running – Your Goals Physical Therapy

How to Strengthen Your Core Muscles for Running

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 17:07:19 +0000

How to Strengthen Your Core Muscles for Running

Hey there! Let’s talk about how your anatomy plays a big role in your athletic performance, especially when it comes to running.

Now, when we say “core muscles,” we’re talking about more than just those visible abs. Your core includes all those deep muscles that connect your pelvis, hips, and legs. Think of your core as your body’s stability center—it’s where all your limb movements start.

When you’re out running, your core muscles are working hard to keep your torso balanced, your spine aligned, and your legs moving smoothly.

This means you get a more efficient stride, which is super important if you want to run longer or faster without getting tired too quickly. Plus, a strong core helps your legs move efficiently and keeps your knees healthier by reducing unnecessary stress.

If you want to boost your running distance and endurance, it’s critical to control trunk movements like side-bending, rotation, and flexion. The exercises in this video will help you train your body to resist these motions, letting you save more energy for hitting those longer or faster runs.

Ready to unlock the full power of your core and transform your running game? Let’s dive in!

Why Runners Need a Strong Core

A stable and well-aligned posture during your runs springs from a solid core. This translates into better running efficiency and performance. In fact, a study in Sports Medicine¹ has shown that core strength training can improve running economy for distance runners.

Strengthening the Pelvic Floor for Running

The pelvic floor muscles might not get as much attention, but they’re a critical part of your core. These muscles support your bladder, bowel, and in women, the uterus. They also play a key role in maintaining proper pelvic alignment while you run.

Strengthening your pelvic floor enhances stability, improves posture, and lowers the risk of injuries tied to pelvic instability. Exercises like Kegels are commonly known as exercise to strengthen your pelvic floor; however, they are just the entry level strengthening exercises. When done with proper form, more functional movements such as bridges and squats target these vital muscles and offer real benefits for runners.

How Core Muscle Activation Boosts Running Efficiency

At every stage of your stride, your core muscles kick into gear to stabilize your pelvis and spine. This active stabilization prevents excessive movement of the trunk and the limbs which conserves energy, and helps translate force more efficiently.

A real world example of this is when you try to get up from a beanbag chair vs a kitchen chair. It is far easier to push yourself up from a low kitchen chair than it is to get up out of a beanbag chair.

Even though this makes sense to me, there is research in Sports Medicine² that backs up the critical role of core stability for effective movement control and efficiency.

Connecting Core Strength with Injury Prevention and Running Longevity

The benefits of core training for runners don’t just stop at improving your movement quality and running form. A robust core lowers the risk of typical running overuse injuries. According to a review in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE)³, runners with weak core stability are more prone to lower extremity injuries.

This tells me that strengthening your core is like stacking the deck in your favor, ensuring you can run healthily and happily for many years to come.

How to Strengthen Core Muscles to Alleviate Lower Back Pain

But what happens if you already have a back injury?

Dealing with lower back pain can be frustrating, and muscle spasms are often the main culprit. While stretching can be a good start for relief, the best long-term solution involves strengthening your abdominal muscles. By strengthening your core muscles, you increase the stability of your spine and reduce the workload of your lower back muscles.

Check out the exercises in this video—they’re my top picks for easing lower back pain:

These exercises are low-intensity, specifically targeting your abdominal muscles while minimizing likelihood of recruiting other muscles. High-intensity exercises like leg lifts, planks, and deadbugs can sometimes make back pain worse by involving the hip flexors and lumbar extensors too much.

By focusing on these carefully selected exercises, you’ll be better equipped to strengthen your core without aggravating your lower back, helping to put those pesky muscle spasms to rest for good.

Why Are Flexibility and Mobility Training Important for Lower Back Pain After Running?

When running, if you lack flexibility in your hips, knees, or ankles, your body’s mechanics can get thrown off. Limited hip extension, for example, forces your lower back to compensate by overextending, leading to joint compression. Over time, this constant strain can cause degenerative joint changes, osteophytes, compression fractures, or disc bulges.

Now, you might think that being super flexible is always a good thing for runners. But that’s not necessarily true. Take ankle flexibly—having too much on one side could seem okay, but it becomes risky when you’re navigating uneven terrain or if your foot accidentally ends up half on and half off of a sidewalk.

In those moments, the ability to control your ankle flexibility is crucial to prevent awkward stumbles or ankle sprains. The same logic applies to your spine.

When one of the joints in your lower back lacks flexibility, adjacent joints often compensate by becoming overly flexible. This excessive motion can lead to pain and irritation and if a vertebra moves too far your back muscle will clamp down to prevent a catastrophic event in your spine. In contrast, the less flexible joint in your spine may develop osteoarthritis due to decreased joint space.

By incorporating stretching and mobility exercises into your routine, you can improve spine flexibility and achieve a balanced strength & flexibility throughout your entire spinal column.

Conclusion

You’ve discovered how much it pays to have a strong core for running. But we know that doing these exercises by yourself can be daunting. I mean, there’s so much information out there, isn’t there? Sure makes your head spin.

That’s where we come in. I’m Dr. Molly McDonald at Your Goals PT in Cypress, Texas, where we cut through the confusion by providing you personalized core strengthening programs designed specifically for runners like yourself.

Imagine eliminating the guesswork and stress of where to start or what’s right for your unique needs. Our one-on-one guidance ensures you will do the right exercises so you can achieve your running goals without setbacks or injuries.

Discover how our specialized core training programs can amplify your performance, endurance, and enjoyment on every run. If you’re in the Cypress, Texas area, choose from one of the options below to begin your journey:

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

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Works Cited

^ Hibbs, Angela E., et al. “Optimizing Performance by Improving Core Stability and Core Strength.” Sports Med., vol. 38, no. 12, 2008, pp. 995-1008. ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Duncan-French-2/publication/23489963_Optimizing_Performance_by_Improving_Core_Stability_and_Core_Strength/links/0deec5177070b68703000000/Optimizing-Performance-by-Improving-Core-Stability-and-Core-Strength.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2024.
^ Leetun, Darin, et al. “Core Stability Measures as Risk Factors for Lower Extremity Injury in Athletes.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise, vol. 36, no. 6, 2004, pp. 926-34. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15179160/. Accessed 20 June 2024.
^ Llanos-Lagos, Christian, et al. “Effect of Strength Training Programs in Middle- and Long-Distance Runners’ Economy at Different Running Speeds: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.” Sports Med, vol. 54, no. 4, 2024, pp. 895-932. PubMed Central, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11052887/. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Should I Run with Lower Back Pain?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 14:58:39 +0000

Should I Run with Lower Back Pain?

Whether you are new to running , or you’ve been running since diapers, your back should not hurt before, during, or after a run.

I often talk to patients who tell me it’s normal to have back pain from running. Let me assure you, it may be a common issue – but pain when running is not normal.

Now, I’m not saying that you need immediate medical attention. But you shouldn’t ignore or push through back pain.

Pain is a signal from your body that something is wrong. If you have pain that lasts longer than 2-3 weeks, it’s best to have someone help you resolve it.

Don’t wait until the back pain is unbearable. If you do, you’re more likely to find out you have permanent damage. However, if you go see a PT when the pain starts, it’s far more likely no permanent damage has started, and everything is completely reversible.

Read on to find causes of back pain among runners, and 7 tips to address (not push through) your back pain.

5 causes of lower back pain when running

Lower back pain when running can come from various causes. Each affects the body’s mechanics and stability differently.

1. Hip Inflexibility

Your hips ideally should allow a full range of motion without restriction. This ensures that your hip joint stays healthy. Your hips need to be strong and stable throughout the full range of motion into flexion, extension, internal rotation, external rotation, hip abduction, and adduction.

If you lose the ability to move through one of those ranges while you are running, your body will adapt, but over time that adaptation can strain your back.

For instance, let’s say that you have difficulty lifting your knee to your chest or even to 90 degrees. Then you go running. You will either limit how high your knee comes off the ground, or your lower back will have to tuck under to help give you the range you want.

Or let’s say you have limited hip extension. Then every time you advance your leg, your lower back has to extend or arch to give you the range of motion you need to propel yourself forward.

Both of these adaptations add stresses to your back that are not typically there, which will lead to pain.

2. Poor Trunk Stability

Unlike your hips that need to be very flexible, your trunk needs to be very stable. While doing all things, your trunk is supposed to resist all motions such as rotating, bending, and twisting.

Think about how weird it would be if you could not sit up in a chair without slumping forward or to the side. Or if you walked down the street, every time you wanted to turn your head, your whole body would turn with you. Our ability to move as freely as we do is because our trunk has the ability to be stable.

Now to running…When you run, you add additional forces to the mix compared to simply sitting or walking. Your muscles have to be able to resist the impact of you pushing yourself forward and landing on the ground.

This adds additional stress to your upper back from your neck and shoulders moving and to your abdominal muscles as they try to stabilize your lower back and pelvis.

When your upper back or your abdominal muscles get tired and are no longer able to hold your bones steady, you will notice side to side trunk motion, and that your shoulders will slump down or rotate more.

All these motions add stress to your spine, which will lead to back pain.

3. Impaired Posture

Ideal posture is created by maintaining the natural slight curves in the spine. Due to sitting and other aspects of modern life, we tend to have an increased curve in our thoracic spine, the upper back or shoulder blades area, and the lower back.

By increasing the angle of these curves, we are inadvertently compressing one part of our spine bones more than the other. Over time this uneven pressure can cause permanent changes to our spine alignment and health.

This change to the lower back posture can happen over time in several ways. Two common ways are from tight muscles either on the lower spine or front of the hips pulling the bones in your spine closer together. Whether the tight muscles are in the front or the back, both cause your lower back into an exaggerated lordotic position, commonly called anteriorly rotated.

The thoracic spine changes typically happen from having our head forward, causing the muscles in the upper back to get stretched and weaken over time from trying to hold our heads up.

Back to running. If you start with a shortened joint space, caused by these changes in posture, then you add compression forces from the impact of landing while running, you further shorten this space. Over time this can lead to muscle spasms, fractures in the spine or disc bulges.

4. Weak muscles

Since running is an endurance sport, we tend to forget that we need a baseline amount of strength to run with good mechanics.

Strength is what allows your muscles the ability to continually absorb the impact of landing then quickly propel you forward. And running is a full-body sport. Your upper back works to hold your shoulders during arm swing, your abdominal muscles help you breathe efficiently while keeping your pelvis stable, and your legs are completing single-leg hops for however many miles you are running.

It doesn’t take but one muscle to be weaker than the rest for this whole system to start making adaptations.

For example, if your hip flexor muscles are weak, then you will have to change how you lift your knee up. One way to get around using your hip flexor is to bring your knee out to the side versus straight forward. This uses a different muscle. Unfortunately, that different muscle is supposed to help you not shift from side to side. Over time this shifting left to right makes it hard to stabilize your pelvis when you are on one foot, which leads to lower back pain.

As a side note: Weak muscles can come from overtraining. It is important to make sure you recover between runs, to ensure you don’t break down your muscle strength.

5. Poor Shock Absorption

The moment your foot hits the ground, you’re supposed to be absorbing shocks. Proper shock absorption starts with your feet, then moves to the muscles in your legs up to your hips.

Weakness or poor coordination in your feet and hips can lead to hard impacts with the ground, sending the shock all the way up your legs into the back.

This repeated force can aggravate the muscles around your spine and/or the joints in your spine.

How do I stop my lower back from hurting when I run?

Here are seven tips that will help you stop having lower back pain and get you back to running without limitation.

1. Good Running Shoes

Make sure you are running with the correct equipment.

For this sport, the shoes you wear are very important for reducing the stresses on your body. You need proper support and cushion depending on the surfaces you’re running on and the number of miles you are running.

Running shoes are designed to last for about 500 miles. If you are running 9-15 miles every week, then you need a new pair every year. But if you are running about 20 miles a week, then you should replace them every 6 months.

To find out more about proper shoe fit, please check these articles & videos and read the one appropriate for your foot position:

2. Warm Up

When you’re a kid, you just run for fun; you don’t get sore. Your body is used to ramping up quickly and then shutting down just as quickly.

Welcome to adulthood – your body needs a transition.

Just like when you put on music to get your mind pumped up for your run, your body needs 5-10 minutes to get ready for the run (warming up).

If you are looking for ideas on how to warm up for a run. I personally like Active stretches, high knees, butt kicks, lateral lunges. These can be done at a lower intensity than running but they use the same muscles. By the time you get down with 30 sec to a minute of these exercises your body is warm and muscles have been prepared for your run.

Once you get into the habit of warming up your body will thank you.

3. Stretch

Stretching is like the medication everyone knows they should take but don’t.

After running, I always suggest stretching. First, it is a great cool-down activity; it prevents muscle soreness by improving recovery time. Not to mention helping joint health throughout your body.

To cool down, my go-to stretches are passive stretching (so you hold these for 30-60 seconds) hamstring, hip flexor, quad, piriformis, and calves.

Stretching is vital for everyone but especially for runners. Stretching helps your muscles and joints maintain the balance and resilience needed to run for years.

As a side note: Any running program I design has a day of active recovery, which consists of a long stretching program 15 to 20 minutes of stretching. When you take the time to stretch, it helps you become more in tune with your body.

4. Strengthening

Running is an endurance sport. However, it takes a lot of strength to maintain the proper body mechanics to run properly.

Your whole body is challenged while running; which is what makes it such a good thing for your health and wellness.

I know that most runners have a hard time with the idea of not running for a day. However, all professional runs follow a strengthening program. This tells you the importance of strength training. Taking the time to strengthen your body with weights or at least body weight activities will not take away from your running; it will only add to your pace and distance while improving your recovery time.

Exercises like lunges, squats, and heel raises are foundational movements for runners.

5. Plyometric training

Back to being a kid…when you are 5 years old, jumping was part of your everyday life. As an adult, most of us don’t have a daily reason to jump.

Like everything in life, jumping and landing is a skill that we lose over time if we don’t practice. Plyometric training is a way to practice the skill of absorbing the impact of landing.

Start plyometric training by jumping rope or just small hops on the ground. When you land, you should not hear a loud thud as you hit the ground. By learning to absorb the impact, you will be reducing the stress on your back and other joints while you run.

6. Ice and Heat

Apply ice for 10 minutes. If that doesn’t relieve your symptoms, apply heat for 10 minutes. Whichever one helps your pain is the right one for you. But you shouldn’t feel the need to constantly have ice or heat on your body to make it through the day.

After applying ice or heat, you should have less or no pain for at least 30 minutes.

7. See a physical therapist that specializes in runners

As a runner, if you’ve suffered nagging back pain for more than 2-3 weeks, please see a physical therapist that specializes with runners to find the root cause.

Why let discomfort steal the joy of running and being active for any longer than necessary?

There are various reasons for back pain while running. A physical therapist – especially one who helps active adults – should work hands-on with you to:

Help you learn the root cause of your pain
Create a plan to stop the pain
Fix the problem
Make your body resilient against the same injury.

If you’re in the Cypress, Texas area, and you need help with your pain, don’t keep waiting. Call us now or request an appointment.

If you’re unsure, read reviews and testimonials of Your Goals PT from runners like yourself.

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

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How Long Does Muscle or Joint Pain Last After a Marathon?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 03:15:45 +0000

How Long Does Muscle or Joint Pain Last After a Marathon?

Embarking on the journey of training for a marathon is a challenging and time-consuming endeavor, but it’s also an incredibly rewarding and exhilarating experience. There’s a unique sense of empowerment that comes from realizing you can conquer 26.2 miles on foot, whether you’re running the entire way or mixing in some walk breaks – absolutely no shame in that!

The only thing that can ruin that feeling is a muscle or joint pain that lingers long after the race has ended.

No one goes into training for a marathon assuming the training process will be pain free. Most people become very familiar with their own combination of bio freeze, ice, massages or foam rolling during their training cycle to combat muscle soreness.

But for many of my clients, there comes a point in their training when discomfort takes a more stubborn form. In fact, the discomfort eventually progresses to the point of disrupting their training and refuses to budge within the typical 1-2 day recovery window. They may have to take more days off from running or they slow down their pace. Some clients switch from outdoor runs to treadmill sessions, all in the relentless pursuit of their marathon dream. They will just push through the pain until marathon day assuming the pain will magically vanish after the race.

But what if it doesn’t?

How long should you wait before seeking professional help?

And which specialist should you go to?

If these sound like questions you are having, this message is perfect for you. I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical Therapy and I help runners end their aches and pain to get them back to running at the level they want.

If at any time during your training the pain persists beyond 1 – 2 weeks, then it is time to consult a running specialist.

Ordinary post workout muscle soreness will resolve within a couple of days, so anything lasting longer than 1-2 weeks will not go away on its own.

An experienced Physical Therapist who specializes in running can identify the root cause of your muscle and joint problems. They’ll create a personalized program to get YOU back to your desired running performance.

If you’ve just run a marathon and you are trying to find out why your pain hasn’t resolved, we have 2 ways to start your journey back to running:

Running Screening:

This is a 30 minute movement assessment. This gives you an initial, high-level overview of the underlying factors contributing to your discomfort. It’s a preliminary screening so it’s less specific than an evaluation and there is no treatment. Instead, think of it as a guided exploration. During this session, I will observe your movements, assess your running mechanics, and gather general information about your condition. This process reveals any apparent red flags and lets us determine if further investigation is necessary. The Running Screening is an excellent starting point to understand your situation & next steps before committing yourself to a full evaluation.

Evaluation:

This is a 1-hour comprehensive assessment that dives deep into identifying the root cause of your pain and discomfort. With this thorough examination, We will pinpoint the precise root causes of your aches and pains. Then we will create a personalized treatment plan to address your pain and get you back to running at the level you want.

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

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Houston Marathon Tips: Managing Chronic Pain When Training?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 03:13:16 +0000

Houston Marathon Tips: Managing Chronic Pain When Training?

Training for marathons is a labor of love. It is time intensive and physically demanding. People who are training for something as intense as a 26.2 mile race assume they will have pain.

In fact, runners tend to accept any aches or pains as just part of the process. That is until they just can’t handle the pain any longer. When the pain is no longer just happening during their run but it is stopping them from running or the pain is still there while walking, sitting or standing during their normal daily day.

If you are training for a marathon and you have been dealing with pain that started off as more of an annoyance but has now progressed to interrupt not only your marathon training but also your everyday life.

You have already tried ice, biofreeze, foam rolling and every exercise or stretch you could find… And you aren’t sure what you should try next? This video is perfect for you.

I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical Therapy. I help runners end their aches and pains, so they can get back to running at the level they want. Without Medication, Injections or Surgery!

I’m going to give you 3 things to look for that will let you know when it is time to see a running specialist for your pain. Then I will talk about what it would mean to work with a running specialist.

Let’s get started:

When should you see a running specialist for your pain?

Pain lasting longer than 1-2 weeks.

Training for a marathon is going to be uncomfortable and there will be longer runs and more intense runs that will cause muscle soreness. That is just a fact of training. However, that soreness shouldn’t last longer than 1-2 days.

No, exercises induced muscle soreness should last longer than 1-2 days. When you have soreness that lasts longer than a day or two that means your body has not recovered from that run. You can certainly have repetitive muscle soreness for instance, if you run 3 times a week you will more than likely be sore 3 days a week. What you are hoping for as you progress through your running training is that the intensity of your muscle soreness and the duration of your muscle soreness goes down over time, not up.

If as you progress through your running program your muscle soreness progressively increases that is a sign that your body is not fully recovering between runs. This is a great time to try taking a day off training, stretching, foam rolling, and ice to help your body recover.

The intensity goes up while running.

I hear all the time, I’m fine for the first few miles but then this pain starts and it progressively gets worse as I run. As you run, you get tired. This is normal but if you are having pain, then that is your body telling you something is not working properly. I know that pain is uncomfortable and scary, however, pain is a gift from your body. It is your body’s way of communicating with you. What it doesn’t mean is that you have to stop running forever.

If while running you develop pain slowly over time, or at a specific distance, or with a specific speed an aspect of your running form is breaking down causing one part of your body to work harder than others. Which results in over use, then fatigue, and then pain.

The pain sticks around after your run.

Muscle burning while you run is normal, and therefore easy to ignore. Running is hard. Having muscle soreness after a run that resolves in 1-2 days is normal.

If you have muscle or joint pain that does not go away after your run and it starts to bother you while walking around or daily activities. This is not normal.

Pain that doesn’t go away after you stop running, and then progresses to interfering with simply walking around your home or at work, sitting at work or in your car, or standing in line, is not normal. It is time to find out what is happening.

Running should be an enjoyable experience! While it can be challenging, that’s part of what makes it fulfilling. Nobody wants to associate pain with fun, and running should definitely not be painful.

Muscle aches go away after 1- 2 days with some rest, ice or stretching….this is normal for running.

However, if you’re experiencing joint or muscle pain that has a sharpness to it, lasts for weeks or even months, and worsens over time to the point where it disrupts your daily life, or you’re concerned you may have to stop running altogether.

It is time to see a running specialist.

Our mission is to ensure that everyone can continue running for as long as they desire. Our approach begins with the mindset of addressing “What’s necessary to help you return to pain-free running”. When you start with this perspective, all you need to do is discover the steps that will lead you to your goal.

Here are 2 ways to get started:

Running Assessment: A Running Screening: This is a 30 minute movement assessment. This gives you an initial, high-level overview of the underlying factors contributing to your discomfort. It’s a preliminary screening so it’s less specific than an evaluation and there is no treatment. Instead, think of it as a guided exploration. During this session, I will observe your movements, assess your running mechanics, and gather general information about your condition. This process reveals any apparent red flags and lets us determine if further investigation is necessary. The Running Screening is an excellent starting point to understand your situation & next steps before committing yourself to a full evaluation.

Evaluation: This is a 60 minute session where we will discuss your running concerns and through a detailed physical examination we will find the root cause of your pain while running, then create a personalized treatment plan that will get you back to running at the level you want.

I hope this information is helpful. Until we talk, have a great day.

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

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How to Stop Runners Knee

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 17:00:00 +0000

How to Stop Runners Knee

Hi, I am Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical Therapy. Are you a runner or a would be runner except you’re suffering from runner’s knee and you are tired of being told that you need to just continue to rest it, you need to continue to ice it. Or worse yet that maybe you should stop running because your knees just can’t handle it.

If you have heard any of those things or you’re tired of any of those things, this video is perfect for you. I’m gonna talk to you about what runner’s knee is, then what contributes to it so that we know how to fix it.

I will not be talking to you about taking endless supplies of medication or going through any kind of surgery. So let’s get started.

What is runner’s knee?

Runner’s knee in a short sense causes pain at the front of your knee and it’s a very dramatic ache and it’s from the overworking of your quad

Your quad is the muscle in the front of your thigh. It goes from your hip bone all the way down and just past your knee and it attaches into your patella tendon and attaches just below your knee.

When it becomes overworked or fatigued, then it just causes the whole front part of your knee to ache. Now as a runner, you’re probably like, well, my thighs should be super strong because I run. How on earth could this be overworked or be so annoyed with me?

It could be a lot of things to be honest with you. Generally what happens is for some reason your muscle, especially if it’s only one side, for some reason that thigh is having to work more than the other side.

That could be because something on some muscle on the side that’s painful, is not working correctly or enough and that quad is taking over basically two people’s jobs. Or it could be trying to overcome a very tight muscle. It has to work hard because the muscle that it’s trying to pull against, right?

If you have one muscle on the front of your thigh contracting, the other side of your body has to relax so that you can flex your hip to move up and down, right? You can’t have both sides contracting at the same time. Nothing would move.

What happens sometimes is for whatever reason we have tight hamstrings or something else could be tight calves, really could be a lot of things. Now that thigh is not only having to control all of your body weight, it’s now having to pull against all of the extra resistance from that tight muscle.

Then the question becomes, how do we stop that? I would really like to run without knee pain please.

There are a few strategies. I know I said we wouldn’t talk about ice, but really that is a viable option if this is just something that’s really recent and your knee pain has just started icing after you work out or when you’re uncomfortable for about 10 minutes really can help.

The benefit to icing is, let’s say that, that muscle is like your quadricep is working a lot and enough to cause swelling inside of your knee. By icing, you’re going to help push out some of that fluid and make sure that your quad can even function properly.

Because there’s this weird shutoff valve in our thigh muscle that if there’s even just an ounce of fluid inside of our knee it completely shuts off.

The teardrop, which helps you fully extend your knee, will go on vacation if there's any amount of swelling inside your knee.

Icing can be a key part to any kind of recovery process just to help control the amount of fluid in that knee.

The second thing is you need to make sure that you’re stretching. Runners are great at running, but we do not like to stop to stretch afterwards.

Before that is just the boring stuff, I’ll maybe grab my knee or my foot for one second and stretch my knees out, but I’m not gonna spend 15 minutes doing that because that takes away from my run time.

Well, if your knees are bothering you, then I strongly urge you to get into the habit of stretching. If you’re only gonna be willing to do two stretches, you need to stretch out your thigh and you need to stretch your hamstring. If you’re open to it and you’ve been stretching your thigh and your hamstrings and with no reduction in any kind of symptoms, I would also try stretching your calves. I know that seems weird, but it does cross your knee.

I would also stretch your hip because if something’s happening in your hip, it could be pulling on your knee and causing things to have to pull harder or work differently, then they want to.

As a general rule, I suggest people get into a really good overall stretching program so that you’re not leaving anything out. I know that time is limited and stretching, It’s not everybody’s cup of tea.

To recap, if you’re gonna stretch and you’re gonna limit your time, you need to have a really good quad stretch. The front of your leg and a really good hamstring stretch to the back of your leg. If you’re willing to add other things even better because you’re gonna make sure that you’re not missing whatever muscle is tight.

I would also suggest that even if it’s your right side, that’s painful, you need to stretch your left side also because you may find out that there’s something going on on both sides or different things happening on different sides and you want to even those things out.

Everything should work synonymously or together. That’s probably a better way to say that. You want everything to be equal on both sides. You don’t want one side tighter than the other because that causes a dramatic imbalance.

Another thing that can be done, number three would be strengthening. I know that when you run you feel like that is a strengthening program. That’s how lots of people feel. They feel like that’s how I’m gonna get stronger and they have gotten really strong running, but that’s one way to train your muscles.

If you’re having knee pain, it may be because one muscle was able to tolerate the stress of running a lot better than another and over time there’s been a creation of an imbalance. The muscle that tolerated it is really, really strong and the other muscles are not and they’re not able to coordinate as well now, which is resulting in your knee pain.

I strongly suggest getting on a full body strengthening program because running is a full body sport. You need to have a strong upper body, you need to have a strong core and you need to have strong legs from your hips down to your feet.

If you’re currently having knee pain while you’re running, you may take a hiatus from running, but I strongly suggest that you now incorporate some of it. You don’t have to go to the gym. Body weight strengthening can do wonders for helping your knee pain calm down.

Just controlling your own body can dramatically reduce the amount of pain, if not completely eliminate it. Things like squats, lunges, heel raises, being able to do all of those things well and consistently. That is the key because all of those translate directly to the same muscles that you use while you’re running second.

Last is plyometrics. There is a different type of strength. Running is an endurance strength. Strength training is a different type of strength, right? Different ways that you use your muscles. Plyometrics is yet another type of strengthening in the sense that you’re stressing out muscles and bones in a different way.

You also are eliciting a response from your nervous system because of that quick impulse and being able to bounce and jump and absorb the ground, there’s a lot that goes into that.

If you’re suffering from knee pain, and especially if you’re like, I can work out all day, I can do all the squats I want, something’s happening while I run, there could be a chance that it’s the way that you’re landing that is causing the extra stress. By adding in biometric training, which is the fancy word for you’re gonna leave the earth i.e. jump and then land and practice absorbing the impact, making sure that when you land, your knee doesn’t wobble all over the place.

To make sure that your hip doesn’t hurt or your back doesn’t hurt while you’re doing squat jumps or jumps, actually jumping rope is a great thing. If you’re feeling pain or discomfort doing plyometric training, that can tell you maybe where the weak point is when you’re running.

That was a whole lot of information and there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Your knee may seem like it’s a pretty basic joint. It just hinges right? All it’s supposed to do is bend and straighten. Why can it hurt this bad? But really it bends and straightens and it’s a hinge between two joints, your ankle and your hip that can move all the way around, right?

There’s really no limit in the degrees that your hip and your ankle can move. If either one of them is having a problem, they take it out on that knee joint. Just over time it can wear things out, it can add extra stress to your thigh because it’s trying to do too many jobs. One of the fastest ways to make sure that your knee, one, doesn’t get more injured because as much as I made it sound like this is an easy fix, if you let it go and you do not correct this, you’re wearing out your knee joint, that knee is taking on more compression forces, it’s taking on more inflammation, then it needs to, and that’s going to erode or breakdown your knee joint over time.

Now this could just be painful while you're running, but if you don't correct the issue, this is something that will pop back up for people.

I’ve met many people who have given up running and then they gave up biking and they’re like, but now my knees hurt all the time. It’s because whatever came out while they were running, which was such an extreme sport, it took a few years, but that same weakness showed back up when they were just trying to walk.

As much as it might be overwhelming and you’re too much to deal with at one time, really finding the reason for this knee pain now is much better than dealing with the repercussions later.

The fastest way to decipher all the information that your body’s trying to give you is to work with a movement specialist who sees this all day, who helps runners every day get back to running at the performance level that they’re looking to get back to. Whether they’re new to running and they just wanna run their first 5k, or they’re an experienced marathoner who is just irritated that their knee is bothering them for the first time at mile 15. That is what I help people do every day.

In fact, I even offer a running screening, which I’m going to offer to you at the bottom of this. There’s going to be a button that says running screening. What that is, is I invite people to come in. We watch you run on the treadmill, I run through some strengthening activities that let me understand your overall strength, balance, stability, your running mechanics, and we problem solve what’s happening with you and your running and then come up with a specialized program just for you to get you back or get you to for the first time your desired running performance.

The other thing I will offer to help people get rid of this runner’s knee, is a call. Not everybody is a hundred percent ready to dive in and come see somebody after watching a video. Completely understand that there’s always more questions to be asked.

If you prefer to start with a conversation, I’m gonna leave a button at the bottom that says talk to a pt and that would be me. You would fill out a quick form that tells us what time is good for you. My office would schedule that out with you and I would get in touch with you and chat with you for about 20 minutes to make sure that any questions you have about how I can help or what can possibly be done before you even commit to anything. So I hope that this inspires you, that this runner’s knee is not the end all, it will not be the end of your running career. In fact, this could be a really good intro to how you save your knees for years to come. Hope you’re having a good day. Bye.

If you are looking for more information. Check out one of these blogs.

RUNNERS KNEE

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Running After A Walking Boot

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 18:00:00 +0000

Getting Back To Running After A Walking Boot

Hi, I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical Therapy. Are you a runner and you are currently stuck in a boot or maybe you’ve been out of the boot for a little bit, but either way, you went from boot and now you wanna know how you’re going to get back to running. That is the big million dollar question. How do I go from a walking boot to running?

Well, this video is going to be perfect for you. I help athletes all the time get from their surgery back to the activities that they love. We’re going to talk about a lot of the anxieties and the things that go along with the surgery, how to heal and what normal healing is, then what the steps are to get you from the first part of healing where your bone or your ligament is getting healed up by your body all the way back to running. All right, so let’s get started

First, walking boots are amazing for many, many things. Not comfort, not style. Those are not what they’re wonderful for. They are wonderful at helping you off weight your bone or your ligaments to allow them time to heal. It makes it so your muscles do not have to do a whole lot of work so they’re not pulling out a bone in case of a fracture. They are allowing that ligament, whether it was surgically repaired or it was overstretched and it just needed time to shrink up and to be stable again.

So that’s what those walking boots are for. So many times when you’re coming out of a walking boot, you’ve been dealing with an orthopedic surgeon and they will send you home with maybe some exercises you can do on a sheet of paper or some general guidelines on what you should and shouldn’t do.

Then the day comes where they tell you, you get to get out of that boot. You’re like, but what does that really mean? Do I just get to throw the boot away? Do I have to keep it? Do I wear it? Some of the time, not all the time. For some people they don’t really get a whole lot of answers from the orthopedic surgeon, and that’s not to pick on anybody, but that just seems to be what I deal with, is that they don’t give very specific answers to those questions.

So they’re handed this sheet of paper and they’re told that they can resume normal activities and they can go about their day. When you walk out, you’re so excited that they told you you can let go of that boot. You completely forgot to ask All of those questions. That happens to all of us.

So now you’re stuck at your house by yourself trying to figure out how you get back to running because the moment they told you that you could get out of that boot, you had images of walking in the park, getting back to your light jogging, just going about how you were before you got stuck in that boot. Then the reality strikes and you take the boot off and you stand and you’re like, holy biscuits. It’s uncomfortable to stand, it’s really uncomfortable to walk.

Why on earth do I have a limp? Why does my foot swell all the time? How much pain is okay? He told me I could walk. How far can I actually walk? Is it just around my house? Is it at the park? Do I have to do it on the treadmill? I have all these questions and I have no idea where to get these answers.

The internet is just overloaded with information, hence my video. Anyway it’s very confusing and when you’ve come out of a walking boot and everything is healed as far as the surgeon’s concerned you get a surgeon or orthopedic surgeon whether you had a surgery or you didn’t, just for clarification.

Oftentimes when you’re getting a boot, you are dealing with some form of orthopedic person and they’ve released you. What that means is that the tissue that was damaged, whether that was your bone, a ligament, whether you had screws put in it, whatever the reason for the walking boot, all of that has been resolved.

So if you aren’t told to go someplace else, a lot of people get very confused. Like you’re not suggested to go to a specialist, right? Then you get very confused as to what you do first to make your ankle better because it’s stiff, it still swells, it’s still uncomfortable, it’s not the original ankle I had before I had the injury. This is still uncomfortable and still to a certain point, injured, right?

As far as we’re thinking because not being injured is being able to do all the things that we want to do. That is where seeing a specialist like myself is important. Whether the orthopedic surgeon or the orthopedics doctor suggested that or not, it is by far easier to navigate this whole process with somebody in your corner, somebody who can go over and explain to you. The reason that you have pain in the morning is because you’re not moving during the whole night. We naturally collect fluid throughout the evening.

By not moving, we’re not pumping that fluid out of all the little joints in your feet and your ankle. So that fluid just collects there.

The first couple steps are very, very uncomfortable because you’re trying to push all that fluid out and it doesn’t move as fast as we’d like it to. So a quick trick for that is before you get up in the morning, point and bend your toes, right, wouldn’t that have been helpful to know?

If just by moving your ankles and twisting them around before that first step, it can take a lot of that uncomfortableness away. Then the question becomes how do I get rid of this limp? And why is my foot swelling all the time? Do I still need to be wearing the boot? That is another question that is harder to answer when somebody is not in front of you, just because there can be lots of reasons.

Things are swelling and a certain amount of swelling is normal, but after a certain point, then there is something that you need to be paying attention to. It’s just very hard to give a clear answer for what is acceptable amounts of swelling and what is an acceptable amount of pain without seeing somebody.

These are, again, this is my pitch, right? This is why seeing a specialist – this is what I do as I help people navigate through all of this complexity so that they have more confidence moving.

Reality is that runners, we are an interesting breed. We will push through pain and that is the only way that anybody ever runs a marathon is by being able to ignore a certain amount of pain. But there’s a caveat to that because if you’ve been injured, sometimes it’s really hard to get back on that horse.

So as much as you may want to do something, you can be dramatically afraid that you’re going to re-injure yourself. I see runners in these very two dichotomies where they’re either willing to push themselves so far and then some that are very hesitant because they’re very nervous that they’re going to re-injure themselves.

So both of those can be actually detrimental for very different reasons. If you take the runner that is willing to just push past pain, they very much likely could end up hurting themselves. So we will just pretend like it was a bone fracture. Actually it doesn’t even matter if it was a ligament and you’re in a boot and you’re like, I’m just going to push past all this discomfort because I know that it’s just weakness, it’s just range of motion. If I just push, it’ll go through that muscle, that bone, those ligaments have not been used.

Even though you had the strength for six or longer weeks ago, that strength has to be rebuilt up and that range of motion needs to get built back up. Just because you had it before the injury doesn’t mean that that bone is currently strong enough to tolerate that or that ligament is strong enough to withstand the forces of you getting back to running.

There are very clear steps that you can take that will allow you to know that you can safely get back into running. Again, that’s hard to do on your own. It’s very hard to self-diagnose. Then on the other side, if you are afraid to move because everything hurts and you’re just really nervous that you’re going to hurt yourself, the longer you go without moving that ankle and that joint, the harder it is to get the range of motion back. Strength comes back when you start moving. That just means that you’re delaying that process.

Range of motion can really be hard to get back. The longer you don’t have it, it takes a lot more effort, a lot more tenacity to regain range of motion. Just talk to anybody who considers themselves stiff.

They can stretch all day every day and they feel like they get just a little bit of an inch, they take a day off and they feel like they lost it. To a certain extent, there is a lot of truth to that, especially after an injury where they’re still swelling because that swelling can kind of eat away any kind of range of motion.

Knowing and understanding how to move, what to move, what’s acceptable can be very empowering for somebody who’s having a whole lot of anxiety related to moving, which makes a whole lot of sense.

So it’s a very real thing and that is where having somebody in your corner who does this every day, who’s seen it on multiple people in multiple situations that can go through and look at how you are in your ankle, your situation, and know where you are now, where you want to go, and be able to give you guidelines and guardrails on how to get there safely. If that is the type of care that you’re looking for, I’m going to leave a link below. I’m going to leave a couple of them. The first one that I’m going to leave is asking about “cost and availability”.

If you know that this is really what you want and you’re ready, then just fill out that quick little form that says cost and availability. My office will get back to you and we’ll answer those questions and get you scheduled.

If you have a couple questions and you’re not quite sure how working with a specialist would work and you’d prefer to get on a call with me to ask all of those questions I would be happy to get on a call and we can talk about what’s happening specifically with you and how it is that I would be able to help you get back to running after you get out of this walking boot. With that, I will leave a “talk to a PT” link, so it’ll be a little button, you’ll fill out a form and we’ll set up a time to talk based on how you fill out that form.

I hope that this information is helpful and I hope that you guys are having a great day until I have a chance to talk to you. Bye.

If you are looking for more information.
Check out one of these blogs.

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Getting Back To Running After A Bunionectomy

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Getting Back To Running After A Bunionectomy

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Getting Back to Running After A Bunionectomy

Hi, I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical therapy. Did you just have a bunionectomy and now you want to get back to running? So the ultimate goal after getting that bunion removed was to get back to all the activities that you had been missing out on because of all the pain from the bunion. So now no bunion, no pain. Let’s get it right? Let’s start running it again.

Even if you are still in that healing phase and maybe your bunion is less comfortable than you were hoping for, that rehab is taking a little longer, that healing process is taking a little longer. I’m going to talk about the considerations and the things that go into getting you from just after surgery all the way back into running. So we’re going to talk about that process. Let’s get started.

First let's talk about bunions in a general sense.

What that ends up being is extra pressure was put on the outside of that first digit, your big toe and you end up pivoting off the side of that big toe versus pushing down on the bottom joint. If this is my foot and this is that pad of that first digit, we would normally be pushing down this way because that’s how your toes would be flexing.

But when we have a bunion, what that means is that over time we have changed the way that we walk and the way that our foot pushes off the ground to kind of a sideways push. So it ends up moving that toe over into the other toes. When you have the bunion removed, it opens up that joint space a little bit more and allows better movement in that up and down motion.

That does not mean that it is super comfortable, especially right after surgery, because anytime you have bone removed and you change how your joint is going to move, it’s not comfortable. It does take a little bit of time to get that range of motion back, to get the swelling to calm down and to get the overall achiness to go away. I’m here to tell you it will go away and it just takes a little bit of time. Now that we kind of understand how the bunion started, then let’s talk about how we get back to running.

Now, running is a very dynamic sport. It requires you to have a whole lot of ankle strength, foot strength, balance, hip strength, core strength. That’s why it’s such a great exercise because it uses the whole body. So with a bunion, what you’re trying to get back to or what you’re trying to correct is that walking mechanism that I was talking about. Really the biggest hurdle for people when you’re coming back from bunion surgery is changing how your foot hits the ground because nobody thinks about how their foot hits the ground because you don’t think about how you walk.

You just put one foot in front of the other and go about your day. So now that you have the surgery and you’re having to really be conscious about that, it can make you overcompensate or undercompensated. Especially if you don’t have anybody helping you do this because you don’t know what normal is and what that even means in terms of how your foot should feel when it’s hitting the ground. So the first big thing for anybody who’s trying to get back to running after having bunion surgery is “how do I fix how my foot hits the ground?”

I need to make sure I’m pushing off with that big toe. I need to make sure my balance is good, my foot strength is good. It’s going to be a different range of motion but I have to have a range of motion in my ankle that allows me to run. So that would be the other thing we have to work on is a range of motion because when you change how your foot hits the ground, it affects everything up the chain. I know we don’t think about it, but your foot and your ankle aren’t exactly the same thing.

Depending on how your foot hits the ground, it really does change how much range of motion you have and/or need in your ankle. If I turn my foot all the way out sideways, right? If I’m walking and instead of having my foot straight, it turns out and I’m walking forward, my ankle does not have to move that much. The angle between my tibia and my foot doesn’t have to be much. If it turns out I can kinda walk and barely move that. But if my foot is forward and I come forward, I need a whole lot of flexibility.

So it changes a whole lot when you change how your foot hits the ground. The next thing is many people who have bunions also end up having that little bit of a knock knee situation where their knees are turned in more than would be considered ideal. So you have to work on that. You have to work on that stability of your knee because as you’re walking more normally it’s going to affect your knee, your knee muscle strength, your knee flexibility.

You may notice that you can feel muscles that you didn’t know that you had before and that’s not where it stops, right? Then we go up to the hip and you might notice either your hips are tight, your hips are weak, those are things that need to be addressed. Then once you just get strength and range of motion kind of worked out all those changes, then you have to get everything to work together, because when your foot hits the ground, you need your ankle, your knee and your hip, your core strength to all work together.

So you have balance and agility as in you can absorb the impact. You can kind of move side to side in case you hit a rock, or in Houston a crack on the sidewalk. Those are kind of the main components. So again, just to repeat, you have to work on how your foot hits the ground. Another way to say that would be like your gate mechanics or how you walk, you work on ankle strength, ankle flexibility, same thing for knees and hips and then how everything works together.

The last part is just to rehash because you haven’t done it in a while. Running mechanics just to make sure that you safely get back, right?

How you run efficiently so you’re not wasting energy going side to side or up and down. Make sure that your breathing is good so that you can actually make it the distance that you want. All of those things. That just takes time, right? It takes time to build those skills, reeducate yourself, get more comfortable with how all those moving parts move together.

That’s why I believe that the fastest way to do that is to work with somebody who specializes in getting runners back to running. So that’s all I do. I help people come up with a specialized program for them. I take a look at how they are the first day that we meet. Look at all the things I just mentioned, what their gait looks like or another way to say that is how they’re walking, right? Look at their flexibility and all the joints that we talked about, their overall strength and how all those things work together. Because you could have good strength and then something just doesn’t work correctly together. You have your patterns a little bit out of whack and it’s adding extra stress to things.

So we go through and we fix all those. But since I create specialized programs for each person, I don’t deal with cookie cutter things. I can take into consideration how acute you are from that surgery. How new you are out of surgery or how long because some people have waited a while because there was a lot of pain after getting out of that bunion surgery. So we can take a look at all of those things and make sure that you are comfortable with each one of the steps and that you know what all the next steps are, I normally call them milestones.

So we’re working on this, to get to this, to get to this. We just create that program specifically for each individual person to make sure that their goals are what are met and where they are and what they’re capable of doing is what’s being addressed. I don’t just assume everybody comes in with the same knowledge. I don’t assume everybody comes in with the same mechanics or the same anything. Take a look at what’s going on in front of me and we move forward there and we’re able to reassess each time so we can move at the rate of my client.

So if this is information or the type of service that you’re looking for, I’m going to leave two options. Below the show notes, the first button will say, “ask about cost and availability”. You’ll fill out a quick little form and my office will get back to you based on how you fill out that form.

Then if you’re still on the fence and trying to figure things out, either on your own or you’re not really sure if this is right for you and you’d prefer just to talk to me for a few minutes and see how I can help and ask me your specific questions about your situation. I’m going to leave a button that says “talk to a pt”. What that’ll do is I’ll give you a form and we’ll ask you a little bit of questions about good times to call you and things like that and I will get back to you according to how you fill that form.

So I hope that you are super excited about the idea of getting back to running and until we speak, have a great day.

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Back Pain While Running?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Back Pain While Running?

Hi, I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical Therapy. Do you love running but you’re worried about the back pain that you have while you’re running? This is the perfect video for you. Back pain is so common nowadays that people just sort of assume that they should have some level of back pain, which is really unfortunate since pain of any kind is not normal. When your body is giving you the signal that something hurts i.e. pain, that is the signal that something is not working correctly, something is off and it needs to be addressed.

Now, there is a difference between muscle soreness and pain, and sometimes that can get very hard to deal with and to figure out, certainly on your own.

For some people pain and muscle soreness are felt as the same thing. And So, If you’re running and you’re trying to figure out, should I be running with this back pain?

It can be very hard to figure that out. If you love running and you don’t want to stop, but this pain is causing you to have questions like, “is it okay for me to be running with back pain?” or “How intense can the pain get before I need to really stop?” “What could I possibly be doing to harm myself if I continue to run?” That is what I’m going to address. There are some very common reasons and I’m gonna talk about very broad reasons to encompass a lot more things of what can be causing you to be dealing with back pain right now.

The first three things, or the three things I’m gonna talk about in this video are that one of your vertebrae in your spine can be misaligned. So that’s one. The second one, your lower back muscles could be being strained while you’re running. So that’s number two. And the third is just the mechanics of your running or how it is that you’re running could be causing you to have pain. So those are the three big things that I’m going to talk about in this video.

Reason 1: One of your vertebrae could be misaligned.

Reason number one, one of your vertebrae could be misaligned. That is sincerely a very large, or broad strokes answer because misaligned could mean that one is slightly tilted, one’s a little rotated, one’s going a little bit further forward in the front or a little bit, down in the back. It can mean all sorts of things, but the details don’t necessarily matter because how you would resolve that is very, very, very similar on the back end.

What it means for you as a runner is essentially the same thing. No matter what the problem is. If one of your vertebrae is misaligned, it’s sort of like having a flat tire. Follow me through this, okay? If one of your vertebrae is slightly off, then it’s going to wear that bone down or it’s going to wear down the cushion that’s between the two bones unevenly much like you would wear down a tire.

If one tire is slightly deflated, the car fully functions and your sensors may not tell you, depending on how much air is being lost, that tire is low on air. You could drive for miles or over years depending on how much you drive.

Especially if you’re a short distance driver, that tire could be fine for a long time, but if you’re somebody who puts a lot of things in their car, maybe you’re moving or maybe you do long distance traveling, that tire is gonna wear out a whole lot faster because it’s not hitting the ground the way that it’s intended. This is where lots of things can go wrong.

This is very similar to what happens with our spine. If things are not aligned exactly the way they’re supposed to and you’re just a normal walk around, get up and do daily activities. You could have that problem for decades without having any inkling that that is an issue for you.

But if you’re a high intensity athlete and you run, then that force of running, the repetitiveness, all of those things can amplify or quicken how fast and how aware you are that you’re having that problem.

Even something that’s minor, when you’re running can become a little bit bigger or if there is going to be wear and tear depending on how you’re running, it can happen faster. That doesn’t mean that you’ll forever have pain, but it does mean that if something’s misaligned, that could be the cause of what’s going on-that could be the cause of the pain.

Over time that’s where arthritis develops, that’s where bone fractures. You could actually break one of the vertebrae depending on how it’s positioned inside there. So that’s reason number one, that one of your vertebrae is misaligned.

Reason 2: Your lower back muscles could be getting strained

Then for number two, your lower back muscles could be getting strained and that’s what you’re feeling. That sense of fatigue or very tired could be so strained that it’s causing a muscle spasm. That is very common.

People think that low back muscles are the main muscles that keep their upright posture. That they are what help you move around and pick things up, bending, twisting, and turning. But the intention, if you look at the anatomy and how it’s supposed to work, your lower back muscles are actually just supposed to sustain that normal spinal alignment.

In other words, how your lumbar spine is supposed to stack your lower back muscles, assist the ligaments and tendons and all the other things that are in there that help stabilize your spine. They were not designed to pick up your purse five times a day or all the kids’ toys or that stack of tiles or even keep you upright while you’re running. The muscles that are supposed to help you with that are your stomach muscles. That’s really what’s supposed to help you bend forward and resist forces from sideways and forwards.

Then your hip muscles are what’s supposed to help you pick up heavy things.

For instance, if you’re going to bend over to pick something up, your hips should be lifting that heavy load, not your lower back muscles.

Unfortunately, that ‘s not normally what we do. Our bodies are also very smart at saving energy.

It takes a lot less energy for you just to bend forward at your lower back and lift back up than it is to expend all the energy from your large glutes to help you get back to bend down and stand up. So over time there can be some movement patterns that are changed.

If you’re running and you’re getting low back pain, it could be from some imbalances between your stomach muscles, your hips and those low back muscles. Somebody’s doing more work than they really want. What does that mean? Could you push through that?

Certainly, maybe over time everything would balance itself out but if it doesn’t, then what ends up happening is that people run and do so much intense work that they cause really severe muscle spasms. It is not uncommon for people to end up in the hospital for medication to help calm down that muscle spasm.

People will go through X-rays and MRIs and find out that it’s really not a disc problem. It really was muscles cramping up very strongly on them and it can take weeks for that muscle spasm to calm back down.

Reason 3: Running mechanics

The third reason is running mechanics. People often assume that if they have knee pain it’s from running. If they have hip problems it’s from running. People don’t necessarily think about having back problems from running, well some people do, but not everybody and it makes sense. The first thing to hit the ground is your foot. The next joint up is your knee and then your hip.

Why would it go any further than that? Really that kind of depends on what part of your back is being strained and how well you absorb impact when you’re running. So depending on how you land, whether you land on your heel or your forefoot, that impact still has to be absorbed by your body.

Depending on how efficient you are at that can vary where that force ends up reverberating. Some people really do land hard enough that their backs end up being injured. The force of landing ends up making a very big compression action at the spine.

Now there are forces that people don’t typically think about; such as, side to side motion and rotational forces. I know that we’ve all seen runners that do a lot of sideway motion or a lot of twisting while they’re running. Those motions may seem minor but over time the strain adds up and can cause your lower back muscle to work overtime trying to keep your spine aligned properly.

Depending on the strength of your spine and how you’re moving, there could be stresses occurring that you wouldn’t have thought about. (Again per reason two your abdominal muscles should be helping stabilize your spine but this very often is not being done efficiently enough to stop muscle strain).

Those are the three broad strokes reasons why you could be having low back problems. If lower back pain while running is something that you’re dealing with but you’re hesitant to get help, thinking, “But it just started” or “it’s not that intense.”

Here’s my general rule of thumb that I think works with any injury. If you’ve had pain for more than one or two weeks, then you should go see somebody because there is something going on. Your body is telling you something is not right.

Go see a movement specialist like a physical therapist, if it’s a movement issue because they’re gonna be able to identify what movement’s causing what irritation.

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If it’s another problem, maybe it’s a different doctor. But in terms of running truly, a movement specialist will be the fastest way to figure out what’s going on with you and your body and where that extra stress is coming from.

Now if the intensity is really low and it’s only intermittent, I can totally see why you would want to try to do a general exercise program and just see if that can help or some stretches and ice.

Basically, I understand wanting to try other things to help calm it down to see if it goes away but if it’s still there or consistently reoccurring. It’s just so much easier to go talk to somebody, find out what’s going on, come up with a plan and be done with it.

No more worrying about surgeries, injections, what this could mean long term. If you see a movement specialist like myself, I very rarely tell somebody that they can never run again. In fact, I really don’t think I’ve ever uttered those words.

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I will hold an asterisk because I work in a field that’s very gray and things happen. There are things that you can work towards to make sure that you’re running safely and that your joints are going to be healthy, and then make sure that you can keep running for decades, not just the next six months but for years.

If you are having back pain and your big fear, that’s stopping you from seeing somebody, is you don’t want them to tell you that you have to rest. Or that running is bad for your joints Or any of the other things that a lot of doctors end up telling you with good faith.

Then worry no more. Those MDs are trying to help you, they’re trying to make sure that you don’t injure yourself.

BUT Running is an amazing sport and when done well you can do this into your eighties. That’s the stance that I start with.

If this is the type of care that you’re looking for, then I will leave a button below that says, “ask about the cost and availability.” You’ll just simply fill out a quick form and then my office will get back with you, answer your questions and possibly schedule depending on what you guys talk about.

Now, if you have tried a bunch of things or you have some very specific questions and you would just like to have a conversation before committing to a full evaluation, that is perfectly fine. I love talking to people, I love answering questions.

So there will be a button below that says, “talk to a PT”. You’ll fill out a quick form so we know when to call you and kind of what the topic will be about. Then we will contact you to set up an appointment time so that we have a good 20 minutes to have that conversation and make sure that all of your questions and concerns are answered.

Until we speak, I hope you’re having a great day.

If you are looking for more information. Check out one of these blogs.

We understand you may want to find out a little more about the cost & availability of physical therapy before booking an appointment. If that’s you, then click the button below.

If you’re not quite ready to book an appointment yet, you might have some questions you would like answered first. Click below to request to speak with a PT first.

ARM SWING IS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU RUN

Dr. Molly McDonald — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 10:00:00 +0000

ARM SWING IS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU RUN

Most people don’t think about their arms while they run. I know didn’t until I tried to run with a jogging stroller after my first baby. That first run, I felt like a fish out of water! It felt so awkward running without swing my arms. I tried pushing the jogger with one hand then switching arms which did help, however, I was never able to find a good running rhythm. Eventually, I was able to get the hang of running with my jogging stroller but there still is a noticeable difference in my running stride and speed when I do.

This experience opened my eyes how important your whole body is for running...Running is not just about your legs.

I know that sounds very different from what people typically think about running. The popular online running program lay out a running progression that starts with short internals of running then over time they progress to longer running periods until you reach your distance goals (5K, 10K, ½ marathon or full marathon). These programs do suggest stretching and strengthen on “off “ days but they don’t go into detail, so the suggestion is simply overlooked. Since the training program emphasize running, people tend to believe that if you’re not running then you’re not training to run.

When I first started running I remember the very real anxious feeling I would get at the thought of not running for a day. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to run 3 mile again EVER, if I took off one day let alone a week.

This mindset is simply not true; I learned how not true when I got injured running (go figure ;))
All that running without proper rest days irritated my ITB (Iliotibial band) and knees until it hurt walking. I simply had to stop. I took several months off running to working on my whole body, reversing some of the imbalances I had caused. Then a friend talked me into running a Father’s Day 5K. I assumed I would walk most of the race since I had not run since my injury. Let me tell you my shock when I finished. Not only did I run the whole 5K BUT I ran full 1 minute/ mile faster than my previous best pace.
This brings me back to my original point. Arm swing is important…as is your whole body when you run.

For instance:

Arm swing is key for balance and moving forward.
Are you having balance or speed issues?
Upper body strength is important to support your neck and shoulders.
Does your neck hurt after a run? Do you shoulder hurt after a run? How tired are your arms after a run?
Abdominal strength is important for EVERYTHING while you run.
Breathing issues? Does your lower back hurt? Do you want to improve you speed?
Lower body requires strength and endurance to make it across that finish line!
Do your knees hurt? Do your hips hurt? How do your feet feel?

Running is a complex activity...

How do you improve your running ability and prevent injuries?

Stretch daily- This can be yoga or your own routine.
Start a full body training program.: pilates or weight lifting
Find a Physical Therapist to identify any imbalances that will lead to injuries.

At Your Goals Physical Therapy we can improve your running mechanics and prevent injuries, no matter where you are on your running journey. (no runner wants to hear a medical professional say “you need to rest” or “You can’t run anymore”)
For our running assessment: We look at your sho

For our running assessment: We look at your shoes wear, running mechanics, complete a fully body movement assessment, talk to you about any prior injuries, and then we find out about your lifestyle to help create a personalized plan that will help you run across that finish line!

If you’re not quite ready to book an appointment yet, you might have some questions you would like answered first. Click above to request to speak with a PT first.

We understand you may want to find out a little more about the cost & availability of physical therapy before booking an appointment. If that’s you, then click the button above.

ARE SHOE STORE RUNNING ASSESSMENTS GOOD?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 10:25:00 +0000

ARE SHOE STORE RUNNING ASSESSMENTS GOOD?

Did you ever wonder, like I did, if you should be wearing a “better” shoe when you workout or run?

There have been many fads around shoes that can make it very confusing to know what is a “good” shoe.

It only seems natural to go to a shoe store and ask the salesperson about the shoes. Then speciality running shoe stores started to have their sales people watch customers run to help them choose the proper shoe. Now, large athletic store are offering the same service. But are you really getting quality information?

I was recently at an athletic store looking through their shoe department.

That particular day they were offering a FREE Run Assessment. They were having customers run on a treadmill for 1-2 minutes while the salesperson recorded them. Then the customer and salesperson reviewed the video to determine the type of shoe the customer should purchase.

Unfortunately the scene I was watching the customer was told he had a “neutral foot” when he had been previously diagnosed with “flat feet.” So confusion set in on both sides of the conversation.
But of course the person doing these “running assessments” are sales people they are not extensively educated on human anatomy or human function. They are educated on specific shoe models and the differences between shoe brands.

If you are looking for shoe information I believe running shoe stores are a great resource for consumers.

If you are trying to find out why you have pain running or workout then you need a Specialist Physical Therapist to assess your movement while doing the painful activity. That is the fastest way to stop your pain, prevent injuries, and get back on your fitness journey without having to rest.

If you want to find out if you pronate, supinate or have a neutral foot then you should be fully assessed by a Specialist Physical Therapist. With the knowledge you get from a Full Body Diagnostic then you will know the type of shoe you are looking for at the store with confidence.

If you are looking for more information. Look down below.

Who wants to spend $$$ on shoes only to find out your footwear was not the cause of your pain?

If you would like more information about Your Goals Physical Therapy’s Full Body Diagnostic simply email me or leave a comment below.

Are you interested in having a movement assessment to determine the cause of your pain or stiffness? Do you want to determine how physical therapy can help you without having to commit to a full evaluation? Then a full Body Diagnostic is perfect for you! Simply fill out this form and we will contact you to set a time for you to get your answers.

Are you unsure if physical therapy is right for you? Or maybe you would like to try our services before making a decision? All you have to do is fill out the simple form above.

running – Your Goals Physical Therapy

How to Strengthen Your Core Muscles for Running

How to Strengthen Your Core Muscles for Running

Why Runners Need a Strong Core

How Core Muscle Activation Boosts Running Efficiency

Connecting Core Strength with Injury Prevention and Running Longevity

How to Strengthen Core Muscles to Alleviate Lower Back Pain

Why Are Flexibility and Mobility Training Important for Lower Back Pain After Running?

Conclusion

Next Steps

Cost & Availability

Talk To Dr. Molly

Discovery Visit

Works Cited

Should I Run with Lower Back Pain?

Should I Run with Lower Back Pain?

5 causes of lower back pain when running

1. Hip Inflexibility

2. Poor Trunk Stability

3. Impaired Posture

4. Weak muscles

5. Poor Shock Absorption

How do I stop my lower back from hurting when I run?

1. Good Running Shoes

2. Warm Up

3. Stretch

4. Strengthening

5. Plyometric training

6. Ice and Heat

7. See a physical therapist that specializes in runners

Next Steps

Cost & Availability

Talk To Dr. Molly

Discovery Visit

How Long Does Muscle or Joint Pain Last After a Marathon?

How Long Does Muscle or Joint Pain Last After a Marathon?

Next Steps

Cost & Availability

Talk To Dr. Molly

Discovery Visit

Houston Marathon Tips: Managing Chronic Pain When Training?

Houston Marathon Tips: Managing Chronic Pain When Training?

Let’s get started:

Pain lasting longer than 1-2 weeks.

The intensity goes up while running.

The pain sticks around after your run.

Here are 2 ways to get started:

Next Steps

Cost & Availability

Talk To Dr. Molly

Discovery Visit

How to Stop Runners Knee

How to Stop Runners Knee

What is runner’s knee?

Then the question becomes, how do we stop that? I would really like to run without knee pain please.

The teardrop, which helps you fully extend your knee, will go on vacation if there's any amount of swelling inside your knee.

Now this could just be painful while you're running, but if you don't correct the issue, this is something that will pop back up for people.

If you are looking for more information. Check out one of these blogs.

Running After A Walking Boot

Getting Back To Running After A Walking Boot

By not moving, we’re not pumping that fluid out of all the little joints in your feet and your ankle. So that fluid just collects there.

If you are looking for more information.Check out one of these blogs.

Which Option Works Best For You?

Getting Back To Running After A Bunionectomy

Getting Back to Running After A Bunionectomy

First let's talk about bunions in a general sense.

If you are looking for more information. Check out one of these blogs.

Talk To Dr. Molly

Discovery Visit

Cost & Availability

Back Pain While Running?

Back Pain While Running?

Reason 1: One of your vertebrae could be misaligned.

Reason 2: Your lower back muscles could be getting strained

Reason 3: Running mechanics

If you are looking for more information. Check out one of these blogs.

ARM SWING IS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU RUN

ARM SWING IS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU RUN

This experience opened my eyes how important your whole body is for running...Running is not just about your legs.

Running is a complex activity...

If you are looking for more information.
Check out one of these blogs.