We treat many patients in our practice who have benefited from use of the tape. Kinesiology Tape is designed to help take pressure off overused muscles, reduce swelling and alleviate pain from injuries.

Have you ever used Kinesiology tape? What’s been your experience?

You can read the complete Wall Street Journal Online article here: Putting on the Stripes to Ease Pain

The one-hour presentation will discuss the way people handle information about discomfort in different situations, including “tuning-in” vs. “tuning-out” important signals. The presentation will cover how the mind and body “converse” quite clearly with each other, followed by a general discussion about performance expectations and the research linking expectations with actual performance. You’ll also learn how physical and psychological interventions can affect mood and performance. Space is limited. RSVP to Mary Davison (mary.davison@therunningstoreteam.com) at The Running Store to attend.

Peter De Michele has a Ph.D. in Sport Psychology (B.A., 1990, M.Ed., 1995; Ph.D., 2000). He has co-authored a book and several peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles on sport psychology. His areas of expertise in working with athletes are in the use of goal setting, and self-talk as methods to increase and maintain focus and motivation. Peter is a former Modern Pentathlete (Run, Equestrian, Shoot, Swim, Fence) who competed in the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival. His most recently athletic activities have included an 18th-placed finish in the USATF 50-Mile Nationals (2008).

If you find it, you could win $77!

Here’s how to play:

1. Check our HPTC Health & Fitness Blog’s recent posts to find the missing pot o’ gold.
2. Once you find it, go to our HPTC Facebook Page and tell us the name of the article in which you found the pot o’ gold.
3. If your answer is correct, your name will be entered into a drawing to win $77!*

Why $77, you ask?
Well, according to our leprechaun, the 77th day marks what is simply the finest day in all the land — St. Patrick’s Day!

*To enter, you must be 13 years of age or older, and a U.S. resident. One entry per person. Contest ends 3/18/12 at 12:00pm.

Q: Would you repeatedly do only bench presses every day?
A: NOOOOOO!!!

So why do runners only run?  This is mind-boggling to those in the rehabilitation industry.  We meet patients every day with injuries directly related to overtraining a specific area.  When you do any activity, you use certain groups of muscles to perform the motion.  Now think of running as doing the same activity 100-1,000 times per day, and now complicate that by doing it each day of the week.  Can you imagine how fast your biceps would break if you went to the gym and did 2,000 bicep curls per week?  Competitive runners seem to understand that they must work on other areas of their body to gain the advantage or edge.  To prevent injuries, everyone should incorporate cross-training into his or her weekly program.

Focus Areas for Runners

• Core – Your core drives you forward and coordinates all motion.  If your core is weak, you will transfer the stress to other muscles.
• Hip – Running seems to work the muscles driving you forward more than the muscles that stabilize your side to side motion.  A good hip stabilization program will improve your times and help prevent low back, hip, knee and ankle/foot injuries.
• Medial Quad – Runners tend to work their lateral quad more than their medial quad.  This causes the knee cap to be pulled to the outside, causing what is known as patellofemoral syndrome.

Cross-training can help stabilize or counteract your favorite activity.  This is true for almost any sport, and especially true for the swim, bike, and cross-country teams that we treat at Haymarket Physical Therapy & Chiropractic.

Examples of sports and related injuries that can be prevented by proper training and individual compliance, include:

• Running: Iiliotibial Band Syndrome(Runner’s Knee), Ankle Sprains
• Soccer: Hamstring Tears, Ankle Sprains, Calf Cramping
• Swimming: Rotator Cuff Tear, Low Back Pains
• Football: Muscle Pulls

There are many things you can do to prevent road blocks from getting in your way.

Your risk of injury is best predicted in two ways:

• First, do you have a previous injury. Tissues in your body that have been injured before are much more likely to break down a second time. If you have had an injury in the past, then you are more likely to experience the same injury or new injury to the same area in the future.
• The second best predictor of injury involves how many consecutive days you train.  More specifically,  if you work the same area everyday it will eventually break.  The reason for this is that the cells in your body perform functions to repair damaged tissues during sleep.  The more sleep you get the better as your body works over your  entire sleep cycle to reverse the damage that happened during your daily activities.

So now lets talk about the different issues you should consider when trying to prevent injuries.

• Psychological factors - Aggressive athletes get hurt more.
• Muscle imbalance – Think of your joints as being a three dimensional circle 360 degrees.  Picture that you have ropes connected to this circle pulling in all different directions.  These ropes represent the muscles in your body.  If your posture is incorrect or you tend to favor one muscle group more than others, you develop muscle imbalances.  Almost everyone exhibits muscle imbalances.  Our daily activities often lead to these changes over the course of our lifetime.
• Muscle Stiffness – Basically defined as the muscle’s resistance to change.  If a muscle is unable to lengthen in time, it breaks down or tears.  That’s why stretching is so important!!
• Weak muscles – If the muscle is not strong enough to meet its demands, it breaks.

What are the Warning Signs of Injury?
Pain is usually what comes to mind when you think about injuries.  There are usually warning signs that you can pick up on before they get to the point of injury.  Below is a list of signs that outline the progression of injury.

1. Abnormal posture (identified by observation of daily activities)
2. Muscle imbalance (possibly identified by sight but can be missed by visual observation)
3. Tightness
4. Allodyna/tender to touch (presence of pain to a non-painful stimulus)
5. Numbness and weakness (can happen at any stage)
6. Ache
7. Pain (sharp, thobbing, etc.)
8. Sprain/strain or partial tear
9. Major tear/instability (some areas can even develop fractures to bone at this stage. For example, untreated shin splints can lead to stress fractures.)

Get Help!

Don’t let the small overlooked things turn into bigger issues before talking to someone who can help.  Good luck with your workouts and hope this helps you stay injury free.

Calories are the next big issue. Do you go “no calories” or do you limit your calories. Just like everything in life, the keyword is moderation. Calories are needed for your body to function so you cannot go without them. However, if you put more calories into your body than needed, the extra is converted into fat.  You need to figure out your caloric needs by going to http://www.brianmac.co.uk/idealw.htm and under the estimated energy requirements, calculate what you need to consume based on your age, weight, height and activity level.  What I suggest is consuming the calories needed at your current activity level and then increasing your activity level to start losing weight.

Your goal is to build a fat burning engine.  Lets put it in the context of money.  If we invest our energy into building tissues that burn calories then we can sit back and watch the pounds burn off.  Muscle burns calories much faster than anything else, so resistance training is extremely important!  Resistance training with proper post workout nutrition causes an increase in muscle mass. This might not equate to a loss in weight as muscle is dense but you should notice a decrease in size when using a measuring tape. This is far more important for your ideal weight.

Begin by calculating an ideal weight and BMI:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/idealw.htm

I say pick a number somewhere in that range and set your goal. Tune in to the next blog to discuss what to do next.

When these muscles contract, the spine, pelvis and shoulders are stabilized to create a solid base of support. This allows us to make powerful movements with our extremities.

In addition to providing strength, training the core muscles can also correct postural imbalances that lead to many types of injuries. Core strengthening programs focus on using many muscles in a coordinated movement, instead of isolating a specific joint. Stability exercises are designed to work the deep muscles of the entire torso. Abdominal bracing is the main technique of core exercise training. To correctly brace, you should contract your abdominal muscles by attempting to pull your navel back in toward your spine. While bracing, you should always be able to breathe evenly, being careful not to hold your breath.

Other exercises that develop core strength include exercises on a stability or medicine balls, wobble boards, and Pilate’s exercise programs. Yoga is also an excellent way for athletes to build core strength. To develop a core strength program, it’s helpful to work with a trainer to find exercises that work best for you.

Spinal adjustments restore the normal, healthy motion and position that each spinal segment requires. There are numerous techniques and types of spinal adjustments. A chiropractor evaluates each patient’s unique spinal problem and develops a treatment program based on the patient’s needs. Spinal adjustments delivered by a trained chiropractic physician do not injure or weaken the muscular structures of the spine. For the spine to be strong and capable of withstanding the stresses of daily life, the spinal bones must be in normal alignment.