Self-sabotage. The art of subconsciously preventing ourselves from reaching the dreams and goals we think we desire. This takes many forms and comes from a variety of root causes. One of the most insidious and frustrating is what Dr. Lewis Engel Ph.D and Tom Ferguson M.D. call “Imaginary Crimes”. Our core beliefs and assumptions about the world and how we fit into it are laid down by the age of six. From that point on, the subconscious tries to fit every life experience into those early programs. Why the term “Imaginary Crimes”?
Young children are typically moralistic. Everything has to be fair and equal. Everybody gets the same size piece of cake or pie. As we grow up, life gets more complex. We can’t divide the world into identical equal pieces. But unless the original programming is altered somehow, the subconscious mind will still try to keep things fair. If we start to move toward success in any field our family, culture or tribe hasn’t yet achieved, internal struggles with the subconscious becomes more and more intense. Like being attached to the wall with bungee cords, the first few steps are easy. But the further we go, the harder we’re pulled back. Eventually we find ourselves mysteriously failing again.
When the conscious and subconscious minds disagree, the subconscious wins every time. It knows where all the buttons are and does whatever it takes to keep you safe the best way it thinks it knows how; based on these early programs.
EFT, otherwise known as Tapping or “Energy Psychology” offers powerful tools to help the conscious and subconscious minds collaborate. Re-examining these old programs until there is agreement on what’s the whole truth now. Progress is so much easier with the emergency brake off.
If these patterns sound familiar, you may wish to book a session with me, David Gilbert – Integrative Therapist.
Some of my most powerful work involves the use of advanced Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Picture Tapping Techniques (PPT), Grounding, Pulsed Magnetic Resonance Stimulation (a class II registered medical device), audio/visual brain entrainment and anti-inflammatory protocols. All the resources I use have been so powerful they’re guaranteed. This means we can relax and concentrate on recovery without fretting over whether it’s a hopeless waste of money. Spending seventeen years on the research side, has given me an unusual birds eye view of how every part of our being is connected with and interacts with every other; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Yours in health and well being,
David Gilbert
When spring hits after the freezing cold weather of winter, a big realization sets in. The perfect swing you mastered from last summer has left you once again. As you rotate through the changing seasons, this becomes an unfortunate reality every year, leaving you to start from the beginning as each golf season commences. It leaves you wondering whether you can do something to avoid being stuck in this continuous pattern, and improve every year rather than breaking even. Well guess what, the answer is YES!
To be well prepared upon return of the off-season, it is important to take care of your physical self. Training year round is critical for golfers to identify and correct any physical limitations, thus developing a solid foundation of mobility and stability. This is necessary for optimum strength, which reflects in improved speed and power. Being physically prepared will allow you to play the most consistent, enjoyable, injury-free golf of your life.
Given that the golf swing requires a unique combination of motions, keeping flexibility and strength over the winter can be the key to a good start when golf season returns. Unfortunately, all too often there is a lack of activity and mobility during winter, which results in reduced range of motion/fluidity in your swing, and decreased strength. Therefore, it is pertinent to have a game plan to ensure that both these factors remain in place. A regular routine consisting of massage therapy and exercise is critical to maintaining consistency in your game. When appropriate massage therapy is applied, there is the obvious effect of relaxed muscles and improved flexibility/fluidity. However, the benefits extend much further and include enhanced golf performance, eliminating pain, reduced risk of injury, and more efficient/accelerated recovery from activity and/or injury. Combining massage therapy with a proper exercise program provides the strength, stability, and power required to not only maintain, but improve your performance as well. Without a doubt, both practices are critical to returning to the course in April with your best foot forward as opposed to rebuilding your swing all over again.
As previously mentioned, the game of golf is highly complex, involving significant strategy, skill, and technique. Therefore, reviewing, analyzing, changing, and practicing your set-up (grip, stance, posture, ball position and alignment) is just as important. Unfortunately, too many golfers fail to address the off-season as a time of growth and development, and fall into the same trap of inactivity and lack of practice. To avoid finding yourself in this category, focus on one or two key improvement priorities that are most likely to help you return to the course in spring with more skill and confidence. The following are common issues affecting a golfer’s game that one should keep in mind for practice during downtime:
- Poor golf posture: A proper golf posture is the foundation for a consistent and powerful golf swing. Without proper physical preparation (i.e. strength and stability), maintaining a proper golf posture is difficult.
- Stiffness, immobility and/ or pain in the golf swing: People most often neglect and/or do not fully address this limitation during the off-season. As a result, this lack of flexibility and reduced range of motion is the primary cause of golf-related injuries early in the season. The golf swing is a very dynamic and complex movement that can put a great deal of strain on the body if not properly prepared.
- Early fatigue: If you walk the course, golf rounds can last up to 5 hours. Without adequate endurance, early fatigue can lead to poor performance, frustration, additional injuries from lack of form, and overall lack of enjoyment.
As you can see, the off-season is the ideal time to make positive changes to your game through the maintenance/improvement of flexibility, strength, and stamina, as well as the progression and enhancement of your skills to ensure your return to the game is enjoyable, rewarding, and leaves you excited about your performance.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or thoughts! I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Cory Boyd
Registered Massage Therapist
Personal Trainer
Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
Happiness doesn’t happen by accident. They say we are in charge of how we feel, and I believe it, even though during some of my lower moments I’d like someone else to blame. I’m 35 days into a personal project on happiness, and I’m already living proof that we can choose to be happy or sad.
Life happens all around us and we can’t control most of it. In fact, the general consensus is that about 90% of what happens to us is beyond our personal control. So how do we maintain composure when someone rear-ends our car? Or a snowstorm derails our plans? Or our toddler spills our coffee all over aisle 3 of the grocery store?
Your Subconscious is Listening
Studies show that what we tell ourselves, we believe. Most of our thoughts are pre-programmed, with only about 5% of our thoughts being conscious. And unfortunately, most of our programming leans toward a negative bias. If you struggle with positive thoughts now, it’s likely you’re going to keep struggling with them.
This winter, I was struggling hard with keeping upbeat. The weather was oppressive. I have a lot of kids, and a business, and a small house (you get the idea). I needed a new focus, and a better coping strategy than simply counting the days until spring.
The solution is re-programming the subconscious. The way to do it? Repetition.
It’s easy to repeat negative things to ourselves. Positive things sometimes take more effort (and if we’re honest, they often don’t feel 100% true), but the subconscious is listening.
A Positive Challenge
Enter #100happydays. I first stumbled across this project in 2015, and I gave it a try. The idea was to post a picture of something that made you happy every day for 100 days in a row. It was brilliant, and I loved the experience. I opted to try it again, with a few rules:
- Minimize the ‘stuff’, maximize the feelings. It’s really easy to focus on an object or material thing and say that it makes us happy. Instead, I wanted to focus on the little things, experiences and nuances of my day. I felt it would create a richer experience.
- Be true. Whatever I posted about had to genuinely make me smile, laugh, or warm me up inside. No fake stuff.
And that’s it! It’s been 35 days so far and I’m loving the experience. Stay tuned for another update soon, but in the meantime, please feel free to follow my happy days on Instagram @wholetherapyjen
I’m also challenging each of you to pursue your own happiness! Share your warm and fuzzies with us on Instagram @WholeTherapyOttawa
Hamstring strains can be tricky to resolve and they can return repeatedly if not rehabilitated correctly. Read on to learn what hamstring strains are, how to treat them and most importantly how to prevent them from reoccurring! So!
What is a hamstring?
The hamstrings are a group of 3 muscles that originate at your sit bone in your pelvis and travel down the back of your thigh, crossing the back of the knee to attach at the top of the tibia. The hamstrings work to extend your hips and flex your knees.
Causes of hamstring strains?
- Too much too soon: Running injuries are often a result of increasing distance, intensity or hill training too quickly. If you ramp up your training too aggressively you may overload your muscles and tendons which can result in a variety of injuries including a hamstring strain.
- Over striding: Runners who heel strike are overreaching which puts more strain on the hamstrings compared to those runners who midfoot strike.
- Hamstring weakness: Poor eccentric control of the hamstrings will make them more vulnerable to injury.
- Gluteal weakness: Your glutes and hamstrings work closely together. If your glutes are weak your hamstrings will work harder to compensate for them.
- Limited hamstring flexibility: The hamstrings can often tighten in people who spend a lot of time sitting, for example those of us who have desk jobs. The repetitive motion of running can also cause the hamstrings to tighten, especially on runs with little variation such as on a treadmill or flat road. So those runners who have desk jobs are more susceptible to having tight hamstrings!
- Lack of Warm-up: If you skip your warm-up, especially during a high quality run such as intervals or tempo running, you are at a much higher risk of injuring your hamstrings (and other soft tissues!)
- Previous lower extremity injury: If you have rolled your ankle or injured your knee your hamstring may be working extra hard to try to stabilize that leg.
Treating hamstring strains
- Cadence: Focus on a 170-180 cadence while landing on the midfoot. This will prevent over striding which will decrease pressure on the hamstrings. (See previous blog on cadence! )
- Eccentric hamstring exercises: Lying on your back with your heels/calves on a stability ball lift your hips in the air. Bend the knees bringing the ball towards your hips then VERY SLOWLY straighten your knees with good control. As this gets easier you can progress to doing single leg eccentrics.
- Strengthen your glute max and med muscles: (See previous blog on how to know your glutes are weak and how to strengthen them.)
- Stretch your hamstrings: Do not stretch before you run as studies have shown static stretching before running increases injury rates. Stretch following your run by doing the following stretch on each leg. Hold each position 30-60 seconds without bouncing.
- Do a proper warm up: Especially if you are doing speed work. Your warm up ideally should consist of jogging, high knees, bum kicks, skip steps and frankensteins.
If you try all the above tips and you are still experiencing hamstring pain it’s best to book an appointment with a physiotherapist to get a one on one assessment done. This may also involving taping, acupuncture and manual therapy.
As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me! richelle.wholetherapy@gmail.com
For soft tissue injuries – that is everything from a sprain to a strain or tear to tendinitis – reducing inflammation becomes your biggest objectives, thus your perspective on nutrition has to shift. Your focus is now fighting inflammation and fueling repair. There’s something about knowing that eating clean can help heal your injury and speed your recovery that makes these tips seem more like changes and less like restrictions.
Overall, the focus should be on anti-inflammatory foods, eliminating pro-inflammatory foods, keeping essential nutrient (vitamins & minerals) intake high, and boosting your protein intake for complete healing. The more serious the injury, the more critical the diet. When recovering from surgery, for instance, your nutrition needs will be drastically higher than recovering from, say, tendinitis.
Increase Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats such as chia and flax seed help reduce inflammation in the body. Think of using these foods the same way that you use ice to reduce inflammation. And while increasing the number of anti-inflammatory foods is extremely important, so is decreasing the amount of pro-inflammatory foods. Foods that can cause inflammation: refined sugars (candy, doughnuts, white bread), oils (margarine, shortening), processed meats (hot dogs, lunch meats, sausage), and foods high in saturated and trans fats.
Hydration is Key
Take your weight in pounds and divide by two, this will give you the amount of ounces you need daily. For example: 128lbs divide by 2=64 oz (=2 litres) of water daily.
For more help or information, book your nutrition consultation today www.wholetherapy .com
Carole Woodstock, RHN www.fuel4lifenutrition.com
What is IT Band Syndrome? Glad you asked!
The iliotibial (IT) band is a thick band of fascia that runs from your pelvis to the outside of your knee. Repetitive bending and straightening of the knee while running can cause constant rubbing of the IT band over the bony parts of your knee. This constant friction can cause the IT band to become irritated and eventually inflamed resulting in pain. The pain is often described as sharp. It’s typically outside the knee but can sometimes can radiate into the outer thigh or calf. Runners will usually notice more pain running downhill or during longer distance runs.
How do you treat IT Band Syndrome?
REST! The most important treatment tip is to modify your activity levels. IT band pain will not settle if you continue to run. The tissue needs a break from the friction caused by bending and extending activities in order to settle the irritation and inflammation along the outside of the knee. While resting you can cross train but you need to avoid similar activities. For example swimming is usually fine but cycling will likely just irritate the band.
Trail Run: When you’re ready, try trail running as opposed to treadmill or road running. Running on flat surfaces causes your leg to bend and extend the exact same way over and over again. Running on a varied surface mixes things up decreasing the repetitive movements at the knee.
Glute Strengthening: Make sure your glutes are strong! If your glutes are not functioning properly, your IT band may be compensating. (See my previous running blog on how to know if your glutes are weak and how to strengthen them 🙂
Foam Rolling: Try foam rolling the lateral aspect of your thigh. The IT band is not actually a muscle. It’s fascia which means it does not contract and relax. Therefore foam rolling and trying to stretch the IT band itself doesn’t actually “lengthen” the band of tissue. But rolling the outside of the thigh can get the lateral quad muscles which can definitely be tight.
TFL Release: Your tensor fascia lata is a muscle on the outside of your hip that helps stabilize your hip and knee. You can release your TFL either in lying as shown below or (if this exercise is too intense) against a wall.
If after attempting these tips you still have pain, you may need to book an appointment with a physiotherapist (Hi!) who can do a one on one assessment searching for and addressing any muscle imbalances you may have. You should also have your running form assessed! Modalities such as acupuncture, cupping and taping can also speed healing along nicely.
As always, if you have any questions at all make sure you send me an email at richelle.wholetherapy@gmail.com. I am always happy to help other runners run faster and be pain free!
You know what’s the worst?
Pain along the shin that is caused by inflammation of the muscles that attach to the shin bone (aka the tibia).
Shin splints. Thy name is evil.
There are 2 types of shin splints as seen in the picture below. Pain along the outer front portion of the lower leg is called anterior shin splints. Pain along the back inside of the lower leg is called posterior shin splints. (or, posterior evil)
Common Causes:
Shin splints is an overuse injury that typically is caused by training errors such as such as increasing running distance or intensity too aggressively and changing to a hard or uneven training surface. Other causes include:
- Poor running mechanics; heel striking.
- Poor footwear. Sometimes people switch to minimalist footwear but if they are heel striking they can develop shin splints.
- Weakness in the shin muscles; in particular tibialis anterior and tibialis posterior.
- Core and pelvic muscle instability.
- Imbalance between the quads and hamstrings with respect to strength and flexibility.
- Foot arch abnormalities such as excessive pronation.
- Poor intrinsic foot muscle strength.
- Unequal leg length.
Treatment:
- Rest! It is very difficult to resolve shin splints without temporarily taking a break from running. A rest break does not mean you cannot cross train to maintain your cardiovascular fitness! Try swimming, cycling, yoga or weight training. Any exercise that does not aggravate your shin splints.
- Progress Slowly. Think of any training errors you may have made. When you start running again, make sure you do not make the same mistakes again. You may need a more gradual progression into distance or speed.
- Mid-foot Strike. Do you heel strike? If so focus on mid-foot striking to decrease the force through your shins with each stride. The best way to do this is to focus on a 180 cadence (See earlier blog post on cadence!)
- Footwear. Have a look at your footwear. If your sneakers are extremely worn or too big look at purchasing new ones. If you are in a more minimalist shoe you may need to switch to one with more cushioning temporarily.
- Warm up. Do a proper warm up before your run starts, especially if you are doing a quality run such as hill training or speed work.
- Strengthen your shins. Strengthen your tibialis anterior! Try toe walking or doing dorsiflexion with a resistance band.
- Roll. Try rolling your shin muscle out. (Not the bone: ouch!) You don’t need to buy a fancy tiger tail as shown in the picture below. A wooden rolling pin from your kitchen works perfectly!
- Figure out your muscle imbalances. Book an assessment with our physiotherapists to check for muscle imbalances. It is hard to know if you need your core, pelvis, thigh, shin, and/or foot muscles strengthened or stretched if you don’t get a one on one assessment first!
- Modalities. Your physiotherapist can also try acupuncture and/or taping to help resolve your pain faster.
Hopefully following some of these tips will help resolve your shin splints! As always, if you have any questions or to book your assessment, email me anytime at richelle.wholetherapy@gmail.com
🙂
ACHILLES TENDONITIS
What is Achilles Tendonitis?
The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the human body. It is the cord of tissue below your calf and above your heel. It points your foot and raises you up on your tiptoes. Achilles tendonitis is a common problem that occurs when the tendon becomes irritated and inflamed resulting in heel pain. There are a number of activities that place extreme loading forces on the Achilles tendon. Running, especially uphill running, is definitely one of them.
Signs and Symptoms
- Gradual onset of pain and tenderness in the Achilles tendon often made worse with activity.
- Pain and stiffness along the Achilles tendon first thing in the morning.
- Swelling and tenderness of the Achilles tendon.
Treatment Suggestions
REST! There is no quick magical fix when it comes to tendonitis. You cannot make the pain and inflammation settle if you continue to push through your pain. Resting doesn’t mean you have to become a temporary couch potato. Try cross-training activities such as swimming or cycling (as long as they are pain free). This will maintain your cardiovascular fitness while your Achilles tendon gets a much needed rest.
Heel lifts Purchase a heel lift like the one shown in the picture below. This can be worn temporarily to reduce strain on the Achilles tendon. Even if you only have Achilles tendonitis in one heel make sure you still put an insert in both shoes so there’s no asymmetry. https://www.amazon.ca/Plantar-Fasciitis-Silicone-Achilles-Tendonitis/dp/B07HQ46XR1/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1547583030&sr=8-5&keywords=heel+inserts+for+achilles+tendonitis
Eccentric strengthening exercises. Standing on a step rise up on your toes then lift your good leg. Very slowly lower your injured heel towards the floor. Aim to repeat 15 times and do this exercise twice daily. Some discomfort during the exercise is okay but it should not linger. If you have increased pain after doing eccentrics stop the exercises and consider seeing a physiotherapist to get some individualized care.
Calf Stretches: There are 2 calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus). In order to stretch the gastroc you need to keep the back leg straight. To stretch the soleus bend the back leg. Keep the heel on the floor. Hold stretch 30-60 seconds (no bouncing). Repeat 3 times. Always stretch after you run not before!
Correct any training errors
- Did you recently start or return to running? Maybe you progressed your distance/pace too quickly.
- Did you recently start hill training or running hillier routes than normal? Maybe you did too many hill repeats or you ran hills too many times in one week.
- Did you recently start doing any cross-training exercises that involve a lot of repetitive hopping, skipping or jumping?
- Have you recently changed footwear? Did it involve transitioning to a more minimalist shoe without a heel?
Basically think back to just before your heel pain started. Often with runners it’s a result of a recent change so figure out what that was and don’t make the same mistake again!
When to seek professional help!
If you try the above treatment techniques and are still experiencing pain; I would suggest booking an appointment with a physiotherapist (That’s me!) who can do an assessment and come up with an individualized treatment plan. This may or may not include taping your Achilles, dry needling, cupping and soft tissue release.
As always, if you have any questions about ANY type of injury, running or otherwise, feel free to contact me at the clinic!
🙂
If the cold winter and ice covered sidewalks has you moving your runs indoors, give these treadmill workouts a try! I get very bored on the treadmill and have a hard time running more than 5km! However, these interval workouts help me spice things up a bit!
Disclaimer: If you haven’t been running hills outdoors or on an incline on the treadmill lately introduce these hill workouts cautiously. Too much too soon with hill training can put a great deal of strain on the Achilles tendons, calves and plantar fascia which can lead to injury.
Workout #1: Sprint intervals
1-2km Warmup
3X400m sprints with 200m walk/slow jog between.
2X600m sprints with 400m walk/slow jog between.
2X400m sprints with 200m walk/slow jog between.
1-2km Cool Down
Workout #2: Hill repeats
5 minutes jogging warmup.
1 minute at 4% incline, 1 minute at 5%, 1 minute at 6%. 2 minutes at 0%.
1 minute at 5% incline, 1 minute at 6%, 1 minute at 7%. 2 minutes at 0%.
1 minute at 6% incline, 1 minute at 7%, 1 minute at 8%. 2 minutes at 0%.
1 minute at 7% incline, 1 minute at 6%, 1 minute at 5%. 2 minutes at 0%.
1 minute at 6% incline, 1 minute at 5%, 1 minute at 4%. 2 minutes at 0%.
5 minutes jogging cooldown.
Workout #3: 10km rolling hills
1km Warmup
3 sets of the following:
500m at 3% incline, 500m at 0%.
500m at 4% incline, 500m at 0%.
500m at 5% incline, 500m at 0%.
Workout #4: Hill repeats
Jog 5 minutes to warmup.
Repeat 4-8 times.
90 seconds at 6% incline. 1 minute recovery jog at 0%.
60 seconds at 7% incline. 2 minutes recovery jog at 0%.
Give these a try and remember, we’re always here to help with any questions or concerns you may have!
Happy Trails! (or treadmills)
When I see a runner in our clinic my first goal is to get them pain free again. Once I accomplish this I then need to analyze their running form and try to correct any poor body mechanics they might have. Heel striking and excessively swinging the arms, rotating the trunk and bouncing up and down are all common running technique errors. If I had to choose one thing I would work on with everyone presenting with these issues, it would be cadence!
What is cadence?
Cadence is the number of times your feet hit the ground per minute. The ideal cadence is 180 steps/minute, or 3 steps per second. However, the majority of runners especially beginners have more of a 150-160 cadence.
Why is cadence so important?
If you heel strike you have a large stride length. This in turn will increases your joint reaction force. This excessive force can eventually lead to joint pain and injury. You also are putting the brakes on and slowing yourself down with every step by placing your foot way out in front leading with the heel. By improving your cadence to 180 you don’t have time for a long stride length therefore you start landing on the midfoot as opposed to the heel. You also don’t have time to excessively swing the arms around, rotate the trunk or bounce up and down so it greatly improves running technique and removes unnecessary movement patterns that waste energy!
What’s the best way to work on your cadence?
- Start by running on a treadmill. Warm up for 5 minutes at a relaxed easy pace.
- Settle into your regular comfortable pace (for example the pace you would do on a long run).
- Over a 15 second interval count how many times your feet hit the treadmill. Multiply this number by 4. Ideally you want to be around 180!
If you are below 170, it will take a little bit of work. Try to shorten your stride and try to land on the middle of your foot as opposed to your heel. Recheck your cadence and it should be closer to 180. You’ll notice a difference in that you usually run very loudly on the treadmill but it’s quieter when you make this change. Once you’ve mastered this on a treadmill, you can move things outdoors. Some running watches like Garmin can actually track your cadence and will beep at you if you go below a preset number.
Initially it will take a lot of concentration to improve your cadence but with practice it will become natural and you will be able to run with a 180 cadence without focusing on it constantly!
Feel free to contact me with any cadence/running/physio questions. I’m here to help!