Marathon Tips

image006With the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon fast approaching, this is usually around the time we start to see injuries trickle into the clinic, where people are madly ramping up their mileage each week to ensure they are on target with their training plan or catching up for lost time and simply haven’t had the chance to train as planned.

With several other running events across Asia which happen all year round, here are some handy hints for distance running, injury prevention and enhancing performance.

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Common muscle imbalance seen at the hip / pelvis – Tensor Fascia Lata (TFL) dominates Gluteus Medius (Glut Med)

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It is common to observe this muscle imbalance by watching someone walking, running, standing on one leg, single leg squat or walking lunge. Common observations of someone with a tight TFL will be an increased anterior tilt of the pelvis, internally rotated femur leading to medial knee position, dropped opposite side of the pelvis “Trendelenburg” sign. TFL length may be reduced. Glut med strength will commonly be decreased due to inhibition of this muscle with an overactive TFL.

 

 

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DOMS – what is DOMS? (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)

DOMSDOMS is an acronym for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness which is the muscle soreness experienced 24-48 hours post-exercise. It can also start as early as 6 hours and last till 72 hours post-exercise.

DOMS is a common result of intense physical activity that stresses the muscle beyond what it is accustomed to. Eccentric contractions are more likely to cause DOMS because eccentric loading puts a higher demand on your muscles compared to a concentric contraction of the muscle, and with these higher loads/demands the muscles suffer microtrauma.

DOMS is thought to be microtrauma in muscle and connective tissue and causes inflammation and subsequent pain. Anyone can get DOMS and is more pronounced when a new training activity or increased training load (volume or intensity) is introduced. DOMS is not a bad thing, it is really a sign of your body trying to make adaptions in an attempt to better prepare your body to do the same activity again.

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When to replace your running shoes?

running-shoe-371625_960_720-2The question is often asked. “How frequently should I replace my running shoes?”

Worn out running shoes can potentially increase the risk of injury, so it is important to remember all running shoes will wear out eventually. How quickly this happens is determined by your mileage, the surface you run on, body weight and foot type.

Here are some tips about replacing running shoes: Read more

Ice baths – the theoretical benefits

shutterstock_105258182It is a common practice you see, where athletes finish training or an event and immerse themselves in an ice filled bath (cold water immersion) to assist with recovery. Why exactly do they do this and what is the perceived benefit.

Intense exercise leads to microtrauma (small tears) in muscle fibres and resultant soreness which is often referred to as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Read more

Stress fractures of the spine in young athletes

cricket-lower-back-pain-300x143Stress fractures of the lumbar spine in the young athlete is a common injury you hear of in this population group. Spondylolysis is a condition describing a non displaced stress fracture of the spinal vertebra, in the pars interarticularis of the spinal column. The pars interarticularis is the part of the vertebra between the upper and lower facets of the vertebra. Most cases of spondylolysis occur at the L5 level.

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