Author: Team @ Physio On Miller

Hip flexor stretch – Exercise of the Month

With the months getting cooler and shorter it’s harder to stay active. With this sedentary shift we can find our hip flexors start to tighten, particularly with more time sitting such as the commute to work and watching tele or going for a drink at the pub.

The kneeling hip flexor stretch is a great way to open the hips and surrounding muscles which get tight with prolonged sitting.

To stretch:

• Start in a kneeling position with one foot out in front. The back leg is the one you will be stretching.
• Keep your body straight and squeeze your glutes (this will help to keep your pelvis tucked and avoid over extending your back and losing the stretch).
• Maintaining this position lean slightly forwards without arching your back. Hold this for 20 seconds.
• If you could like to feel more stretch you can lift the same arm to the stretched leg (ie kneeling leg) and reach for the ceiling

As always stretches should not cause any pain and if so please stop immediately. If even after this stretch you’re still experiencing tight hips please give us a call and we can add manual treatment to get them sorted.

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How to start running

We have many clients wanting to improve their cardio and ask us how to start running. From a physio point of view it’s important to ensure good leg strength and core stability prior to starting out. Once you’ve established this good platform we often recommend the Couch to 5k program. I’ve used it many times when getting back into running following a hiatus.

Reasons we love and recommend the Couch to 5k program:

1. It’s easy!
   • With only 60 seconds of running followed by 90 seconds of walking for a total workout of 20 minutes it doesn’t feel like hard work. Of course it gets harder throughout the program but by that stage you’ve started to build up your fitness.
2. It’s great to focus on technique.
   • We often see clients who have just gone out for their first ever 5km run and within 1 km of the run are experiencing pain. This can be because they don’t have the endurance and fitness to focus on a great technique. By only starting with 60 seconds of running it allows you to run at a good pace (not a sluggish one which is usually the case by 3km in) and focus on foot placement, glut and core activation and posture.
3. It helps prevent injury.
   • As clients who we recommend this program to are only beginners it is a gentle introduction to running without causing overuse injuries. With the 90 second walk following the 1 minute run it helps to allow the body (and lungs) recover before beginning the next cycle of running.
4. It’s great for injury rehab
   • When coming back from injury it’s important not to overdo it and using the Couch to 5k helps to pace your running. It provides a good warm up, enough time to focus on running technique and recovery time following each run cycle.
5. It’s achievable and successful
   • We’ve had many clients try this program and have had great successes. Clients who never thought they would be able to run 5k or clients who after injury were nervous about running again. Given the slow, paced style of the program (and only 3x per week) it’s a great running program to commit to.

So good luck if you’re going to try this, you’ll be proud of your achievement.

World Osteoporosis Day

Today is World Osteoporosis Day and it’s important we (as health professionals) spread the word about good bone health. Some interesting facts about osteoporosis in Australia:

• 4.74 million Australians over 50 have osteoporosis or poor bone health.
• There is 1 fracture every 3.6 minutes in Australia (2013). By 2022 there will be 1 fracture every 2.9 minutes.
• 144,000 fractures occurred due to osteoporosis or osteopenia in 2013.
• Over the next 10 years, the total cost of osteoporosis and associated fractures is estimated to be $33.6 billion.

These facts are astounding but the good news is there is something you can do to prevent poor bone health right now. As physios we are all about prevention and good health so it comes as no surprise that exercise is key to good bone density.

Types of exercises

The main types of exercise recommended for bone health include:

• Weight-bearing aerobic exercise (lower limbs bear weight which places stress on bones).
• Progressive resistance training (lifting weights that become more challenging over time).
• High velocity resistance training (lifting weights quickly and then lowering slowly).
• Moderate to high impact exercise (eg: jumping, skipping, dancing,
• basketball, tennis).
• Balance and mobility exercise (eg: standing on one leg with the eyes closed, heel-to-toe walking).

Along with exercise a healthy diet rich in Calcium and a good does of sunshine will have your bones smiling.

A physio’s tips for running a marathon

4 weeks to go till my first marathon…. what I’ve learnt so far

Why why why would anyone decide to train for a marathon????

Because I have always believed:

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

I have run many half marathons and they no longer give me that feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach that the first half marathon did, so I needed to move on to a new challenge.

A full marathon; yes, 42km definitely makes my stomach feel sick with the potential for failure, pain, committing to the hours and hours of training over the months leading up to it… I really don’t think I can do that! Hence I signed up for the NYC Marathon in March this year.

Along the way there have been many hurdles, colds, tiredness, work, weather… plus the many excuses just circling in my head as legit reasons to not get out there and do the run.

Someone recently told me “Robyn, running a marathon is not like running 2 half marathons put together”. I am starting to understand what they meant.

At this point though I am feeling like although I missed many of the trainings and have likely hit the recommended km/wk maybe 2 out of the 13 weeks I’ve been training everything is going pretty well. Finishing 29km a few days ago has definitely lifted my spirits that maybe I am going to make it come November.

My recommendations to anyone training for a long distance run

Get a plan put together by professionals specifically designed to the distance and race you are training for if you are a beginner. A plan gives to guidance and makes you accountable when there is literally months ahead before the actual big day.

• Try to never miss the long run each week, stick to this and you will likely avoid many problems along the way.
• Listen to your body…. If you are sick or injured and running in pain DON’T RUN – I have trialled the alternatives on myself with disastrous results each time
• If you miss runs during the week, it’s not a complete disaster, you will still get fitter. With this said what I have learnt is that the short distance interval, fartlek, hill and tempo runs that all good programs will have, are important and really are the game changer when it comes to how hard that long run feels in your legs and being able speed up your race pace safely.
• Tempo / Interval training build mental toughness. I love nothing better than to cruise along looking at the beautiful harbor and enjoying the sunshine on a long run. It’s the shorter runs where your heart rate spikes, breathing becomes a heaving mess and the burn in your legs gets nasty. If you can get through those runs, I really feel come race day you’ll get through the tough patches in a marathon. Well here’s to hoping that is what will happen. This training has definitely helped to improve my long runs so far.
• Keep playing with nutrition and hydration until you find what works for you. These two are very important in finding your optimal performance and varies for each person. Try different gels, energy drinks, water and play around with when you take them till you find what works for you.

My main goal has always been to make it to the start line not injured and then just enjoy being part of a marathon, I still can’t believe that come November I will be able to say I ran a marathon, seriously I still think I must be crazy.

Keep watching this space to hear how I went!

Xx