Posted 01/30/2012
Lori and Jen just got back from checking out the new 2012 shoes at the Lincoln Running Company. Click Here to see which ones would be the right fit for you!
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Posted January 30, 2012 at 3:36pm by Lori Thomsen.
Tagged With: biomechanics, Cross Training, PRI Concepts, Products, Running • 0 Comments
Posted 06/16/2011
Happy Running!
Lori
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Posted June 16, 2011 at 1:13pm by Lori Thomsen.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
Posted 02/07/2011
Previously I discussed the cruise control mechanism of a car as it relates to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. To understand what might happen if your autonomic nervous system is not working correctly, I will again consider the sympathetic nervous system as the accelerator and the parasympathetic nervous system as the brake. Let’s consider a common scenario of how to regulate the autonomic nervous system.
Imagine pulling your car into your garage, you place the car in park, and you notice that the engine is idling at a faster than normal pace. You perceive that the engine is operating as if you were traveling at a speed of 65 mph, yet you are parked in your garage. It sounds as if your accelerator is stuck! You know that stepping on the brake is of no help since you are already in park. What do you do? You gently press down on the accelerator, the idling speed slightly increases, and then you gently let off the accelerator and “PAUSE” - suddenly your idling speed decreases.
It is important to use management techniques that “quiet” the faster idling speed or high resting level of the autonomic nervous system. Breathing is one way to control the autonomic nervous system with a voluntary action. Imagine that you’re anxious and your engine is idling too fast. Your heart rate and breathing rate increases. One way to re-set your autonomic nervous system is to gently take a breath in and then blow the air out and “PAUSE”. This allows you to re-start the normal respiratory cycle.
Breathing is a rhythmic process, a natural cycle containing two opposing parts. We breathe in cycles, inhaling and exhaling alternately. Without one of these, the other does not exist. What would you do if you had to make a choice between inhaling and exhaling? Breathing is not one or the other. Breathing has to be both--inhalation and exhalation. There are situations in life that we tend to be concerned with, yet we deal with these situations in one way or the other.
As previously stated, the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems have opposite functions. When we are under stress, the sympathetic system raises our heart rate and respiration so that we can either run away from (flight) or “fight” whatever is threatening us. Generally, when the threat is dealt with, the parasympathetic system restores and/or slows down our heart rate and respiration. Breathing is one way to control the autonomic nervous system with a voluntary action.
For example, if you were to continue to press on the accelerator, you would continue to increase your idling speed. Likewise, if you were to continue to breathe in at a faster rate, you would continue to breathe faster and faster. Your body senses the need for more oxygen upon every increasing breath however you have yet been unable to fully exhale the carbon dioxide from the previous breaths. This “PAUSE” allows you stop this cycle and restore the normal breathing rate. In the next blog I will discuss the polarity of breathing.
Questions or comments for Jason? to send him an email.
Posted February 7, 2011 at 9:08am by Jason Masek.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
Posted 09/23/2010
Yea, I know it’s cheesy, but hey it works. With fall comes a little outdoor work, and one of the biggies is raking leaves. In our clinic we try to help patients understand the importance of overcoming right side dominant tendencies which can be seen when you rake. With rare exception, when people rake, they stand with their weight shifted to the right and position the right hip behind the left. Next, we pull the rake in front of ourselves from right to left by rotating through the trunk to the left. Because of the way our bodies are made it is just easier and more natural to do it this way, but it also feeds into a pattern that increases imbalances in our bodies that lead to dysfunction and pain. Therefore, we recommend that you try to change things up by doing just the opposite. Try it. You’ll find it awkward at first, but with some diligence you’ll get the hang of it and likely find you have less back discomfort after you rake this year.
Along with the idea of shifting your weight to the left, positioning the left hip behind the right hip and pulling the rake in front of you to the right, I suggest you also try to use a broom this way, and in a few months try to shovel snow the same way. And if you’re a gardener who will be digging up your garden this fall to prepare for next spring, try to support your weight on your left leg as you push the shovel into the ground with your right foot, then turn the shovel over clockwise with your right hand being closer to the shovel head than the left hand. I hope this helps you experience less discomfort this fall with your outdoor chores.
To email Dave with any questions or comments, !
Posted September 23, 2010 at 9:23am by David Drummer.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
Posted 09/23/2010
My last blog “Do you know how to walk” focused on the importance of heel strike when you walk, and now I would like to further discuss this concept with athletic activities. Of course it varies with the type of athletic activity, but it is rarely advised to play or run on your heels! You will hear coaches say, “get ready”, “up on your toes”, or “game stance”. This is the nature of athletics, being on your heels will slow you down. For instance, in football, you must be ready to go when the ball is snapped. If you are back on your heels you will get beat by your opponent every time. When playing defense in volleyball, you will have trouble moving for the ball if you are sitting back on your heels waiting for the attack. The same is true when playing defense in basketball, and with many other athletic activities.
So, as an athlete, I would recommend that you remember the concept of heel strike when you are walking, and when you are not participating in your respective sport. You typically are only practicing or playing a game for a couple hours per day, and you walk the remainder of the day. In order to help offset the muscles that you use when you are running or jumping on your toes and decrease your likelihood for future injury, be sure to emphasize “heel strike” when you are walking before and after your athletic activities.
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Posted September 23, 2010 at 8:57am by Jennifer Gloystein.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
Posted 08/31/2010
This may sound like a silly question, since we all started walking when we were toddlers, but I find that many of my patients do not know how to walk. Over the weekend, I took a course offered by Ron Hruska and he reminded me and several other therapists’ in the room that many people don’t know how to walk correctly. I see this everyday when I watch my patients walk up and down the hallway. Gait is a term for walking, and there are many phases in the gait cycle. The first phase of walking is heel strike, and many people have poor heel strike on one or both sides when they walk. If you avoid striking your heels while walking, you will alter the proper mechanics at your foot, ankle, hip, back, etc. Since heel strike is the first stage of the gait cycle, you have now altered the entire sequence of walking. Your body has to compensate for this, and will likely lead to pain or dysfunction.
I would recommend paying more attention to how you walk. When you take a step, do you hit your heels first? Your heel should hit the ground, and then you should feel the arch of your shoe, followed by pushing off your big toe. A simple exercise I would recommend to help you recognize heel strike is to first walk backwards, feeling your heels hit the ground first. This helps to stretch (or inhibit) your calf muscles. Walk up and down your hallway a couple times each morning backwards. Follow this up with walking forwards slowly and placing an emphasis on hitting your heels to the ground first.
If you don’t know how to walk, you will have difficulty running or doing other activities pain free. So, let’s go back to being a toddler and learn how to walk again!
To email Jen with questions or comments, !
Posted August 31, 2010 at 9:55am by Jennifer Gloystein.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
Posted 07/23/2010
Often, we see athletes in our clinic who are involved in a variety of activities and they wonder why they have pain. After all, they’re “in shape”, and often they’re young and otherwise healthy. Many of them report that they are sure to cross-train because they’ve heard cross training helps to prevent injuries and over training. Part of the problem is their understanding of real cross training. If your idea of cross training includes running, biking and weight lifting, then you’re missing something very important. It’s something we try to stress to our patients, and you may have read about it in some of our other staff’s writings. It’s the fact that our bodies can and therefore should be worked through multiple planes of motion.
I think sometimes we as therapists think this idea is self explanatory, but may in reality confuse many of our patients or readers, so let me explain. Think of the different planes this way: Imagine you’re standing and do any of the following moves: 1) Walking straight forward (or backward) is one plane of movement we call the sagittal plane, 2) Side Stepping either left or right is another plane called the frontal plane, and 3) Rotating either left or right (this can be your whole body, or can occur throughout your body. i.e. at your hips, trunk, neck) and is called the transverse plane. Ideally, when you are training for any sport, it is in your best interest to work all of the planes of motion. If, as stated above, you’re only running, cycling, and weight lifting, you are neglecting the frontal plane and have minimal transverse plane motion.
I would suggest any of the following activities to make your training more dynamic through multiple plane of motion: tennis, basketball, volleyball, roller blading/skating, racket ball, throw a Frisbee with a friend, play catch with a football/baseball (just don’t throw the ball/Frisbee directly to your friend, but rather chase it a little). Don’t be limited by these few suggestions. Come up with some activities that you can do with your friends/family that make your body work in multiple directions.
Train smart and train hard.
~Dave
Questions or Comments?
Posted July 23, 2010 at 7:12am by David Drummer.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
Posted 07/12/2010
There are many systems within the body that need particular guidance to optimize function. Let us assume that your body’s systems are comparable to a car. You have a new car, you expect it to run smoothly with minimal problems, which it does, for some time. You drive your car day in and day out, and it works. After a period time, you fail to provide proper care and your car starts to break down. It has a starting problem, it starts giving less mileage per gallon of gas, the paint starts to fade, the upholstery rips, and doors get dinged, so on and so forth. What do you do if your car gets old and starts giving you trouble? You buy a new one! As in this analogy, your car is actually your body. Unfortunately, you cannot change your body for a new one. You are stuck with it for your entire life. If your car starts having problems, you may have to push-start it every time you want to go somewhere. If people give you strange looks because your muffler is dragging, you have a flat tire, or you have various dents and door dings, you put up with it. If it costs a lot of money to provide you with temporary fixes, which won’t last but several months, you put up with it. How you wish you knew from the beginning that you were stuck with this car for life! You would have taken better care of the car! You would not have been stuck with a lemon! Likewise, you must take care of your body to prevent breakdowns. Unfortunately, your body has to carry on through the mechanical failures that life presents and get occasional fixer-uppers to continue working. In other words, you can’t replace your entire body because it is simply not possible!
Similar to a car, there are several systems in the body that need to be assessed, watched, and trained in order to run in the best possible way day in and day out. A performance check on your car may reveal concerns with the fuel system, the engine’s horsepower, the aerodynamics, the chassis and suspension, the tire pressure of all four tires, the heat regulation, and a countless number of other systems in the car. Like a car, all systems of the body must be working together to optimize function. Having too much power without enough flexibility can lead to potential injury.
Again using the car analogy, the musculoskeletal system (muscles and bones) is similar to the chassis, suspension, and wheels of a car, whereas the cardiovascular system can be likened to the car’s engine. The cardiovascular system is comprised of the heart, lungs, and blood pathways. It transports oxygen (i.e. gas) to the various parts of the body. Often times we are mainly concerned with the “engine” and how the car runs, and pay little attention to the car “body.” Rather than constantly trying to improve the cardiovascular system to handle higher workloads, why not also try to improve the musculoskeletal system? Then, when given a larger workload such as a long destination, you will get much better gas mileage because the musculoskeletal system is strong. This can be done by improving the car’s suspension, transmission, and wheels, as well as making sure that each is properly maintained and aligned so that the car will be more efficient at a given speed.
This analogy will continue to be discussed over the next couple of months. The purpose of this discussion is to help you understand the interaction between systems. The importance of body systems and their relationship as it relates to mechanics will be discussed. Just as with the case of our car, we may need occasional tune-ups and adjustments to avoid injury and breakdowns.
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Posted July 12, 2010 at 9:36am by Jason Masek.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
Posted 05/24/2010
I am here today to discuss a cross training activity that takes me back to my youth (1990’s), to consider this summer to strengthen the muscles that help our body move in the side to side (frontal) plane. Inline skating, or more commonly known as rollerblading is a great activity to engage some muscles that we don’t often work called the hip adductors (inner thighs) and abductors (gluteus/buttock muscles). Snow skiing is another great activity, but unfortunately flat Nebraska isn’t ideal for that! : )
If you have viewed some of the previous running blogs posted by Lori Thomsen, then you have learned that our body has to function in three planes (sagittal, frontal and transverse). We do a lot of sagittal plane activities in life! Some examples include: walking, running, elliptical trainer, biking, squatting, etc. This list is nearly endless, as it involves anything that bends or straightens our body forwards and backwards. We often get too strong in the sagittal plane (especially runners), while the other two planes are not nearly as strong. Frontal plane activities require our body to move side to side, and transverse plane involves rotation of the body. Rollerblading addresses all three planes, and is a great cardiovascular activity to improve frontal plane strength.
Tips for Inline Skating/Rollerblading:
• Keep your back slightly rounded, not upright or else you will engage your back extensors rather than your gluteus (buttock) muscles.
• Rotate your trunk by pumping your arms, as seen in the first photo (left arm with right leg, and right arm with left leg).
• Learn how to stop! When you are first learning, please be sure to start out on flat surfaces so you do not have to stop on the bottom of a hill. Rolling to a stop is the best beginner recommendation, and as you get more comfortable you can use the brake on one of the skates. If you have ever snow skied before, you know that you control your speed by swerving side to side, this also helps while rollerblading.
• And of course….Skate at your own risk, falling can result in serious injuries! If you find this activity too challenging or dangerous, check out Lori’s previous video blog discussing other exercises to help strengthen your frontal plane.
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Posted May 24, 2010 at 2:27pm by Jennifer Gloystein.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments
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Hruska Clinic Restorative Physical Therapy Services
5241 R Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68504
Phone: (402) 467-4545 | Contact Us
