Calf Pain and Recovery

Calf Tear and what to do about it

We hope this email finds you well. The Runnersworld shop will re-open on Weds 2nd December at 9.30am, Gary and Sharon are taking bookings at The Treatment Room, Runnersworld Eastcote from 12pm Weds 2nd December onwards. We will continue with the Covid-19 precautions we put into place from July 2020 and thank you in advance for staying at home and re-booking your appointment if you feel unwell, or are advised to self-isolate at any point leading up to your appointment.

If you are looking for gift ideas, we do gift vouchers which can be purchased in-store to be redeemed against a store purchase or Sports Massage. Please pop into the shop or email me for details.

At some point in life you may experience stiffness or pain in your calf muscles, which sit at the back of your legs. The calf muscles are responsible for plantar flexing your ankle (pointing your foot away from you) and assisting with stabilising the knee and ankle joints when standing, walking, running and jumping.

A lack of strength and or mobility in either of these muscles will affect walking, running and jumping/landing.

An overload in these muscles can lead to stiffness around knee, leg and ankle. Stiffness and pain will intensify with muscle strain, muscle tear and in the worst case rupture (where the muscle parts company with it’s associated tendon). With the right approach, you can fully recover from all of these instances.

What you can do to help yourself

Rest, seek help and guidance from a soft tissue specialist – The sooner you rest and seek help and guidance the sooner you will be back to enjoying your sport.
If you are struggling to stand and your calf muscle has disappeared up behind your knee then seek help immediately, In this case you may find you are referred to A&E triage for a referral to a consultant who can assess whether you need surgery.

Whilst it can take up to a year for our bodies to remodel soft tissues and fully regain strength, most calf tears will heal and allow us to walk and run pain free within 3-6 weeks (depending on severity of the tear). With adherence to specific exercises/training for your calf/lower leg, you should be able to continue to enjoy your sport without the irritation of re-occurrences. I personally suffered a grade 2 calf tear in April 2012 – with Gary’s guidance (because I knew I would likely do too much left to my own devices) and training I was running Pbs in the September and have not suffered any recurrences.

In the first two days following the initial pain, very light massage, as in gently stroking the backs of your legs along with limiting time on your feet and just gently exploring comfortable movements about your knee and ankle is one of the best things you can do.

For mild stiffness you may find a week’s rest from running and jumping is all you need, it is best to start back at 50% effort compared to whatever level you were at prior to pain/stiffness.

For Grade 1 tears you need to prepare yourself for 3 weeks off running and jumping, walking, swimming and cycling at low intensity are usually ok.
For Grade 2 tears you need to prepare yourself for 6 weeks off running and jumping, again walking, swimming and cycling at low intensity should be ok.

Exercise Classes – when you can get back to them etc

After the first week, as long as walking is more comfortable, you can resume low level intensity at exercise classes. You will need to make a few adjustments and it is well worth explaining you have an injury, to your instructor as they can help to guide you towards appropriate adjustments.

You will need to avoid any jerky/ jumping movements – replace these with stepping into positions, initially keeping the steps small. You may also need to accept reducing the number of repetitions and depth or height you do within each set for things like squats, lunges, calf raises.

It is important to really notice and listen to the signals your body is giving you whilst you are recovering, when a muscle is repairing, it will tire/fatigue more quickly than before and if you start to feel wobbly or weakness in your legs accept the need to rest for the day, this will allow your body to do its repair work and give you a little more the next day or so. Pushing through this period could result in tissue damage or altering how you move to accommodate the weakness, which in turn can lead to a problem or pain elsewhere in your body.

Strengthening and Mobilising Exercises to help Calves

See attached video – in the early stages less is more, as you feel stronger and as pain level reduces you can gradually progress the intensity and load that you put through your legs. Too much too soon will likely see you in a vicious cycle of pain, recover, pain.

Tweaks to help you continue yoga or exercise classes

See attached video for tweaks to yoga

In general avoid and jumping/plyometric movements.
Keep exercise to a low intensity as you recover and take breaks as and when you need to.
Listen to your body and work within what you are able to comfortably do, as frustrating as it can be to have to stop and accept that you need to rest, remember rest makes you stronger. Your body does its digestion and repair work when we are at rest.

Get in touch if you need to book an appointment or are looking for advice specific to you.

sd@runnersworld.ltd.uk

mrgtelfer@gmail.com

Lockdown 2.0

So it was wonderful re-opening the clinic at Runnersworld and seeing everyone again, I’d really missed treating people hands on and I’m looking forwards to re-opening the Therapy Room at Runnersworld on 3rd December.

It was hard to having to close again on 5th November, despite understanding the reasons. The good news is that professional bodies for Sports Massage & Sports Therapy have been able to work together to get the profession re-classified under ONS (office for national statistics). This means that the profession itself is now recognised seperately from holistic massage, in that therapists at Level 4/5+ have trained to work with MSK (musculoskeletal) injury. This has allowed therapists who work in clinics to remain open-hence Gary being able to treat hands on from the clinic he is based at in London.

Comparing this lockdown to the first one - I am more prepared for that Zoom thing I’d never heard of in March. I kept the extra yoga classes running and am more comfortable being able to offer help and advice through zoom as well as remaining available on email and phone.

Please take care of yourselves during these challenging times, get out for a daily walk in daylight however short. Choose nutritious foods, move frequently and rest more if you feel you need to.

Staying open and staying Sane

I hope you are all keeping well.

Following the latest government announcement that moves London Boroughs to Tier 2, we are delighted we can remain open for business. 

Yoga classes in person can continue as long as we remain 2m apart throughout the class. Otherwise they will move back to zoom.

We will continue to wear required PPE and ask you continue to wear a mask. We continue to sanitise the room between each patient and follow Test and Trace Procedures.

We will continue to waive any late cancellation fees if you need to re-book due to feeling unwell, or finding that you have been asked to self-isolate.

I’m personally very grateful for the resilience athletics training has helped me develop……I’m drawing on it frequently, alongside the practices and tools I discover through yoga. Whilst it doesn’t make me immune to the current difficulties, it definitely helps to keep me grounded and persevering.

Stay safe, stay sane - if you find yourself getting overwhelmed stop and take 10 breaths, notice how your body naturally wants to move as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Remind yourself of how amazing your body is and why it's worth looking after.

Warm Regards

Sharon & Gary

A Pain in the Foot - Plantar Fascitis

A Pain in the foot and how to help it– Plantar Fasciitis

 The Plantar Fascia is a fibrous tissue (aponeurosis) that connects the heel and toes to each other, helping to support structure, function and movement of our feet. Its often only when you have a pain in or around the sole of your foot that you become aware of plantar fasciitis and start looking for ways to relieve the awful pain that it brings!

There are a number of ways in which the plantar fascia can become painful or irritated and some simple practices that can help to reduce the chances of ever suffering with it.

 You should be able to move/roll freely through your foot from heel to toes, ideally keeping all of your toes down and spreading weight evenly as you move.  Too much weight on one side of your foot, gripping with your toes or sending your toes up into the air as you move, can all cause irritation to the plantar fascia.

Going Barefoot is great for building strength through feet and legs, however you need to build up the periods of time spent barefoot to allow your body to build the required strength. Personally I save barefoot for around the house, freshly mowed grass or sand where I can see dog poo etc!  If you have plantar fasciitis its best to give your feet support around the house and out and about, one you are pain free you can gradually increase the time you spend barefoot.

Shoes – Wear shoes that fit and are well structured–its amazing the number of people who are wearing shoes which are too small, too tight, too loose, too floppy.

Unstructured Flip-flops - these are great for saving your feet and shoes from sand but spending long periods of time in them can lead to painful feet. There are some brands such as Oofos and Birkentsock that provide support to your feet.

Overweight – being overweight will cause more load to your joints and the weight your feet have to bear. If you are looking to increase exercise to lose weight, its important to understand that a sensible diet is the best place to start-it surprising how long you have to exercise for to burn fuel. If you are very overweight cycling or swimming may be a better place to start than lots of walking/running. Before you reach for the calorie counter, look at the nutritional value of the foods you eat.

Training load/intensity– be careful not to change too much too soon, if you are increasing length of time then keep your pace steady, if you want to increase the pace, drop the distance a little. A simple approach is to keep to a max of 10% increase in distance per week, with a ‘rest’ week every fourth week.

Terrain – Varying the surfaces you run on can help to build foot and leg strength, Softer, uneven surfaces such as mud and grass require more effort to maintain balance & momentum, harder surfaces may be easier to balance on but can increase impact on muscles and joints. Uphill generally puts you a little more forwards onto your toes, requiring more strength in feet and legs than flat even surfaces and downhill requires an ability to relax along with the strength required to quicken leg turnover. Understanding  and feeling the demands different surfaces have on your body can help you to prepare your training routes as well as understanding the requirements your race route may have.

Injury – Our brain is generally hard wired to avoid pain, so injuring ay part of our body can cause us to adapt the way we move, this new movement pattern can become ingrained and before we realise it we are causing issues in other body parts, so along with recovering from the initial injury we may need to play with the way we are moving to regain the efficiency we had before an injury.

Tools to Help Plantar Fasciitis

 ·      The right shoes

·      Supporting the foot with insoles, taping techniques or synthetic arch supports- some technical socks also offer a small amount of support to the transverse arch of the foot.

·      Foot rollers / golf balls

·      Massage to feet and calves

·      Foot and leg strengthening exercises – see video for examples

·      Foot and leg mobility exercises – see video for examples

·      Steroid injections (although this should be a last resort)

·      Re-introducing load and training gradually to allow strength to build and avoid a relapse into pain.

Runnersworld has a wealth of experience in getting you into the right shoes. The Therapy Room at Eastcote is able to help you with massage, movement patterns and training plans and is open for appointments from Mon to Saturday.

Sharon & Gary

sd@runnersworld.ltd.uk

mrgtelfer@gmail.com

A review of being back to hands on Treatments

So the treatment room at Runnersworld has been open for the last two weeks and we’ve had a steady flow of people trying us out.

 From a therapist point of view it has also been a lot better than expected, a rather large change of routine from the last four months and the thought of sanitising between each person and covering all bases was a little overwhelming! In reality with the room so very bare it’s not taking as long as we thought and the change of routine is great because it means we can see you face to face and touch and feel is a large part for us of helping you to reduce pain and tension .

I am also able to teach yoga which has built up and rehab exercises through zoom from the treatment room at Runnersworld, which makes managing a busier diary much easier than fighting traffic, which has increased somewhat.

Week one was quite tiring, week two a little less tiring and going into week three is likely to be less tiring again.

The comments we’ve had from people that come to see us are:

We like the new look (see attached photo)

The process was easier than I thought it was going to be.

Really needed to see you and so glad you’ve re-opened.

Missed you

Thank you for doing this (the display of therapist daily health stats, provision of hand sanitiser, confirmation at each appointment that people  are symptom free, taking temperatures and storing clothes and belongings in a plastic box) – its so nice to hear as we’ve missed treating hands on too!

Whilst we’re not asking you to wear a mask throughout your treatment (as we’re wearing a visor, which we sanitise between each treatment), we’re really grateful to everyone for wearing a mask as they come through the shop, please keep up the good work.

Look forwards to seeing you soon, in the mean-time stay safe and well.

The shop itself has been busy with lots of new runners and also getting some interesting therapy stock in – we now have a mini Flow Massage Gun which has passed the approval of both Gary and I, its reasonably priced, sturdy and can definitely help to relax muscles after a training session. You will also find Rocktape on sale alongside UP and KT-Tape.

We look forwards to seeing you soon.

Warm Regards

Sharon

Re-opening is a lot more challenging than closing & so much more rewarding though!!

COVID-19 Update - I am pleased to announce the clinic will be re-opening from Tuesday 21st July. It’s had a paint job and the couch and soft seating have matching upholstery that should withstand the sanitising spray. We haven’t reviewed our prices in over 7 years and apart from losing 4 months+ of income, we have been suffering increased costs of materials, in addition to other increased costs caused by the CO-VID crisis. After careful consideration we have decided to increase treatment cost to £50 to help make ends meet.

So there I was eagerly watching infection rate and death rates falling and business premises granted permission to re-open, while impatiently waiting our turn. My excitement slowly started to dissipate when the reality kicked in after having to implement all the new safety protocals. To say I felt overwhelmed would be putting it lightly, but with the risk of COVID still present I soldiered on. I went from being delighted to rather overwhelmed with how to get it right, the risk of catching Covid remains and will do so for a while yet.

I’ve gotten quite used to my bubble world and as much as I’ve been looking forwards to stepping out of it, to say its been a process of risk assessing, reviewing, researching, questioning is an understatement. I can’t make a promise that you won’t catch Covid, what I can do is ensure you that we have been through a risk assessment, which is why the room has as little as possible in it to ensure sanitising between each of you is much easier. Fresh towels and couch covers, will be sheltering in sealed plastic boxes, rather than folded neatly on a shelf...we’ve taken those shelves away too.

We’re not changing how we wash our laundry as we’ve always washed at 60 degrees or above and aired to dry or tumble dried when the air’s too cold and wet!

We’ll have hand sanitiser ready for you to use on arrival and a plastic box for your shoes and if you’ve had to bring a small bag, that goes in the box too & we’ll put a lid on it. We will be sanitising the box after each treatment.

We’ll take your temperature and record this on the Covid Screening form that we need you to read and sign to confirm you are free of symptoms - we need this re-confirmed at each appointment.

We’re asking people to bring their own pens and as little else as possible. Only come in pairs where you need a chaperone (age/disability/other reasons).

We’re making everything as touch-free as possible, even the bin and soap has had an update to sensor operated!

We’re adhering to our 40 min appointments in line with professional bodies guidelines, so I’m afraid we won’t be over-running like we sometimes did before, we’re allowing 20-30 mins between each appointment.

We will be behind a visor, however, we are still as friendly😀 as we were before - even if we talk a little less during your appointment.

Neck and shoulder massages will be performed with you face down or seated, facing away from us.

We will be complying with NHS Track and Trace, so we will need to pass your name, phone number and email onto the NHS track and trace team if we are advised that anyone attending the treatment room, has been exposed to Covid Symptoms. We sincerely hope that we are not ever actually in this position.

If you have a weakened immune system, or any underlying health conditions please consult your doctor and ensure you are satisfied with the risks to your health whilst Covid is present, before receiving treatment.

If you have recovered from Covid, then please consult with your doctor before receiving treatment - some side effects of Covid (particularly blood clotting), is contra-indicated for massage (reason to withold treatment).

I am pleased that I will be continuing the extra yoga classes that I created on zoom in lockdown as it has been popular, i’ve noticed its good for people who are at home with children or would struggle to make studio class times. I’m hoping to improve the sound quality with some new kit that I am going to play with over the weekend.

So you see there was quite a lot to consider and for someone to whom touch is not just important it’s part of their passion and livelihood 🤗, its been quite an emotional journey and these last few weeks🙄. I’ve used my meditation, breath/body awareness tools and that release I get through running so much more to enable me to arrive calm, centred and ready to open and help people to release whatever tensions they have been storing up over the last few months 💆‍♀️.

Recognising Over Training

Covid-19 Update
 Gary and I patiently await the government’s decision on when we can return to hands on and face to face appointments. The treatment couch is being re-upholstered this week and we will have handtowels and hands free soap dispenser.
We will let you know as soon as we have a date to re-open the clinic, along with Covid-safe requirements that will need to be adhered to.

Recognising Over-Training
Whether training to keep fit or training towards a goal, its easy to fall into a trap of over-doing it. The feel-good factor we get from training can become addictive especially when we are facing challenges in other areas of our life. 
If you are sick or taking antibiotics you should rest until you have finished your course of antibiotics, this will give your body the time it needs to recover. Your return to training should be gradual, ideally starting back at 30-50% effort levels and increasing weekly by 10-20%. Trust me you will get back to feeling fit and performing better far quicker with rest than pushing yourself through illness and infection!

Sudden life events and changes like increased commute, intense work deadlines, change of shift pattern, new babies and needing to care for family/friends can also lead you down the path of over-training - if there is increased demand in an area of your life you may need to tweak your training to allow yourself time to recover/balance out the demands in your life.

Whilst training produces many health benefits:

• I personally make better food choices when I am training hard as the sugary snacks I otherwise tend to lean towards repeat on me and don’t give me as much energy as more nutrient dense foods.

• Improved circulation, possibly increased cardiovascular strength

• Stronger bones, muscles and tendons.

• Improved focus

• Perhaps improved self-esteem

• Improved stamina and resilience for day to day tasks as well as training

 
Some of the problems too much training can lead to:

• Loss of appetite, nutrient deficiencies

• Excessive weight loss

• Irritability, depression

• Increased resting heart rate

• Metabolic imbalance

• Loss of monthly cycle (in women)

• Lower immunity, leaving you vulnerable to infections and virus

• Decreased performance

• Insomnia/trouble sleeping

 
Signs to help you spot overtraining:

• Elevated resting heart rate

• Moody/ trouble sleeping/constant tiredness

• Persistent injuries

• Fatigue – no matter how much sleep you get, every training session feels like an effort.

• Constant infections/viruses which seem to take longer to go away

• Lack of motivation for training and sometimes life in general

How to Recover
Its very easy to get sucked into over-training especially with endurance events like marathons and ironman where the training schedules will at times require you to train with and through fatigue, in order to prepare you for the mental and physical endurance required to complete the event. 

If you or friends/family notice the above symptoms then taking a short break from the intensity of your training can help you to recover. Unless you are sick, you do not necessarily need to rest completely, halving your mileage and training intensity for a week or two may be enough for you to recover your energy.

Having a good coach can help you to achieve your goals with a sensible training plan and if you regularly discuss training and performance with them, they should notice when your training needs to be adapted to allow you to perform at your best.

Stay Safe and we hope to give you a clinic re-opening date soon
Sharon

Week 15 - Active Recovery

Week 15 Rest and Active Recovery

Unfortunately Sports Massage Therapy has not currently been included in the latest list of businesses permitted to re-open on 4th July 2020. Gary and I remain available online, I can now teach up to 5 people outside where there is sufficient space to maintain social distancing. We continue to keep abreast of the recommended hygiene procedures to ensure the safety of ourselves and those that we treat. We are using this time to re-upholster the treatment couch and prepare the room for when we can re-open, we will of course let you know our re-open date as soon as we know. 

After an intense period of exercise the body needs time to replenish spent fuel, repair tissue damage and re-hydrate. Whilst chilling out with your feet up and a good book or movie, can be a good way to rest for a short time, most of us will find a whole day or two of not moving results in stiffness and discomfort.

Active recovery is movement(s) carried out at a relatively easy heart rate, you should be able to hold a conversation whilst completing the exercise. Active recovery can be useful when you are looking to exercise more than once a day, so you could complete a hard session in the morning and then focus on drills and movement in the afternoon or evening.

Active recovery is also useful to consider when you are coming back to training after illness or injury, breaking your training session into small blocks with walking breaks rather than sitting or standing still. 

Repetitively moving your body through the same motions can result in physical and mental fatigue leaving you feeling sore, tired and bored/sluggish. An activity that requires a different movement pattern, works your muscles at different rates/sequences which can be benefit you physically, emotionally and mentally.

If you are feeling stiff, sore, lethargic or grumpy for more than a few days, try swapping out one training session a week or every other week for a bike ride, circuit training, walk or gentle exercise class. 

Stay safe, stay healthy and hopefully see you soon

Week 14 - Setting up a workstation at home

Working from Home

I've been receiving quite a few enquiries about when we are able to return to treating hands on, many of you are suffering with back aches whilst working from home-some attributed to overzealous gardening, exercise and some could be desk set up. Gary and I are awaiting Government's guidance on when we are allowed to re-open the clinic. This week I thought I would give you some tips about setting your workstation up at home. 

Working from home has many benefits, the biggest possible one being the short commute. For some of you there will be less distractions, for others more (kids, other household members, home schooling).  You may have time for a more leisurely breakfast and possibly less spent on tea, coffee and lunches. However, working from home also has its own challenges :

• Technology, whilst great does not always work.

• Projects can take longer a quick question can become an essay by email.

• It can be hard to switch off from work, especially if you do not have the advantage of a dedicated ‘home office’.

• Long periods of sitting can play havoc with your neck, back, arms and legs.

 
I’m going to look at the measures you can take around movement and desk space.
 
Our bodies are designed to move in all directions, flexing forwards, backwards, sideways, rotating, reaching, pushing. Our movements are generally created by muscles contracting and causing movement around a joint.
 
Sitting uses muscles in and about:

• Back to keep us upright,.

• Hips, knees and ankles to flex our thigh, knee and ankle into the shape required by the chair we sit on. If standing then we use muscles that help us to stand, in whatever position we stand in.

• Arms/Shoulders to flex/extend/reach to our keyboard.

• Wrists, hands and fingers to type, pick up the phone, turn pages etc

• Eyes to focus

• Jaw for talking and possibly gritting our teeth when technology challenges us!.

Constantly using a muscle without rest, will cause the muscle to fatigue, we then find that those muscles are ‘stuck’ when we try to move or change position and it may take us a little longer to move and may even cause pain or discomfort.
 
Having worked in finance for a number of years, I am all too familiar with the pain caused by sitting for long periods- in my 20s,  my posture was not the best at my desk and muscles in my back and arms got so tight that I developed severe wrist pain and couldn’t even hold a cup- my hand would just open and the cup would fall…..8 weeks of physio taught me to improve my posture at my desk and the importance of moving in between periods of sitting!
 
Desk Set up:
 
Computer screen should ideally be straight infront of you at eye level, so that your head does not need to tilt up, tilt down or stay in a rotated position throughout the day..
 
You should have sufficient room to rest your arms (elbows to wrists) infront of you when you are not typing.
 
You should not need to either reach for the keyboard or hunch over it.
 
If there are arm rests on your chair, they should be at a height that allows the chair to slide fully under your desk, and allow your elbows to hang freely at your side (not cause you to hunch your shoulders or slouch)
 
Ideally your hips should be slightly higher than your knees (sofa that sinks back is your worst nightmare), your feet should be able to rest on the floor and your back should be supported.
 
What you can do if you don’t have the most ideal chair

• Move as much as possible in between periods of sitting.

• Use cushions to raise the height of your hips.

• Use stools, boxes or even text books to bring the floor closer to your feet.

• Roll up a towel or soft blanket to support your lower back.

To reduce the strain on your eyes, reduce or minimize glare by closing blinds, or using an anti-glare screen which can be placed over your screen. You can mirror your computer screen with a larger screen/TV by using an HDMI cable. In between bouts of physical movement, also take the time to exercise the muscles around your eyes – look far ahead into the distance, up to the ceiling, down to the floor and side to side, you can also circle your eyes (take this one slowly as it can make you dizzy).

Take regular breaks throughout the day to walk a little and during this time mobilise your joints from head to toe.

Before you head out the door to run, cycle or whatever sport you enjoy- take some time to move in every direction, allow your nervous system to get used to the idea that you’re about to challenge it. When you get back, take some time to allow your nervous system to settle, calm down, gently moving from head to toe, allow your breath to be smooth.
 
Yoga and Pilates are great for helping to build strength in the muscles that support our posture, whilst providing exercises which takes the body through all planes of movement.
 
If yoga is your thing I currently have weekly group classes running on zoom.
If pilates is your thing I have friends who are running classes through zoom.

Stay safe and well

Sharon

An example of some modifications you can make to your home set up. Some of you may well be able to get or already have a 'docking station' from your employer...

Week 13 Building and applying 'core' strength

I hope you are all keeping well. Runnersworld Shops will be re-opening on Monday 15 June 2020 in line with Government guidelines. The treatment room is unlikely to be able to open before 4 July 2020, I will let you know as soon as we know the date we are able to re-open the clinic.

 
I spend a good 10mins on abdominals daily, however, I have learned the importance of incorporating exercises which not only help me to increase the strength in my abdominals but also help me to practice control of movement through my torso and hips allows me to move more fluidly.
 
If I am driving my elbows back and the muscles through the side of my body and my hips are weak, I may find I am rotating more than I need to and then my knee or foot may be rolling inwards or outwards too much.
 
I could go away and strengthen my abs, glutes, obliques and I may be lucky in that my body automatically adopts a better movement pattern so that as my elbow drives back, the muscles through my lower back, hips and legs all join in at the right time to propel me forwards smoothly and efficiently.
 
The alternative is I go away and have stronger abs, glutes and obliques however, unaware of the firing pattern of the muscles, which determines the shape I make I continue to move in the same way as before, despite having done all of the exercises to strengthen the ‘weak’ core abs etc.
 
Somehow for me applying awareness whilst putting in core and abs work helps me to understand the importance of the part these muscles play, so that I get a better response from these muscles during my run, in particular when I am struggling to hold my shape together at the end of a hard training session.
 
I’ve put together a short clip of some exercises to help strengthen and engage your ‘core’ abs etc.
Rather than just going through the motions of the exercises play around with how it feels in your body as you do them.  I’ve added some cue’s in to help with this but you can also develop your own. You may be surprised with the changes you make over a month or two of applying awareness to your movements.
 
I’m aware a lot of you are working from home and perhaps getting stiff hips, backs, legs etc …next week I will take you through how to help set up your workspace and some movements you can do during the day to help alleviate some of the tensions you are getting.

Stay safe

Sharon
sd@runnersworld.ltd.uk

Week 12 Mechanical Massage Equipment

Electronic Massage
 
Gary and I are keeping up to date on the Government guidelines and professional bodies advice on re-opening the treatment room. It is unlikely to be before the 4th July 2020, there is currently talk that it may be August before we can treat hands on. We will of course keep you informed of the re-opening date along with the changes that we will need to implement to minimise risks of infection.
 
Runnersworld Eastcote is having a deep clean next week in preparation for re-opening, in line with Government guidelines on 15th June. 
 
Whilst we are unable to treat you hands on, there are a variety of electronic massage tools that can be helpful in reducing tension in soft tissues, I will discuss two here:
 
Vibration/percussion Massage therapy guns
A handheld device, which , when held against the skin has a feeling of percussion/vibration. It is important to avoid bone with massage guns, they are intended for use on soft tissues and uncomfortable on bone.
 
Most massage guns have a variety of speeds/intensities, which is useful as it allows you to set the intensity according to the sensation you would like to receive. Personally when I am working over a very tense muscle/area, I prefer a gentler speed, then, as the muscle softens, I like to increase the intensity. Some folk like the feel of higher intensity settings on tense areas.  Our individual nervous system’s response can help to guide us as to what is best.
 
The varying attachments can also help with working over different muscle groups, the larger, harder heads are good for large muscle groups. Whereas the softer heads are generally better for upper traps (across top of shoulder).
 
It is important to ensure you work on the muscles either side of the spine, rather than on the spine itself.
 
There are many brands out there, the ones that Gary and I have tried are:
Hypervolt - https://performbetter.co.uk/product/hypervolt/
Compex- https://www.compex.com/uk/compex-fixx-1
Theragun-https://www.theragun.com/uk/en-gb/home
Pulseroll-https://pulseroll.com/product/massage-gun/
 
The theragun and compex shape makes access to your own back easier than the drill/gun shaped hypervolt and pulseroll, however, the pulseroll and hypervolt are quieter and come with more attachments.
 
 
 
 
Electronic muscle stimulation
 
You are possibly familiar with ‘Tens’ machines (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), these work by transmitting a small electrical signal across (trans) the skin (cutaneous) at a pre-set frequency designed to stimulate the body’s pain receptors close to the skin.  Tens machines can be quite effective in reducing the pain sensation we feel in an area. A reduction in the level of pain we feel, can help to settle our nervous system and may allow us to move the area more freely.
 
There are a variety of models on the market.
 
Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) / Functional Electronic Stimulation (FES)
 
A piece of kit with electrode pads placed on the skin close to motor nerve endings and attached with wire or through a wireless signal to a machine with pre-set frequency levels according to the level of stimulation required.  The main functions to look out for are:
 
TENS – most EMS/FES machines will have Tens functions which works as mentioned above.
 
Massage –relaxing, reviving, reduce muscle soreness
 
Strength & Resistance – these functions are useful for recovery from injury, when you need to be careful with load bearing. They are also useful for times when you are unable to get to the gym. The strength and resistance programs need to be approached with care as at higher intensity settings they can produce quite lengthy DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), which is not generally harmful, however, can be uncomfortable for up to a week. If you train moderately then start with a lower intensity to get used to the feeling before increasing the intensity. Also take care leading up to competitions as you are effectively causing the muscle to work and as with any workload you will then need to give your muscles sufficient recovery time.
 
Specific workloads such as get a six pack, tendonitis, tone your arms.
 
You can place the electrodes on an area and just let the machine stimulate the muscles to work, or you can add an exercise such as squats & calf raises which will intensify the result. Effectively by performing an exercise whilst having equipment stimulating the motor nerve, you are bringing your nervous system’s awareness to that muscle group/area, which can help to stimulate the motor nerve’s response and muscle fibre’s growth.
 
It is important to bear in mind that even with mechanical stimulation, there is only so much energy/workload a muscle is capable of. So, whilst it may be tempting to ramp up the intensity, you will often get results quicker at a lower intensity for repeated short periods – ie stimulate the muscle to work for 5 mins 3 times a day at 10-20 setting, rather than high intensity 90+ for 15 mins. As you begin to feel and see muscle growth (strength/responsiveness), then you can explore increasing the intensity. This is particularly important to note when recovering from injury-I remember when I was rehabilitating my calf tear-when the muscle was exhausted it would just completely give up and feel like having wobbly jelly to walk on, I would then have to patiently wait until the muscle was rested enough to let me work it again.
 
There are a number of models on the market with varying functions and at varying price ranges – Gary and I have been using the Compex Brand/machine, which is widely used by the likes of GB athletes, Crossfit and Cycling. We have a good relationship with UK suppliers DJO and can often source the machines at favourable rates for our clients.
 
Compex have a range of fitness and sport models. For amateur sport I would recommend a minimum of the model SP4 which includes competition recovery and some rehabilitation settings.
If you are looking to the wireless models (SP6 & SP8) then you will need to consider Velcro wraps to hold the pods in place.

You can find out more about the compex muscle stimulators here.
https://www.djoglobal.com/our-brands/compex
 
Stay safe, stay healthy, we look forwards to being able to see you as soon as it is considered safe by UK Government. 

Yoga for Runners

Runnersworld Shops are busy preparing to re-open from 15th June, within new health guidelines, issued by Government. Gary and I do not anticipate we will be able to re-open treatment room before 4th July 2020, however we are of course preparing ourselves and will update you as soon as we know when we can  re-open the treatment room and what guidelines we will be adhering to. 

This week I thought i'd share with you my experience of yoga and running.

Yoga is an ancient practice that has evolved over thousands of years. The essence of yoga is to help the practitioner (yogi) to appreciate how their physical body, mental state, emotional state and breath interact with each other to affect our Prana (energy), manipulating any one of these will impact another.
 
Yoga consists of a series of ethics, cleansing practices, meditation practices, breathing techniques and postures. The postures can be practiced alone or sequenced together. There is usually a strong emphasis on exploring breath in and between each posture.
 
Like anything the benefits are best realised with a consistent practice and a period of rest/recovery between each practice.
 
As a yogi and athlete I experience first hand the following benefits from my yoga practice:
 
The meditation and breathing practices help me to find focus & calmness, which is especially useful at competitions, when I’m surrounded by athletes with soaring adrenaline levels creating nervous tension in the call room!
 
The Breathing practices, alongside my athletics training have helped me to improve my lung capacity (as an ex-smoker I had a weak peak flow, at one point when I was running marathons it was only 300 and with a high pollen count one summer, I struggled to the point that I resorted to my GP who prescribed ventolin, currently my peak flow is 420 and I haven’t needed ventolin since that one bad summer).  Breathing techniques also help me to calm my nervous system down after a hard training rep, ready for the next one and each winter I find breathing in the cold winter air a little less challenging – I don’t anticipate it will or ever should be easy!!
 
The postures (Asana), help me to build and maintain strength, flexibility, balance and control during movements - I can now stabilize one area of my body whilst moving another better than I could before a regular yoga practice (disassociation). Movement and focus on how my body is moving is an ongoing practice.
 
I incorporate yoga postures into my track warm up – particularly in winter time, where I find a couple of sun salutations really help me to warm my body up. I use gentle poses such as legs up the wall, child’s pose, reclining twist and knees to chest to help me settle my nervous system and recover between training sessions.
 
I currently have two classes dedicated to runners (although open to all people), where I design my class with a runner’s body in mind. There is a focus on breath, awareness of posture and movement and a sequence of postures that may help to strengthen muscles in the upper body, hips and legs as well as mobilizing soft tissues around hips, shoulders and ankles. I finish the practice with a guided relaxation of 7-10 mins, which is quite often hard to get accustomed to when you’re active, however, taking some time to practice tools which help the body settle into its rest, recovery and reset mode (parasympathetic nervous system), is well worth the effort to the point, that over time you may even look forward to that bit where you’d normally be rolling your mat up and legging it out of class!
 
 
Yoga is not about pain, when you are practicing you are looking to build awareness of your breath, your body, how each shape feels – there may be some low level discomfort as your body gets used to creating new shapes, however you should be able to maintain a slow, steady inhale and exhale – if your breath speeds up your body (nervous system) is telling you that it needs to back off the intensity. The more you practice the longer you will be able to remain in a posture.
 
It is best to seek guidance from a teacher when you start out, particularly if it is a completely new movement for you or you have been sedentary for a while. If you have any underlying mental or physical health conditions you should seek guidance from your medical practitioner before commencing.

If you'd like to know more about my classes then drop me a line. 

sd@runnersworld.ltd.uk

Week 10 The Warm Down/ Cool Down…why bother?

Week 10 The Warm Down/ Cool Down…why bother?

I hope you are all keeping well, whilst the running shop itself will hopefully be able to open on 1st June, it is likely to be 4th July at the earliest before Gary and I will be able to see anyone face to face. We are keeping abreast of advice for safe working, which as you can imagine is changing week to week.

So you’ve trained hard/played hard and you’re just feeling like slumping on the sofa with some food….why bother with a warm down.

I’ll start with my personal experience of regretting skipping that cool down, whether its physiologically real or not (as whilst its common in sport to cool down, there is very little proven evidence that it makes a difference), I know I feel more soreness and stiffness the following day(s) when I skip that cool down, however there is no hard proof that cooling down helps.

 When we exert ourselves our heart rate increases to provide oxygen and nutrients to our bodies, pushing ourselves creates heat within our system (on a cold day you can see the steam coming off an athlete working hard from across the track).  Our muscles can expand easier when they are warm. Practicing a cool down allows our heart rate and in turn body’s temperature to reduce more gradually, it is less of a shock to our system-think about what you feel like walking from a very hot room to icy cold air and vice versa, compared to walking from a very hot room, through a cooler hallway to a walk in fridge.

 A typical cool down can be a slower jog or if you’ve just run a marathon a walk for 800m-1mile. For anyone who’s experienced stopping suddenly and sitting after a marathon, compared to gentle movement, this may make more sense.

 I’ve attached a video with examples of some gentle cool down exercises, the main aim is to help your nervous system to settle into parasympathetic mode (rest and digest), helping to prepare your body for the repair work it cleverly does, when you give it a chance.

 I’m also a huge fan of warm baths with Epsom salts. Epsom salts have high levels of magnesium which our body absorbs very well through our skin. Magnesium is a salt that we need for muscle and nervous system function and is also said to help reduce inflammation. If you have any underlying health conditions then seek medical advice before using. Personally I find I sleep really well, although I do need to drink round a pint of water after my bath before I go to bed.

Gary and I will let you know when the UK Government, grants permission to re-open the clinic.

 We will also be following government advice on maintaining safe working practices, we will of course make you aware of any new measures that we need to introduce before your appointments. In the meantime we will continue to be available for online consultations.

 Stay safe, stay healthy and stay fit.

 Warm Regards

Gary and Sharon

Week 9 General Warm up and discount code for Physique

Warming up before your sport and a discount code for Physique 

I am pleased to be able to offer you a 10% discount code for purchases from Physique copy and paste this link https://www.physique.co.uk/?pp=Runnersworld 

www.physique.co.uk or visit www.physique.co.uk and use discount code Runnersworld at the checkout. 

We all love playing our sport, however I have noticed, myself included the warm up is something we don’t always allow sufficient time for. Thinking about some benefits of warming up helps to motivate me to do mine:

I can gradually increase my heart rate so that my heart is more ready and willing to pump a little faster and harder, as my body calls on a little more oxygen and nutrients to allow me to perform during training, playing or competing.  As I get older, I have noticed this is more important as I can’t get away with skipping the warm up as easy as I could 10 and 20 years ago!

By mobilizing my joints I can put my body in a position to move more fluidly, more efficiently and potentially quicker.

 By practicing some shapes that will help me perform my sport better

I can prepare my nervous system to send the communication signals between my brain, muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones that help me to make the shapes I need to play/practice my sport.

I can check in on my mental state and if needed alter it. I find, especially before competitions, I can be prone to an adrenaline rush which increases my sensitivity to my surroundings, if I’m not careful I allow myself to caught up In all sorts of mental scenarios that really don’t help me. By practicing checking my breath rate, checking in with my physical state,  focusing on the shapes I want my body to make, visualizing the outcome I want from training/competing I have a better outcome. 

I tend to give myself 60-90 minutes to warm up for competition, depending on weather conditions – the longer warm up for colder conditions, shortening for hotter conditions.

I start with 800m to a mile jog, then stretching head to toe, followed by drill work.

See attached video for an example of some drill work I do for running – if your sport involves multi-directional movements (most ball/team sports), then include multi-directional movements in your warm up.

Next week I will talk about cool down.

Stay safe and have a good week.

Sharon & Gary

Week 8 - Nutritional Support for your immune system

I asked my good friend and nutritionist, Sue Camp to write some guidelines for nutrition that will help to support your immune system.

Nutritional foundations to strengthen your immunity

We’re living in challenging times; the COVID-19 outbreak is unprecedented in recent history, and there are no guidelines for an epidemiological event of this scope and magnitude.

Winston Churchill apparently said “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.”

Amidst our current uncertainty, there are still some things we can influence, and our health, both mental and physical, is one of them.

The immune system is a complex network of cells and proteins and provides the body’s defence mechanism against infections and viruses. The immune system has a number of responses to fend off these bugs including cytotoxic T-Cells, Natural Killer cells, cell death and the formation of antibodies.

Immunonutrition is the potential to modulate the activity of the immune system by interventions with specific nutrients. Our first immune strategy is always dietary. The standard Western diet with high amounts of energy dense, processed food inhibits our immune capacity.

Immune support starts with a balanced, varied, colourful wholefood diet that excludes refined, foods and sugar.

Food is information to the body and can be considered the air-traffic controller of the immune system.

Research indicates that brightly coloured vegetables and fruits strengthen immunity better than most supplements. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables—aim for 10 servings per day.

Taking care of our gut health is a priority; most of our immune system is in our gut. It’s about dietary diversity and variety which provides a complex and broad range of nutrients – and fibre.

Probiotics contain “good bacteria” that not only support the health of the gut but also influence immune system functioning and regulation. They can be found in fermented foods such as sauerkraut, fermented tempeh (type of soya), miso, kefir and natural yogurt.

Beta-glucans are important structural component of cell walls in certain organisms such as bacteria, fungi and some plants. They can help to upregulate the immune system.

Food sources include reishi, maitake and shiitake mushrooms as well as oats, whole grains, seaweed and algae.

Just to add, those humble mushrooms also act as antibacterial, immune system enhancers and even cholesterol lowering agents.  Additionally they provide important nutrients including selenium, potassium, B vitamins, vitamin D, proteins and fibre.

Supporting our digestive function also means eating slowly, mindfully and chewing more!

 A couple of other crucial nutrients include the following:

Vitamin A protects the epithelium and mucus integrity in the body and possesses anti-inflammatory effects

Find it in cod liver oil, beef liver, eggs, fortified milk and cereals. Other sources of beta-carotene include orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, as well as broccoli, spinach and most dark green, leafy vegetables.

Supplemental levels are around 800mcg per day.

 Vitamin C helps to enhance white blood cell function and activity and maximise the body’s anti-oxidative capacity and natural immunity.

Citrus fruits  are of course on the list -oranges, limes and lemons. Other fruit include strawberries, kiwis, papaya, guavas, persimmons and lychees, and vegetables to include are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, yellow peppers as well as herbs such as thyme and parsley.

With regards to supplemental dosing, consider 1000mg a daily maintenance dose and increase to bowel tolerance for additional support.

Vitamin D is a key nutrient affecting the immune response and has been shown to possess or stimulate anti-viral properties. Vitamin D receptors are found on a number of immune cells, supporting healthy immune cell activation.

Get in the sun when you can!

Food sources include fatty fish such as tuna, mackerel, salmon, herring and sardines as well as cheese, egg yolks and mushrooms.

It’s an inexpensive supplement; consider additional support from at least 2000iu per day.

 Zinc deficiency may result in increased susceptibility to a variety of pathogens. Zinc is crucial for normal development and function of our immune cells.

Oysters, red meat, shellfish and poultry are excellent sources of zinc. Vegetarian options include cheese, milk as wells as legumes such as chickpeas, lentils and beans, seeds such as hemp, pumpkin and sesame, as well as nuts including cashews and almonds.

Supplemental levels can vary from 10-30mg per day.

Lifestyle routines, too, are a crucial part of supporting immunity:

·      Chronic stress can negatively alter immune system responses, making you more likely to get sick. Identify your personal stress reduction strategies and practice them regularly.

·      Sleep has a big influence on immune function, so get plenty of it. 

·      Keep moving - regular physical activity helps to strengthen the immune system function by raising levels of infection-fighting white blood cells and antibodies, increasing circulation, and decreasing stress hormones.

 Our suggestion is to take this time to increase your immune system strength, work on your physical health, balance your emotional health and to stop those health sabotaging habits.

Remember, fear only creates stress, which further compromises our immunity. 

Feel gratitude and find the positives on a daily basis.

 Sue Camp is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and certified Functional Medicine practitioner.

She works at clinics in central London and Richmond, and online remotely.

She can be contacted on 0778 447 5777

www.nutripsyence.com

Week 7 Breathing and Sport

Week 7- Breath and your sport

Exerting our bodies through sport requires a constant supply of fresh oxygen and nutrients to be delivered to our muscles and soft tissues. As we inhale we take air into our lungs our body takes oxygen from this air and transports it to our cells, via our blood. Our blood takes waste products (carbon dioxide) from our cells back to our lungs to be recycled into the outside air, which we do through exhaling.

The act of breathing uses a number of muscles between our heads and hips. The more capable these muscles are of expanding and contracting (being elastic), the less effort we will perceive in each breath.

 Asides from being vital for our survival, our breath also has an impact on our voice, posture and mood. Whilst breathing is a function we do automatically, we can also manipulate our breathing using exercises which help us to calm our mood, improve our posture, speak/sing better and fully utilize our lung capacity.

 Posture affects how well we move and in turn could therefore affect our performance in sport and possibly how likely we might be to get injured.

If we practice allowing our bodies to move as we breathe, we can, over time affect our posture with our breath. Try breathing with your shoulders hunched, rounded forwards and your body bent over, now try the opposite. What do you feel with rounded shoulders compared with relaxed shoulders? Finally try noticing the movements your body naturally wants to make as you breath – this can take time to develop, however, you will likely find your ribcage wants to expand all the way round from your sternum at the front to your spine at the back of your body, the muscles in your face, neck, head, shoulders and belly also expand and contractand you may find that you feel more relaxed mentally.

Breath is also linked to our fight/flight response – a sudden shock will generally result in a sharp intake of breath and possibly even cause us to hold our breath for a moment. Sprinters often take a big inhale in ‘set’ position and then a long exhale as they explode out of the blocks.

 In summary by becoming aware of our breath and using breathing exercises, over time, we can improve our posture, increase our lung capacity and calm our nervous system. Increasing our lung capacity and posture may help us perform better.  Our body performs digestion and repair work best at rest, (when our nervous system is in parasympathetic mode). Therefore calming our nervous system after our efforts, allows our body to recover, repair itself and be more ready for our next bout of work.

 There are a number of different exercises you can follow for breathing, if you are interested in further reading I particularly like “Anatomy of Breathing” by

Blandine Calais-Germain. For those of you interested in yoga and breath I like “Prana and Pranayama” by Swami Niranjananansa Saraswati, although I would add that some of theses exercises are quite strong so it may be best to find a yoga practitioner to work with.

For the runners amongst you on a long distance play with inhale for three strides, exhale for three strides

When I am running recovery runs at a slow pace/low heart rate I find myself inhaling and exhaling through my nose, however, when I am sprinting and exerting maximum effort I’m using my mouth and nose without even thinking about it.  During recovery my aim is to encourage my breathing rate to slow and regulate length of my inhale and exhale, this in turn allows me to calm my head ready for the next hard effort.

Some Breathing Practices I take you through in my attached video:

 Diaphragm Breathing

Inhale/Exhale & pause

Nasal Breath

Sssss breath

Bee breath

Week 6 Covid Lockdown - My views on Stretching

Week 6 Lock Down – My views on Stretching

 You may have noticed lots of articles about how stretching will cause injury. You may also have noticed lots of articles about how stretching will prevent injury, help recovery, is a must-do part of your training..…Its hard to know what to believe with so much conflicting advice out there!

 Gary and I often recommend a book by a chap called Brad Walker “Anatomy of Stretching”, which you can pick up on Amazon and other bookstores for around £10. Its very well illustrated with clear instructions and advice.

 Here’s my view on stretching:

A muscle sits between tendons which attach it to a bone, forming a joint (some muscles cross more than one joint).  Movement is created, amongst other things by a muscle contracting, take for example, making a fist – your flexor digitorum muscles will contract, causing your fingers to flex inwards towards your palm. Now if you hold that position for a length of time you will find it becomes difficult to extend your fingers away from your palm. The muscles causing you to make a fist may not be so keen to release and as they stay in contraction you may feel pain as well as the frustration of finding it difficult to move your fingers.

 Translated into simple terms in order for us to move we need our muscles to both contract and release, or ‘stand down’, relax, chill out.

So, my personal approach to stretching as a tool in my training is to view it as calming my nervous system down, so that my muscles can chill out and allow my limbs to be a length that allows me to move with ease.

 I feel a lot of people feel tension in an area and try to pull that area into a position that they feel it should be in. However, our body has a natural self-protection system called stretch-reflex.

 Stretch Reflex is a bit like your brain hitting pause on a movement that it feels may damage your body. You may experience this as more rather than less pain/tension in the area you were trying to gain more movement in. You have a choice of ignoring the signals your nervous system is sending you and carry on trying to reach your desired ‘length’ of movement or you can back off, allow your nervous system to settle and try again. Moving a little slower to see how much movement an area is giving you, will generally result in less pain and possibly actually allow you to move further.

I have personally learned to use my breath as a guide to how ‘deep’ into a stretch I move, imagining allowing my breath to create the movements in my body. I have found that I may well start folding forwards and my hands are only at my knees, however, if I let my body move as I breathe, (which took me quite a lot of practice and a skill called patience that I’m still learning), over time my hands will reach the floor.

 See attached video for a set of stretches and my approach to them, I have deliberately moved from head to toe, as I’m easily distracted and that’s my simple way of covering most basis!

Next week I will take you through some breathing exercises that may help you get more out of your lungs on your run and also help you to recover.

Stay safe, stay well, Take Care

My approach to stretching is to allow the body to move as you breath, rather than holding a position and pulling.

Week 5 – Building strong foundations and getting used to a new normal

I hope this finds everyone safe and well. There’s a lot of pressure to do more, to create, to use this time wisely, however, feeling crap and frustrated is allowed too, acknowledge this is a pretty tough, shitty time to be living through, whilst believing, this time will pass.

I’ve found (through a few tough training situations) acceptance and ownership of emotions can actually help me to move on from them. Accepting that I am struggling with a certain movement can help me to focus on improving it, when I try to deny my weaknesses they don’t go away, they’re happily waiting for me every time, often in the same place on a run.. I amused myself on the second half of my first marathon by mentally noting all the parts of my body (as it broke down along the way) I needed to work on for my next marathon….I took an hour off my next marathon and didn’t experience much pain until I tried to stop after the ‘sprint finish’ I liked to do at the end.

When Gary first started coaching me, I had pretty strong legs, however a very weak upper body. Gary set me a simple circuit of press-ups, sit-ups, squats and lunges. It started with 3 sets of 20 repetitions, the only one I struggled with was press ups- the starting (plank position) and moving down to the ground were easy, however, lifting my body back off the floor was nigh on impossible, which is why I’d always avoided them!.

 Every morning I set about the press ups, fearing that Gary would think me useless and stop coaching me, if after a month I couldn’t do at least ten….by the end of the first week, battling with my frustration of my weak and feeble arms, I could do one incredibly shaky press up and day by day I increased by 1 more because that was all my brain could cope with believing at the time.

By the end of the first month I had built to 20, still shaky press ups….eventually I built up to 40, today 50 at a time is the new normal. No-one could have built that strength for me, I had guidance from a great coach, however, my body was only completing what my mind told it that it could- my coach’s belief that I could do them was incredibly helpful but until I found that belief myself it would not happen.

About four months into training I did a ‘fun’ race with my club In Richmond Park, as I set off I had a surreal moment of witnessing my body creating more power than it had ever created before …even my nemesis noticed (as I passed her) and congratulated me on it!! I knocked 10 mins off my time at Clivedon 5 in the January and in the April I took 8 seconds off my 800m PB and 7 seconds off my 400m…today the furthest I race is 400m…

I think of strength & conditioning as the foundations for any sport & whilst I’m aware that sports will make you stronger than sitting on the sofa, taking 20 minutes to do a short circuit, a few times a week, will help to strengthen the muscles you use in your sport, which may mean you get further along your next run or longer into your next team practice before you find you struggle physically. Start with your body weight, find the strength and control within your body’s movements before adding weights to those movements.

 Keep it simple to start with but do focus on the shape you are making, to get the most benefit from an exercise you need to work towards the best shape, accept your starting shape, however, visualize the shape you would like to be making. Elite performers were not born with eloquent movements they have developed them, by knowing the shapes they aspire to and focusing on the movements they are making. As long as you stay focused, your body should, over time oblige with improving.

 See the video attached for a set of simple exercises, with technique pointers to start you off.

 Next week I will talk about my approach to stretching.

Stay safe and well

 Warm Regards

 Sharon & Gary

Week 4 Lock Down

Week 4 Covid-19 Lockdown

So I’ve settled into a routine and this week I am feeling calmer, I am maintaining a routine, starting my day with meditation and doing any running early before the paths and parks get busy with other folk looking to change their surroundings.  I explained to a neighbor who suggested joggers should be stopping, standing to one side and waiting for walkers to pass, that when you are jogging and running its not so easy to stop every time you see walkers, it can cause injury to stop suddenly, so we each need to take responsibility for social distancing, moving out of each other’s way as much as possible.

This week, admittedly using Easter as an excuse I have slipped into a chocolate eating mess and really need to catch onto myself – a downside of practicing mindfulness is being more aware of sliding into bad habits. My best way of being disciplined where my sweet tooth is concerned is to have only nutritious foods in the cupboards and fridge.

So from this moment onwards I am going to revert to a small piece of dark chocolate a day and focus on food as fuel rather than my own personal default of having a rather large emotional attachment to food. I personally find eating healthy, nutritious food helps my mood and mental focus so I’m getting back to it.

Here’s a link to one of the short meditations that I use

https://youtu.be/NYT5veRDaVU

Covid 19 Weeks 1-3

Week 1-3 of Lockdown

I have to admit to initially being rather complacent about Covid-19 and the impact it would have on the world, when it was a way off in China it was going to settle quite quickly, it wasn’t going to impact my plans for Summer, I was busy training for the World Masters Athletics in Toronto.  I was proudly picking up more teaching work in Yoga, gently stepping back into the Corporate World as a teacher, rather than an office worker/Banker.

My change of mind occurred fairly suddenly as I started to question the increased cases and deaths. The Global impact, attitude & responses changing at rapid pace. The Supermarket shelves emptying of bizarrely toilet rolls, then pasta and flour. Finally the thought of wanting to keep safe my close friends with underlying health conditions. I was not fearful of contracting the virus, more fearful of picking it up and passing it onto someone who’s immune system couldn’t cope. As I looked a little deeper, it became apparent that day 6 onwards is a lottery of improving or worsening  whether you’re young, old, rich poor, healthy or not you could find yourself fighting to live.

One Sunday evening, I sat crying with the speed of the changes going on around me, the deaths, the need to distance, not knowing how long it would go on for, I’d put so much energy into changing career, building a better life for myself and now it could all be ripped out from under me by an invisible virus capable of spreading across the World in a matter of months. My will to do the right thing resulted initially in a lack of ability to earn funds-how long would my savings last?

 I woke up the following morning and set my useless panic to one side and drawing on my previous banking role in risk management, wrote myself an action plan around maintaining some form of cashflow. I shared it with other therapists and yoga teachers.

I saw an Ad on Facebook for a three day webinar to start teaching yoga online…I signed up and threw myself into absorbing everything I needed to know. I  signed up to Zoom and found myself teaching a 1-2-1 online the following morning, through my macbook propped up on a couple of yoga bricks.  The following day, I popped into the shop to update my mailing list and was asking a colleague for recommendations of a microphone – he donated a pair of  Aftershokz Bluetooth headphones with a built in mic…they’re so comfortable they  pretty much live on my head now !!

I let my regular students know I can now offer online classes, I listened to podcasts, watched youtube clips, shared ideas with others on facebook and found myself emailing an offering of online yoga classes and online consultations for injury and rehab. Feeling the need share techniques I personally found helpful, I recorded some short breathing and meditation clips and put them out on youtube, facebook and linkedin.

I have pared back my outgoings to essentials….its not that hard when you can only go for a run or the supermarket LOL. I now have confidence that whilst my business falls through the cracks on the Government offerings, I will be able to ride this out with an additional offering of online yoga and online exercise adherence, for anyone who needs to be accountable to help their body to strengthen and repair.

Before Covid-19 having an online presence other than a website was for other folk, definitely not for me!! However, having the ground ripped from underneath me, I had no choice if I wanted my world to survive, I had to adapt to the situation. I learned through Project Finance Risk Management that no matter how disasterous something seems, there is always a solution, it’s often difficult to navigate, however there is always a way forward. Through yoga I have learned and continue to remind myself that each moment we live in, whether enjoyable or difficult will pass and If I step back I can choose how to respond to each moment.

 What I have learned in this period:

-       Meditating daily is helping me to stay calm and focused.

-       My emotions will change and pass, sometimes, like our weather I will experience every emotion within an hour.

-       Gratitude for my garden and my athletics training.

-       I can still connect with people.

-       Its ok to not be ok emotionally and I don’t have to be a technical genius or perfect infront of the camera, I just need a passion to help folk to learn, build strength and grow.

-        A greater understanding of Namaste – I am as you are, never did this word hold such deep understanding for me,  this virus has touched the lives and emotions of every single person in the whole world.

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