Category Archives: Sports

Core strength for runners

The following post is prepared by West 4th Physio associate and runner Suzanne Hood 75% of runners get injured every year. Whether your goal is to get faster or just enjoy the sport for life you need to focus on PREVENTION and staying healthy. CORE STRENGTH is critical. Weak muscles are prone to injuries and less resilient to the impact forces of running. Incorporating a core stability program into your routine just 3 x per week can allow you to run more consistently, reach higher weekly mileages safely, endure more challenging … Read the rest of this post »

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Effects of throwing…

This post is prepared by West 4th Physiotherapy associate Peter Francis. Performing any activity repetitively can produce a pattern of tightness and weakness based on the direction of movements and muscles that are active at the joints being moved. Simply put, if you do any activity repetitively and long enough without maintenance you are bound to develop predictable joint ranges of motion. Having a full joint range of motion is important in sport and activity because we need adequate movement to produce force through muscles and then decelerate (slow down) the moving body segment. … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Sports | 1 Comment

Tapering for a half marathon

  This post is prepared by West 4th Physiotherapy associate and runner Suzanne Foster Tapering Tips – Half Marathon Distance 1) Your last long run should be two weeks from race day. This allows the body to fully RECOVER from all those hard earned miles and to reap the physiological benefits of the increased mileage. This run is a great time to practice your fuel/hydration/warm up strategy for the race, what you are going to wear, what are you going to eat the night before the race as well as … Read the rest of this post »

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Downhill running tips for success

 This post is prepared by West 4th Physiotherapy associate and runner Suzanne Foster Don’t Put On The Brakes: Keys to Conquering Running Downhill! If your quadriceps muscles are sore after hilly running, it is probably from the downhill portion.  This is because downhill running requires our thigh and lower leg muscles, to contract “eccentrically” or lengthen as we move down the hill. This can actually cause microtearing within the muscle as eccentric loading uses more force than on uphill or flat terrain. This is more costly from an energy and recovery perspective possibly leading to injuries (IT Band … Read the rest of this post »

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The Joy of Running Hills

This post is prepared by West 4th Physiotherapy associate Suzanne Foster. Read on and enjoy! Nothing brings me more joy during a run or race than seeing a huge hill ahead of me just waiting to be conquered. As someone who has run for 20 plus years, I have avoided speed work like the plague and will find any excuse not to do it! Thus I was pleased to find out that running hills could actually make me faster and could actually be considered a form of speed training  ( http://www.runnersworld.com/for-beginners-only/why-you-need-hills-in-your-running-routine ), … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Running injuries and Prevention, Sports | 2 Comments

Over pronation and motion control shoes

I came across an interesting article recently with yet more research into the role of running shoes in preventing injury. It was done at Luxembourg Institute of Health in 2014 and reported in British Journal of Sports Medicine so is quite current. Participants for study were aged 18 to 65 and numbered 386 which makes for meaningful research. (Beware any study with just a few participants and yet big conclusions). Runners were assigned either neutral or motion control shoes for up to 6 months. 372 runners made the cut for final … Read the rest of this post »

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Patellofemoral arthritis

From West 4th Physiotherapy associate Gretchen Mclennan… Now that we know it is in fact healthy for our knees to keep running (provided we are doing that correctly!), http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/2784  here is some info about an often “forgotten joint” that will hopefully keep us all running and cycling painfree for a long time! Osteoarthritis in the knee is something most of us are either familiar with, or at least we’ve heard about it in some respect. But most of us think of OA happening at the main knee joint. This is … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Cycling, Cycling injuries and prevention, Knee, Running injuries and Prevention, Sports | 1 Comment

Cycling knee injuries

Pop quiz. Which two areas of the body will a cyclist most frequently injure? If you went straight to low back and knees then full marks. Low back pain is more frequent but tends to recover more quickly. Knee pain last longer so if it was a competition I suppose knees take it. The majority of cyclists with knee pain will have a version of patellofemoral pain. The leading causes for irritating this incredibly efficient joint are • Improper bikefit • Early season overuse • Hip/pelvis muscle imbalance Any combination … Read the rest of this post »

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Running and your knees

From West 4th Physiotherapy associate and runner Dee Malinsky   “Running will wear your knees out” It is something of a popular opinion for non runners to share with their running friends.  The last couple of posts dealt with the impact on the body of running surfaces. You can quickly review them here. http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/2780 – Running roads and trails http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/2767 – Running on concrete But what does the evidence show for the long term effect of running on knee joints? Here are three happy (for runners) conclusions from recent studies/scientific reviews, all of … Read the rest of this post »

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Running on concrete

  From West 4th Physiotherapy Associate and active runner Dee Malinsky I get numerous questions in the clinic, relating to running and injury. A common one is • Is it bad to run on concrete? When discussing overuse running injuries, there are 3 possible causes to consider: (1) intrinsic: faulty biomechanics, muscle dysfunction & tissue frailty (2) mechanical: training errors (eg. change in load, repetition & range) (3) extrinsic: running shoes & ground surface Running on concrete involves all 3 factors but especially the 3rd Research shows that, in comparison … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Running injuries and Prevention, Sports | 2 Comments

Stretching. Are there any real benefits?

From West 4th Physiotherapy associate Dee Malinsky Stretching (The Truth) In a recent course my colleagues and I attended, entitled “New Trends in the Prevention of Running Injuries,” Jean Francois Esculier discussed an ongoing and pertinent topic in the field of running, and one which directly relates to a question I am asked frequently in the clinic: Is stretching a good thing? Are there any real benefits? Jean eased into the discussion by reviewing the current best evidence: 1. Stretching does NOT increase muscle temperature. 2. Stretching does NOT prevent … Read the rest of this post »

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Choosing running shoes…minimalist or traditional?

From West 4th Physiotherapy associate Dee Malinsky… RUNNING into difficulty: choosing running shoes. With running shoe companies pushing for simple racing flats (with the dawn of the running boom) in the 70s, to increased cushioning (air, gel & torsion control) with associated variation and marketability in the 1980s-2000, followed by a push toward minimalism in the early 2010s…we often find ourselves in a whirlwind of information, in limbo between fashion/market trends and straight forward scientific evidence. Ask yourself the following series of questions to help you with choosing running shoes and … Read the rest of this post »

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