wedding this weekend. Yesterday, my dad spent the day preparing and setting up for the wedding. He was lifting and carrying around a lot of awkward and heavy objects for most of the day. This morning my dad awoke with debilitating neck pain with radiating pain down into his right shoulder. His neck mobility was very poor with limited rotation and side bending to the right.
A year ago, I may have suggested Tylenol, Ice, Rest and perhaps some slight stretching. If I had access to modalities I may have wanted to use electrical stimulation to help control his pain. This was the type of neck pain that would have sent him running to the chiropractor’s office in the past.
Recently, I have been working to incorporate a lot of stuff that I have learned from my OMPT Channel subscription from The Manual Therapist and from the content on his blog as well. If any of you are regular readers of my blog you probably know this little fact already. One of the biggest things that I have learned about is how a large portion of injuries or pain fall into a “rapid response” sort of category. Specifically, this means that there was a good chance that I would be able to make significant and quick changes with my father’s neck pain.
Another concept that I learned and have written about previously is the use of repeated-end range joint loading. This is done into the direction of preference to increase function, centralize pain and improve mobility. This was a concept I used to produce rapid changes in my dad’s neck pain this morning.
Specifically, I did some very light Instrument-Assisted Soft Tisse Mobilization (IASTM) to the right side of my dad’s neck. I followed specific tissue patterns that I learned in the subscription section of the OMPT channel from Dr. Erson but he has some related videos for free on YouTube. I spent 3-4 minutes working these patterns with the goal of helping my dad reach his end-range. After the light tissue IASTM I showed my dad how to do repeated side bending to the right (side of unilateral pain) and cervical retraction as well. I had him do about 2 sets of 12-15 of each of these repeated movements.
Once or twice I had to stop him and help him reach his end-range more effectively. After he finished, the shoulder pain had centralized and his neck rotation and side bending was now normal. These effects are transient so I gave him instructions on how he would need to repeat these exercises for 10-12 reps once a hour. He gave me a look of incredulity but about an hour and a half later while trying on our tuxedos his neck stiffness started to return.
Well, today is national running day here in the US so I hope you all get a chance to get a run in! Today's post goes back to a personal event from about three weeks ago...
I work at a small private college as a certified athletic trainer and I was covering some end of the year practices for the football team as they prepared to go on an overseas trip. Like many football fields, there was a track around the outside perimeter and the public would use this to run laps during the day and even during practice.
In the midst of a lull during practice I looked up and noticed a college-aged male running laps with form resembling that of the "Don't Be That Awkward Runner" video from YouTube. I watched him run a few laps in horror. He carried his arms completely extended and at his waist, had a major crossover gait (meaning that both feet ran on one straight line and there was no distance between potential foot prints in a medial/lateral fashion), and he was running directly on his toes without letting his heel touch the ground.
Kefir and Kombucha are fermented drinks and are packed full of probiotics or "beneficial" bacteria for your body. Both of these drinks have seen big increases in popularity in the last few years in the United States, despite being a long time staple for many cultures around the world. Chris Kresser wrote a great article about kefir and highlighted many of its benefits here. Richard Nikoley, author of "Free the Animal: how to lose weight and fat on the Paleo diet" is also crazy about Kombucha and Kefir and had an extensive blog series about his experiment with a raw milk kefir diet.
Even though these drinks are not "perfectly" paleo they are still gaining popularity as of late within the paleosphere. I would attribute this to several different factors. First, the paleosphere is hip to the importance of a healthy gut biota which probiotics can help establish. Secondly, the fermentation process of kefir eliminates something like 99% of the lactose in milk which makes it much more paleo-friendly.
Also, we are all different and there is no one "best" diet that fits all of us. Dairy is actually tolerated by a lot of individuals. Anecdotally, many are finding that a paleo and/or gluten-eliminating diet has helped fix their intolerance to dairy. I attribute this to helping with issues like endotoxemia or a "leaky" gut and increasing the amount of gut bacteria that can produce lactase. Lactase is an enzyme that digests lactose which is missing in those that are lactose intolerant. These are some reasons why there is an acceptance of dairy by paleo dieters.
So you read yesterday's post by Tony Cukierski, ATC, HHP about eating seasonally and you thought it sounded like a logical argument and a healthy habit to work into your dietary lifestyle. Now you want fresh in season food and you may have also read my first guest post by Jordan Anderson, ATC and now you know about supporting your local farmers with CSA farm-shares.
The girlfriend and I scored this catch of fresh produce last weekend.
However, you might be in a situation like myself and find yourself unable to bear the upfront investment cost of subscribing to farm-shares. Maybe you are unfortunate enough to live somewhere that farm-share subscriptions are unavailable. Don't fret! There is another alternative and that would be your local farmer's market.
"It's been a while since my last blog post due because I've been busy with my thesis but today we have the honor of having another guest post. Today's post is written by Tony Cukierski, ATC, HHP. Tony is a good friend of my last guest post author and is a personal acquaintance of my own as well. Tony is a certified health counselor and helps individuals through positive dietary and lifestyle changes. He is a certified Holistic Health Practitioner by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners and he also attended and graduated from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Tony started his education at Northern Illinois University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and is a Certified Athletic Trainer. Tony has his own website and blog at www.Nourishing4Life.com. Tony founded Nourishing4Life Health & Wellness to better help others with their dietary and lifestyle changes. You can find and follow Nourishing4Life and Tony on twitter as well! His thoughts and post echo a lot of my own values and ideas about nutrition. I hope you enjoy it!"
Eating Seasonally
What is it?—Eating seasonally is exactly
what it sounds like—eating foods that are available or ripe during a season of
year in your geographical region. Many years ago people didn’t know what eating
seasonally was; they just ate foods that were available to them in their
geographical region for that time of year. A wonderful excerpt from Joshua
Rosenthal’s book Integrative Nutrition
that elaborates, “Our ancestors ate seasonally because they had no choice.
Fresh greens grew in spring, fruit ripened in summer, root vegetables kept them
going in fall, and people relied on animal food to get them through the
winter.” This is truly seasonal eating. Understanding this concept is
beneficial in achieving good health and sustaining a healthy environment.
I was asked a very innocent and nonchalant question the
other day. The question was produced by a little small talk but in reality it was
a deep question. The answer to this question has many parts or layers and many
different but viable responses. I realized that the response that I would give
is dependent upon time.
I wasn’t always a runner or a fan of running. I label the
younger or adolescent version of myself as the stereotypical fat or chubby kid.
I dreaded the mile run for gym class in elementary school and one day I even
faked sick so I could stay at home and not participate in the perceived
torture.
I definitely was a stereotypical fat kid.
I didn’t get into running until my sophomore year of college
when I worked with cross country and track athletes during my second clinical
rotation as an athletic training student. My interests in endurance sports had
begun to develop as I had taken up cycling as a recreational and fitness hobby
before the start of college. I would assist my preceptor in evaluating and
treating these athletes and would be amazed at the durations of their runs. I
was shocked but inspired at the same time that people could run for 60-90-120
minutes without struggle and do it several times a week.
Sufficient hip extension is vital for proper running gait, form, posture and efficiency. Inhibited or restricted hip extension in running can result in:
Over-striding
Decreased running economy
Poor movement patterns
Potential risk for injury and/or compensation up and down the kinetic chain
The Gluteus Maximus is the primary hip extensor and the strongest muscle in the body. It is hypothesized that our massive glute max relative to other primates is due to an evolutionary adaptation. This allowed better bipedal locomotion and enhanced our running ability. Proper activation of the glute max and hip extension motion is needed for most primitive and basic movement patterns, especially skills requiring power. This is evident in many basic power skills such as:
Squatting/Deadlifting
Sprinting/Running
Throwing
Punching
Jumping
Bridging of the hips
Swinging an object like a club, baseball bat or golf club.
Limitations in hip extension or gluteus maximus activation can also affect static postures like standing by influencing pelvic tilt, motor control activation strategies, lumbar curve and ultimately the body's center of gravity. For more reasons on why "running is all in the hips", see James Dunne's great post, here.
I have been following Dr. Erson Religioso's blog, The Manual Therapist, for quite some time now. I also recently subscribed to his OMPT Channel section where I have learned quite a few evaluation and treatment techniques to add to my arsenal. Dr. E has training in a plethora of different schools of thought and one of them is the Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy or MDT for short. Part of his MDT skill-set is a various amount of techniques that he refers to as "resets". He often uses them as part of his evaluation, treatment and home exercise programs. I hope I am saying all of this accurately, at least. Here is a couple videos of Dr. Erson Religioso III, DPT, FAAOMPT explaining the what, why and how related to these resets.
This is Dr. E's video highlighting the his favorite resets, and why they work.
An updated but longer video for Dr. E's favorite resets.
The Toe Pain:
I am currently pursuing a post-professional graduate degree so that means I am still a student (will be one for life) and that I still have finals. A couple Monday’s ago I was sitting around with a few of my classmates while waiting to take a final practical exam. One classmate mentioned that she had a very painful big toe on her right foot. She had been suffering this pain for a day or two since walking around Chicago the entire weekend while wearing ill-fitting footwear. She had only had the pain on one side without any direct MOI besides gradual onset related to the shoes and walking. She had pain with great toe extension when toeing-off in her gait cycle.
Dr. E’s videos had been on my mind and I was curious if his resets would really work because they were a foreign concept related to anything I had been taught. I had the idea of doing repeated-end range flexion of the great toe for about 20 repetitions and I asked her if she minded trying out the experiment. She obliged and we went to town with the repeated “resets”.
After I finished with the 20 or so repeats I asked her to stand up and walk around. Alas, she had no pain and no other complaints appeared. I told her that there was a chance that this would be a transient effect and that she may need to repeat this exercise about 10 times every hour. However, her pain never returned that day and hasn’t to date. I believe a week later when I inquired about her toe she mentioned that my “voodoo” had fixed the issue for good. While I don’t think I was doing any magic or voodoo I do think this highlights some merit to these resets on an n=1 level. Half of evidence-based practice is clinical experience and so far my “clinical” experience has been great; although I do wish I had some more extensive training or knowledge about MDT. I was impressed enough with these results that I tried using the repeated ankle plantar flexion reset for my girlfriend’s aunt who has had years of constant heel pain. This was just an offhand encounter at Mother’s Day brunch but it immediately took her symptoms from a wince-inducing 8/10 to a 4/10. I gave her instructions to continue these as a self-empowering home exercise and I hope she sticks to them. I really want to see how she progresses.
Conclusion:
My conclusion about these resets so far is that I like them but I don’t see them as a replacement to my current clinical skill set. I see them as being another tool and a great way to put responsibility into the hands of the patient. I understand the theory and concept as explained by Dr. Religioso. However, I definitely feel and want to learn more about this stuff before it starts to become a mainstay of my clinical practice.
Today I have the opportunity and pleasure of sharing a guest post by Jordan Anderson, MS, ATC. Jordan is or should I say was a classmate of mine at Illinois State University and is actually graduating this weekend with his Master's in Athletic Training! Congratulations! He is just as passionate about food, running and sports medicine as I am and it shows in his writing. You can find Jordan on Twitter or Google+. This was a great post and I can't wait to see and hear more from Jordan in the future.
Support Your Local Farms!
(and yourself)
As most of you know now because of the news and various other outlets, our food has become riddled with growth hormones, pesticides, preservatives, and other unnatural substances. Sure, this makes most produce look, feel, and sometimes even taste better. All of these things have been developed over many years by bioengineers and has become the norm. These additives are true of both meat and produce. Some recent literature is linking these additives to metabolic disease and the components of such. Not only do these things contribute to the problem, but also the food that animals are fed before they are processed for sale to us plays an even bigger role.
For instance, many beef cattle are fed a combination of grains, animal bi-product, and given growth hormones. This combination makes it inexpensive for large farms to feed their cattle but also produce HUGE amounts of food. The problem is inherent, cattle are not meant to consume these things. Cattle are grazers and survive off of local vegetation, mostly grass.This is where the term “grass fed” comes from when purchasing beef.
The same also applies to eggs and chicken. Chickens that are “cage free” are able to roam the land and search out their natural diet which includes things like insects, vegetation, and fruits. However, some companies will trick consumers into labeling a chicken or eggs with “all-natural” fed with an all grain diet. This is obviously NOT a chicken’s natural choice for food.This all-grain diet taints the chicken’s meat and their eggs.
Eggs are nature’s perfect food when the chickens that produce them eat their natural diet.Yolks are especially high in essential Omega-3 and low in Omega-6 fatty acids, and do not contain much LDL lipoproteins (bad cholesterol, except for the big fluffy molecules which can be protective) and also contains HDL (good cholesterol, it exists!), but when these chickens are fed all grain diets, these things are not as prevalent and higher proportions of LDL and omega-6 fatty acids are found. This gives eggs a bad name when in reality they are great foods.
So the ultimate question remains. What can we do about this, where can I find these non-modernized foods and go back to the way these plants and animals were meant to be eaten?? And where on earth can I find them for a reasonable price?
Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links on this blog are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I have used all of these products listed and recommend them because they are helpful and are products from companies that I trust, not because of the commissions that I may earn from you using these products.
Caution
All content on this blog is meant as instructional and educational. The author and guest authors of this blog are not responsible for any harm or injury that may result. Always consult a physician or another proper medical professional for medical advice.
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