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Do you have tight calves or foot pain? Lori shows a great stretch on her latest video blog…

2010-09-07T14:54:00Z

Happy Running!
Lori
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Do you know how to walk? Here is Jen’s latest blog entry…

2010-08-31T14:55:00Z

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!

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The Gas Pedal and the Brake: Part I… Jason continues his blog using the analogy of the car…

2010-08-19T18:59:00Z

In the previous blog I discussed how the human body is comprised of many systems and how they all interact. Today I will discuss the autonomic nervous system.
The human nervous system can be divided into several connected systems that function together. The human nervous system has two major divisions, the voluntary and the autonomic systems. The voluntary system is concerned mainly with movement and sensation. The autonomic system controls functions over which we have less conscious control or that happen automatically. These include the digestion of food, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. There are three parts to the autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic system, the parasympathetic system and the enteric system. For our purposes today, I will discuss the sympathetic, otherwise known as the “fight or flight” system, and the parasympathetic or “rest and repair” system and their interactions.
The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems have opposite functions. When we are under stress, the sympathetic system raises our heart rate, blood pressure, 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, blood pressure and respiration.
Relatively few people today have a strong, balanced autonomic system. Most people favor their sympathetic branch. These people tend to be more outgoing, have strong type-A personalities, are aggressive, and have faster metabolisms. They tend to be more prone to anxiety, irritability, and nervousness. Parasympathetic individuals tend to be more laid back, have type-B personalities, are lethargic, fatigued, have slower metabolisms, and often times are prone to depression.
As a way to understand how the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems function together I will compare how automotive engineers have provided the same components in the car that are needed to prevent the car from running out of gas or overheating, and compare that with how the body is regulated with the help of the autonomic nervous system. My next blog will consider a common example of how the autonomic nervous system is regulated using the analogy of the car.

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Runners-Need help strengthening your diaphragm for better breathing? See Lori’s latest video blog…

2010-08-13T18:18:00Z

Happy Running!
Lori
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What are you seeing when you run? Your vision & vestibular system (balance) might be influencing…

2010-07-29T13:34:00Z

more than you think… Watch Lori’s newest video on runners and vision!

Happy Running!
Lori
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Are You Really Cross-Training? Dave’s Latest Blog Entry Will Help You Answer This Question…

2010-07-23T12:12:00Z

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?

Are You in Control of Your “Car”? Jason Blogs About how your Body is Similar to a Car…

2010-07-12T14:36:03Z

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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What Muscles Do You Need to Push Off Your Left Big Toe? Read Lori’s Latest Blog to Find Out…

2010-06-28T19:56:00Z

Happy Running!
Lori
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Follow-up to the Bench Press: A Stretch to Help Prevent Rounded Shoulder Posture…

2010-06-15T17:30:01Z

I would like to take a brief moment to follow-up on Dave’s recent blog regarding bench press. Some of the muscles engaged in this weight lifting exercise are the pectoral (anterior chest) muscles. These muscles are often too tight and strong in many individuals for a variety of reasons (weight lifting, poor posture, poor breathing mechanics, or occupations that require a lot of computer or desk work). This can lead to rounded shoulders and pain in the neck, shoulders, or headaches.

Check out this stretch to help decrease the tightness in your pectoral muscles, while maintaining a good pelvic and neck position and most importantly breathing correctly. Performing this stretch can help prevent future occurrence of headaches, or neck and shoulder pain. Please remember, if you suffer from any pain or discomfort, you may benefit from seeing a postural restoration physical therapist for full evaluation before performing these suggested activities on the blog.

Can You Find and Feel Your Right Arch? And Why is This Important? Watch Lori Explain…

2010-06-04T13:44:00Z

Happy Running!
Lori
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Is the Bench Press Part of Your Weight Training Program? Then Read Dave’s Recommendations…

2010-06-03T17:40:00Z

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my perception of problems associated with sports performance and weight training. I shared my thoughts on traditional barbell squats, and gave some suggestions for alternative ways to strengthen your legs. Today, I would like to touch briefly on another common lift that is performed, and that is the bench press. A couple of thoughts I have with the bench press are: 1) If you’re going to perform bench presses, I would like to see you place your feet on the seat of the bench rather than on the floor. What this will do for you is reduce or eliminate extension through your back (refer to my previous blog entry for the problems with too much back extension). It will also decrease your stability on the bench and make the lift a more dynamic activity. Sure this will reduce the amount of weight you can safely manage, but I believe you will actually reap much bigger rewards in terms of sports performance; and 2) Don’t forget to work the muscles that oppose the pecs that you’re developing with the bench press. If you don’t incorporate activities that draw the shoulder blades back, you will develop forward head and shoulder posturing that can lead to neck and shoulder problems which will certainly not boost your sports performance. Until then, continue to check out blog entries from all of the therapists here at the Hruska Clinic.

Train smart and train hard.

~Dave
Questions or Comments?

Instability of the Feet in Runners - Here is Lori’s Latest Running Blog!

2010-05-25T13:05:00Z

Happy Running!
Lori
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Want to strengthen your frontal plane while getting an aerobic workout and enjoying the outdoors?

2010-05-24T19:27:00Z

Check out inline skating!

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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Jason Masek Speaks at the MATA Annual Meeting and Symposium…

2010-05-21T13:49:00Z

To read more, click here! Questions for Jason? Send him an …

Check Out Our Latest Success Story…

2010-05-21T13:37:00Z

High School soccer player Hannah and her Dad talk about her physical therapy results… click here!