Children in Need – Matt Baker’s Rickshaw Ride

For those of you who are fans of The One Show on BBC1, you will be aware of Matt’s imminent 484 mile challenge; riding a rickshaw plus passenger from Edinburgh to London in 8 days.

I have the great honour of being his physio on the trip and the fun begins this Friday 11th November in Edinburgh.

For more details check out the Children in Need website, or to donate £5, text “MATT” to 70705!

Running Tips

Ok, so where did the summer go??

Rather later than promised but here are a few tips on optimising your technique for running,  be you a beginner or hardened athlete looking to tweak your performance.

1) Think light and tall. Imagine a helium balloon is raising you upwards, rather than sinking deep into the ground!

2) Move in a forwards / horizontal direction. Don’t waste energy bouncing up and down. Imagine your hips are being pulled forwards along horizontal rails.

3) Strike the ground with your mid foot, not on your heels or fully up on your toes (unless sprinting). Heel-toe gait tends to cause higher impact forces through your body leaving you more susceptible to injury, and toe running will exhaust your calves and Achilles over the long distances.

4) Minimise your foot-ground contact time. As soon as your foot has hit the ground, roll fully and evenly over your toes to pick your foot up as quickly as possible. The less time your foot is in contact with the ground, the less time abnormal forces have to pass on up your ankle, shin, knee etc etc and the quicker you will be into the next stride (quicker cadence) to get you to your destination sooner. Additionally rolling over the outside of your foot and not fully over your big toe causes a rotation of your shin and so on up the body causing potential injury, and also reduces the efficiency of your gluteal muscles or buttocks.

5) Keep a relaxed “core.” Our ribs and shoulders should be able to dissociate from our pelvis (i.e. move in different directions) to enable efficient movement. “Bracing” your core (or middle) keeps your ribs and pelvis locked together thus restricting your stride length, arm swing and lung expansion. I believe in “Dynamic Core Control” (control through movement) not “Core Stability” (fixing your core).

6) Allow your arms to swing in the direction you wish to travel. Whatever your arms do, your legs will follow. So if you tend to run with your arms swinging across your body then your legs will try to do the same and you waste energy working against that to propel yourself forwards. If your arms tend not to swing at all, then you are leaving all the work to your legs, and therefore reducing your efficiency.

So, there’s a few tips for starters. Why not video yourself running and see how you compare to the comments above. If you already have the perfect style, then great, keep up the good work. If not, then pick one thing at a time to concentrate on next time you don your trainers…

…Finally, if you are at a loss on a Saturday morning at 9am, then why not seek out your local free Park Run 5k event at www.parkrun.com and join other like-minded, all ability runners over a timed 5k route and practise your new technique!

Happy (and efficient) running!

Belated Marathon Warm Down

Ok, so it’s a bit late for a warm down… the DOMS have well and truly been and gone, the blisters dried up, and the athletes gradually realising that maybe their legs will run again, but I still wanted to say a massive WELL DONE! to my Three Musketeers. They all performed brilliantly, and a great weekend was had by all… (although the supporters may have enjoyed the sunshine a little more than the athletes!). It would not be fair to complete the warm down without a big “high five” for those supporters; Vic, Luke, David, Matt and family, and the extended Darling clan… the athletes will never truly understand the sweat and tears that goes into the supporting role.

So, what next? Well I can’t answer for the others, but from a blog point of view, watch out for tips on optimal posture, be it standing, walking or running, and how to give yourself the best chance of getting through the summer season, be it in the garden, on the track or road, or on the cricket field…. Oh yes, the cricket season has begun, and don’t their bodies know it!! Enjoy!

Mind – Body Link

Whilst I’m in the praising mood, I would like to congratulate my sister, Caroline Forrest on the publication of her first book: “Therapy Skills for Healthcare.” I think it is a fantastic achievement. The book is a great read and invaluable insight into the connection between people’s physical and emotional health needs and ways to optimise their management.

Although written for healthcare professionals, I believe that most of us could relate to a number of the topics ourselves, or have a friend or family member with some degree of emotional health issues who could benefit from us understanding more about how we can improve our relationship with them.

Anyway, don’t just take my word for it, go get yourselves a copy… Amazon, WHSmiths, Waterstone’s, amongst others. Out now!

Happy Reading!