Tag: injury

Running: How to warm up properly

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

Hi, and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.

I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve told the same thing by experienced runners: ‘just make sure you warm up properly’. It’s probably the number one rule that we should all follow – but how many of us can honestly say we actually do it? And I don’t mean do it half-heartedly (for years I used to jog on the spot for ten seconds, windmill my arms and take a few big breaths and think I was ready for a marathon). I mean really warm up. Just as with any aspect of running, doing it properly is a skill that you need to learn, and then apply consistently in order to see any benefit.

And believe me, it is worth it – here are just a few good reasons why warming up properly so essential:

  • It reduces the risk of setting off too fast, burning out and not getting through your run
  • It warms up your muscles and your joints, reducing the chance of injury.
  • It gets your heart beating, but in a gradual way that will prepare your body properly for a sustained effort.

My personal warm up

So what’s my warm up routine? Here’s what I always recommend whenever people ask me how I get ready for a run:

Do some dynamic stretches (10 each):

  1. Hip Flexor Stretch

Stand up straight and flex your hip and knee – bringing your right knee towards your chest and swinging your left arm forward. Lower and repeat on the other leg.

  1. Plantar Flexor Stretch

Hands on hips, raise your right foot up slightly, keeping your knee straight. Flex your foot with your toes pointing upwards. Repeat with the other foot.

Then just walk.

Yes, walk. Taking a five-minute walk can make the perfect transition between relative inactivity and running. It will get the blood pumping to all of the same places you’ll need on your run, and also provides you with some vital headspace before your get going.

So next time park 5 minutes away from the start line, and build a walk into your pre-run routine.

Until the next time,

Mohsin Salya

Runners, it’s time to love your feet too!

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

Hi, and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.

We’ve all been there – finally sitting down at the end of a long run, we pull off our socks and trainers and gently nurse our hot and throbbing feet, and wonder why on earth they hurt so much. Whether it’s blisters or pinched nerves, bruises or skin infections, we only ever seem to give our feet the love and attention they deserve when they really start to hurt.

On the front line

This is clearly far too late – especially when you consider the fact that when it comes to running, our feet are well and truly on the front line. Everything starts with your feet. They are the base that you build your entire running technique upon and when they are suffering, the rest of you suffers too. Injuries to your feet – the second most common site of problems after the knee – can affect your entire body, from your shins to your knees, and your hips to your back.

Time to focus on our feet

So, think about the amount of attention you pay to the rest of your body – whether it’s by making sure we’re warming up properly to drinking plenty of water or eating the right meals pre-race – and start giving the same consideration to preparing and caring for your feet. Here are three quick suggestions think about.

  1. The right shoes

The most obvious point (at least to anyone who has ever run any distance in the wrong shoes) is that you must have the right shoes for your feet and the terrain you’re planning to cover. Skip the general sports stores and head for your local specialist running shop – there should be an expert there who knows how to fit shoes properly and who will make sure your feet find their perfect partner.

  1. The right socks

It seems sock technology has advanced almost as much in recent years as it has for shoes, and you should no longer be satisfied with wearing just any old sock for your run. Getting the right pair of specially formed acrylic socks can dramatically increase your chances of avoiding blisters, as well as keeping your feet cool and healthy.

  1. The ice treatment

Our feet get hot when we go for a run – it’s perfectly natural – but sometimes this can be very uncomfortable, particularly if they swell up. Soak your feet in a bucket of ice water to calm them down (if you can stand it – use a cold hose if you can’t) – although don’t risk frostbite by exposing them to ice for longer than 20 minutes.

Seek advice

Finally, if you have problems with your feet that just aren’t going away, go and see a professional. Find out who has a good reputation among your fellow runners, and give your feet a treat for once. They’ll thank you for it.

Until the next time,

Mohsin Salya.

Should I Try Acupuncture?

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

Hi there, and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.

Running can be very rewarding, helping you lead a healthier lifestyle. However, you put a lot of strain on your muscles when you run, and it’s crucial that you find ways to deal with it, otherwise you could do some damage. People try various techniques to alleviate sore muscles, one of which is acupuncture. To find out if acupuncture could be the right solution for you, carry on reading.

Handling muscle cramps

Muscle cramps are often a reality for runners, especially those of the long distance variety. There are two kinds of running muscle cramps you need to be aware of, the first of which is muscle overloading. This is where you overuse your calf muscles, as they’re the ones you depend on most for running, and this leads to painful fatigue cramps. The second is electrolyte imbalance muscle cramp which affects all muscle groups and is caused by excessive sweating – a common by-product of running.

If you don’t manage muscle cramps, there could be consequences later down the road that stop you from running. Obviously proper hydration management is key to dealing with an electrolyte imbalance muscle cramp, so you have enough fluids to replace lost sweat. For muscle overloads, you can try stretches and massages, improving the blood flow to your calf muscles so they can get some relief.

Warming up and down

It’s important to create a personalised warm up and cool down strategy. This will prepare your muscles for the rigours of running and stop any injuries from getting worse. It doesn’t take long to warm up – you can prepare your body for running in five minutes. Exercises such as ‘knee lift hip rotations’ (where you extend one leg out from your body 15 times, then repeat for the other leg) are a great way to warm up.

Cooling down’s not quite as straight forward. You should base your cool down strategy on the amount of time you spent running. If you had a gentle jog, a five minute stretch should do it, while if you’ve just completed a marathon, it’s a good idea to put aside a few hours for cooling down. Doing stretches after you run gives them time to recover, and replenish both lost energy and essential fluids.

Runners and acupuncture

But sometimes doing regular warm ups and cool downs isn’t enough. Just think of how much strain you can put on your muscles by using them every day, especially if you’re training for a marathon, where it’s common to run tens of miles in a single session. You’ll need to take some extra measures to keep your muscles in tip top shape, and industry source Runner’s World suggests that you try acupuncture.

So what exactly is acupuncture? Acupuncture is a medical practice which originated in the Ancient Chinese medical tradition. It works by stimulating key points in your body, most typically by using a needle to penetrate your skin, providing you with pain relief. It’s also employed to treat certain medical conditions, ranging from migraines to insomnia.

But how much can it help a runner? A lot, according to the experts Runner’s World spoke to. The publication notes that the needles used in acupuncture produce a large amount of anti-inflammatories, so it can be used to treat various running-related conditions. The treatment can also promote better blood flow to a muscle, allowing it to access the oxygen and nutrients needed to enable healing. It’s common for many elite runners to go in for a 30 minute acupuncture session each week, and you can see real results after about three weeks.

Is acupuncture right for you?

Yes, acupuncture can be great for runners, as it’s known to relieve muscle cramps, promoting better performance, but is it right for you? It definitely gives you the ability to embrace endurance running. But it’s best to speak to medical experts before trying ‘alternative’ treatments such as acupuncture, just to be on the safe side, as it may not be appropriate for everyone. But it is a great way to take care of your muscles and be the best runner possible!

Until the next time,

Mohsin Salya

How do I Warm Up and Cool Down?

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

Hi there, and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.

You should take care of your body if you’re a runner, to avoid getting common running injuries, such as stress fractures, which can damage your performance. Today, I’m going to look at this topic in more depth, by explaining how to warm up and cool down after a run.

Warming up

Keep in mind that if you start running without warming up first, you’ll be inflexible and stiff, limiting your natural stride, so it’ll take you some time to get into optimum running mode. By warming your body up, you can get yourself into the right mind set, so you can really get the most out of your run.

There are various warm up techniques that you can do in just five minutes, like the ‘knee lift hip rotation.’ Start by standing on one leg and then you raise your non-standing knee up to your hip height. You should keep your knee at this level and move your leg out from your body as far as reasonably possible, before slowly lowering it to the ground and repeating this process 15 times for each leg.

Cooling down

You should also remember that running can place a lot of stress on your body, so you may want to try some cool down techniques, giving your limbs the chance to readjust to normal movement. There are a range of cool down exercises that you can use, depending on the time you spent running.

One way to cool down is to gradually bring your body to a standstill, according to Runner’s World, an industry portal. The technique you should use depends on how hard your run was. If you went for a gentle jog, doing five minutes of brisk walking should do the trick. However, for harder workouts start by doing around ten minutes of easy running and then transitioning to brisk walking for five minutes.

It is also key that you stretch out your muscles after running. This allows them to recover from the demands of running and replenish both vital fluids and energy. Do some of the same stretches as you would before running, like working your hamstrings by bending your knees for 30 seconds, while lifting your toes up. Again, vary your stretching times. For an easy run, five minutes of stretching will do but if you’ve just completed a marathon, you should stretch for a minimum of two hours.

Finally if you’ve just gone on a long run, especially a marathon, you should also take some time to rest in a cold water bath. With this tactic, you can improve blood circulation, reducing the soreness in your muscles, allowing them to recover from the stresses of hard running. To do this, you should buy three bags of ice, fill up your bath tub to about the half way point with cold water and then pour the ice in. Don’t spend too long in the bath however, as long-term exposure to extreme cold can harm your body.

Treat with care

Think of your body as a tool, if you want to establish a regular running schedule – treat it with care. As well as warming up and cooling down, you would be advised to get regular sleep, follow a healthy diet and maintain your mental health, so you can get the health benefits that come with running.

Until the next time,

Mohsin Salya.

What Are The Signs of Overtraining?

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

Hi there – welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.

Like all things that are good for you, running is good in moderation. If you clock up the miles too quickly without letting your body recover properly, you could end up tired, injured or in extreme cases chronically sick. In this post I’ll be sharing tips on how to spot the signs of overtraining.

What is overtraining?           

Put simply, overtraining occurs when the intensity and/or frequency of your runs exceeds your body’s ability to recover from the training load. There is a risk of seriously hurting yourself if you do this for a long period of time. Overtraining can affect you mentally, physically and emotionally, and every runner is at risk – whether you are a beginner or a professional. It’s more common for serious runners to go too far and overtrain, especially if they are aiming to hit a specific goal or preparing for an important race.

However, there’s no need to panic. If you only run three or four times per week at an easy pace, the chances are you aren’t at risk of overtraining. But, if you also run a lot and workout at the gym, then there are a few signs of overtraining to watch out for.

What are the signs of overtraining?       

  • Poor performance – if your running performance has suffered despite all of your hard effort. This is most noticeable when you feel your training is going according to plan, but your usual runs suddenly feel too hard.
  • Persistent aches and injuries – Even though soreness and stiffness are part of being a runner, you must not ignore the aches and injuries that just won’t go away. When you are overtraining, your body doesn’t get enough time to recover between runs, and so you start to train in a weakened state.
  • Insomnia – You may notice your sleep pattern becomes disturbs – this is due to the impact overtraining has on your body’s natural biorhythms. Other symptoms will include lethargy, waking up much earlier than usual or having difficulty sleeping or staying asleep.
  • Loss of appetite – If your appetite has diminished somewhat lately, then this could be another sign of overtraining. As a result, you’ll notice unwanted weight loss, so this is something else to watch out for during your training stages.
  • Lack of motivation – It’s important to note that there is a difference between occasional wanting to skip a run and suddenly becoming disinterested. In some extreme cases, you might lose interest in running altogether.
  • Chronic sickness – A quite obvious sign of overtraining is a high susceptibility to illness. Overtraining will hamper your immune system, which will leave you with more illnesses than usual. In particular, repeated bouts of colds, the flu and other viruses.

Overtraining is not clear cut, and so please bear in mind that none of these symptoms will be a definite indicator of overtraining. If you’re worried that you may be overtraining, it’s best to decrease the number and intensity of your workouts immediately and seek advice from a healthcare professional.

Until next time,

Mohsin Salya

Why Do I Ache More in the Morning?

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

 

Hi and welcome to the Mohsin Salya blog.

It’s a common complaint when you’re a runner that you ache more the morning after than at any other time. You may be able to fall asleep fine – good, even, if you’ve worked out or been on a run – but you wake up and have great difficulty getting out of bed. You find that everything hurts in the morning, even if you’ve had a good rest.

Why is the pain worse when we wake up?

According to a new University of Manchester study published in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, it’s all down to inflammation.  It turns out our bodies seem to suppress inflammation when we sleep, leading to worse pain when we wake up and the inflammation is ‘turned back on’.

Patients of Rheumatoid Arthritis, an inflammatory disease, have long known that their symptoms can vary throughout the day, with many suffering from greater joint stiffness upon waking. However, little is known about how our circulation rhythms – our inner clocks that tell us when to go to sleep and when to wake up – control this pain.

“At night time, those inflammatory markers go down but gradually rise up again in the morning,” says University of Manchester researcher and study author Julie Gibbs, PhD.

How can I prevent aching after running?

The most obvious way you can limit the aching and stiffness the morning after a run is to ease into your training, and ramp up your training workload slowly. For example, your first run after time off should be very short and moderate intensity. It should be no longer than 20 minutes, and be light enough that you are able to hold a conversation throughout it. Even if you feel you are capable of much more, you need to resist the temptation.

You also need to resist the temptation to increase your training workload aggressively after that first workout has been completed. No matter how fit you are, a run that is significantly longer or more intense than those you are used to will cause significant aching. There’s nothing wrong with increasing your training, but just make sure you do it slowly. The key is to make sure your workouts are never more than slightly tougher than the previous one.

Until next time,

Mohsin Salya

The Most Common Running Injuries

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

Hi there and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.

It’s a fact of life that if you’re a runner, there’s a good chance of injury at some point. Some estimate that up to 80 per cent of runners are injured at some point each year. With a statistic like that, it’s a good idea to get clued up on the different kinds of injury you could potentially fall victim to, as well as how to prevent them and treat them.

In this post I’ll be taking a brief look at each common injury, so that you know the essentials if you’re ever affected.

Runners Knee

Prevalence rate: 40%

Symptoms: Irritation of the cartilage under the kneecap

Causes:

  • Any extra pressure on the knee
  • Long runs
  • Extended sitting
  • Descending hills or stairs

Treatment:

  • Reduce mileage
  • Avoid downhill running
  • Train using: elliptical, bike, pool

Prevention:

  • Shorten your stride
  • Land with your knee slightly bent
  • Stretch your hip flexors
  • Strengthen glutes

Plantar Fasciitis

Prevalence rate: 15%

Symptoms: The tendons and ligaments running from your heels to your toes receive small tears or inflammation

Causes:

  • Very high or very low arches
  • Pronation (foot rolls inwards)
  • Supination (foot rolls outwards)
  • Long periods of standing
  • Weak core strength

Treatment:

  • Ease up on running until fully recovered
  • Ice the affected area
  • Use a foam roller

Prevention:

  • Increase core strength
  • Wear the proper shoes for your foot type
  • Stretch your arches

Achilles Tendonitis

Prevalence rate: 11%

Symptoms: The tendon that connects your calf and heel becomes tight and irritated

Causes:

  • Dramatically increased training
  • Weak calves

Treatment:

  • Stop all running
  • Apply ice regularly

Prevention:

  • Do calf raises
  • Avoid excessive calf training
  • Avoid wearing high heels or flip flops for long periods of time

Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Prevalence rate: 12%

Symptoms: The band that runs along the outside of your leg from the hip to the knee becomes irritated and achy

Causes:

  • Increased mileage too quickly
  • Lots of downhill running

Treatment:

  • Reduce mileage
  • Use a foam roller
  • Train using a pool

Prevention:

  • Strengthen abductors
  • When running on a track, change direction every few laps
  • Limit hilly runs and shorten your stride

Stress Fracture

Prevalence rate: 6%

Symptoms: A strain on the bone that results in an achy feeling in your shins, feet or heels

Causes:

  • Drastic increase in mileage or speed
  • Nutritional deficits or inadequate calorie intake

Treatment:

  • Take a significant break from impact exercises
  • Pace yourself, even when walking
  • Train using a pool

Prevention:

  • Consume enough calories and nutrients
  • Weight train to improve bone density

Until next time,

Mohsin Salya

3 Foot Injuries to Watch Out For When Running

Posted on by Mohsin Salya

Hi and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.

When you’re a runner, there’s always the fear and possibility of injuring yourself. One of the most common injuries are foot injuries, naturally, as this is the part of the body that takes the shock and impact whilst running. The foot is active in both the landing and push-off phases of the running cycle, so it’s involved in absorbing the shock of impact (upon landing), then controlling the forces generated by running (during push-off).

In this post I will discuss the three most common foot injuries to watch out for when training, and how to treat and prevent them.

Plantar Fasciitis

This is pain along the bottom of your heel – it is particularly bad first thing in the morning when you get out of bed. This is caused by excess tension or pulling on the plantar fascia, which runs along the bottom of your foot, resulting in painful inflammation.

Treat it by:

  • Cross-training
  • Taking anti-inflammatories
  • Rolling your foot over a frozen water bottle
  • Pumping your ankle up and down 10 times before getting out of bed
  • Wearing shoes with arch support
  • Stretching your calf

To prevent Plantar Fasciitis stretch, strengthen and foam roll your calves regularly. Additionally, shorten your stride – aim for 180 foot strikes per minute.

Ankle Tendinitis

This is pain on the outside of your ankle beneath the bone and toward the back of the joint. This may start out mild but can worsen over time with repeated running. Ankle tendinitis is caused by a big bump in mileage stressing out the two tendons that run along the outside of your ankle, causing them to become in flamed.

Treat it by:

  • Cross-training
  • Applying ice for 15 minutes, five times a day
  • Stretching and foam rolling your calves
  • Talk to a sports doctor if discomfort lasts – they may recommend a brace

Ankle Tendinitis can be prevented by doing regular foot eversions and calf raises.

Stress Fracture

This is a pain in your forefoot or heel, which is usually most pronounced during running and worsens over time. This is something that can develop over time when the demand on the bone exceeds the bone’s ability to withstand the force.

Treat it by:

  • Seeing a sports doctor for immediate diagnosis – they will advise you to rest and this can reduce recovery time.
  • Cross-training

Stress fractures can be prevented by upping your mileage gradually. If you over pronate whilst running, try arch supports. Getting enough calcium and vitamin D can help prevent stress fractures, and additionally you should strengthen your core and hips with exercises.

Until next time,

Mohsin Salya