After the Napa Marathon I was plagued with yet another injury, and a serious one at that. I was struggling to get through achilles tendonitis. I actually decided to consult the doctor on this one after reading about the seriousness that is this injury. Luckily I had just changed insurances and was very pleased with my doctor's diagnosis and recommendation for physical therapy.
Upon attending physical therapy I found out that almost every problem whether it be runner's knee, ITBS, piriformis syndrome, achilles issues, patellar tendonitis, etc. often stem from a weakness in ones core. I always felt like I had a pretty strong core since I usually get through core workouts and pilates sessions with very little complaints and squirms, but that may stem from a high pain tolerance more so than as a ruler to measure the strength of my core, plus I realized how little I really had been doing pilates lately. I also was surprised to find that your core is not just your 6-pack abish muscles, but includes your whole abdomen region including glutes, hips, etc. Which makes sense, but I always just focused on my abs. This is why the physical therapist said crunches and sit-ups just won't cut it!
I was given homework to perform several ab exercises to help improve my alignment and balance, and I've always been good at doing my homework. I was so pleasantly surprised to find it actually works! I haven't had knee pain when running, I've had fewer issues with my piriformis, and my achilles is getting much better, I may even get to start increasing my mileage soon pending how Wildflower goes this weekend.
I thought I should share my homework for those plagued with injuries: (You will need a stop watch and a set of bands, I got mine at SB, but some gyms already have them for public use)
1) Bridges: tie a stretch band around your legs and then lift your pelvis into a bridge. You are to try and force the band out a bit as you hold. Lift up one leg and then hold that leg for 15 seconds, then switch legs. You are to hold the bridge switching legs for 10 x15 seconds.
2) The squat: My knees turn in when I squat so I have to tie a band around my thighs and do a traditional squat focusing on my knees pushing out toward my middle toes. You can always add weight to this exercise or do it on a bosu ball
to add difficulty to this. I really had to focus on form, because I do boot camp classes, weight classes, and even running downhill involves a squat and all this time I hit my knees at the wrong spot which makes for some uncomfortable runs
3) The clam: So there are 2 kinds of clams, one you do stationary on the floor, but I got the added bonus of the side plank while doing clams. I couldn't find a picture of both, but I have to put the 2 together for 90 seconds on each side with a band tied around my thighs. They started out real shaky, but I'm getting real good at them.
4) the plank: I don't get to do traditional planks, I get to do planks with leg lifts. I plank making sure I have good form, meaning get my butt down. Then I get to alternate legs for 90 seconds.
These were just to start, yesterday I got a whole new set of fun exercises to torture myself with. I'll let you know about those after I have tried them.
For my achilles:
1) Heel lifts: lift both heels at the same time 20 times 2 to 3 times a day
2) single leg heel lifts: lift one leg off the ground and then lift the heel still remaining on the ground 20 times then switch
3) Stretch, Stretch, Stretch...
Happy Training everyone...off to Wildflower
Upon attending physical therapy I found out that almost every problem whether it be runner's knee, ITBS, piriformis syndrome, achilles issues, patellar tendonitis, etc. often stem from a weakness in ones core. I always felt like I had a pretty strong core since I usually get through core workouts and pilates sessions with very little complaints and squirms, but that may stem from a high pain tolerance more so than as a ruler to measure the strength of my core, plus I realized how little I really had been doing pilates lately. I also was surprised to find that your core is not just your 6-pack abish muscles, but includes your whole abdomen region including glutes, hips, etc. Which makes sense, but I always just focused on my abs. This is why the physical therapist said crunches and sit-ups just won't cut it!
I was given homework to perform several ab exercises to help improve my alignment and balance, and I've always been good at doing my homework. I was so pleasantly surprised to find it actually works! I haven't had knee pain when running, I've had fewer issues with my piriformis, and my achilles is getting much better, I may even get to start increasing my mileage soon pending how Wildflower goes this weekend.
2) The squat: My knees turn in when I squat so I have to tie a band around my thighs and do a traditional squat focusing on my knees pushing out toward my middle toes. You can always add weight to this exercise or do it on a bosu ball
to add difficulty to this. I really had to focus on form, because I do boot camp classes, weight classes, and even running downhill involves a squat and all this time I hit my knees at the wrong spot which makes for some uncomfortable runs
 |
| The clam |
 |
| The Plank |
These were just to start, yesterday I got a whole new set of fun exercises to torture myself with. I'll let you know about those after I have tried them.
For my achilles:
1) Heel lifts: lift both heels at the same time 20 times 2 to 3 times a day
2) single leg heel lifts: lift one leg off the ground and then lift the heel still remaining on the ground 20 times then switch
3) Stretch, Stretch, Stretch...
Happy Training everyone...off to Wildflower
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