NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS, SPORTING GOALS

Happy New Year! The gym is packed and it seems, more that ever, that people are on a health drive.

What about you? What are your goals for 2009 - to lose weight and get fit, start walking, running, consider a 5k, enter a marathon, beat last year's time?

Whatever your chosen goal, I wish you the best of luck with it. My one word of advice would be, to make sure nothing gets in the way of you achieving your goal, why not consider having your trainers, running, muscle length and strengths looked at before you get going. Think of it as an MOT aimed at finding out and fixing something before it becomes unroadworthy! We do it for our cars, why not our bodies?

Making sure you have the right technique, kit and muscle activation going on is essential to minimise injury.

A quick check list of things to look at before contacting a physio for your MOT might be to work out how many miles your trainers have done, have they done as much as they're expected to do already? Do they still offer your feet enough support? Next try hopping, squatting, stepping up on a box. Does one leg fatigue more than the other? Is one leg tighter than the other when you stretch? Do you get any aches and pains either during or after you've run?

If any of your answers suggest you might have some work to do or need some help, seek the professionals. A good running shop for trainers is essential. Appropriate exercises to strengthen and lengthen muscles will make a world of difference and if you've got even the smallest ache make sure you get it seen to before you start running. It's only likely to get worse!

For more information about running painfree and/or to book you January MOT email enquiries@thephysiplace.com. If it's stretches you're after, check out the stretches in my earlier blog.


Hope it all goes well and have a great break.

Bristol Half Marathon 2008

Hats off to all of you who are planning on running the Bristol Half Marathon this year.

I hope your training is going well and you're not experiencing too many aches and pains. If you are now is the time to get them sorted out before the mileage increases or time starts to get any closer.

Whatever your problem - first of all consider your trainers - is there enough support? Have they done more than their expected mileage? I've found over the years of treating sports injuries that trainers are a fairly consistent contributor to aches and pains. Are yours? Several of the local running shops in Bristol will give discounts for people who belong to gyms or sports clubs so its worth asking.

Next question is - are you doing enough stretches pre and post run? If not and you're not sure what you should be doing, take a look at my earlier blog on stretching exercises - beautifully demonstrated! :-)

If you have had an injury or back pain etc in the past you may have some weaker muscle groups. This is worth considering as problems with muscle imbalance often become apparent when assessing runners. If you're not sure, get a physiotherapist to assess you and find out so you know what to work on.

Finally, for anyone who might still want some help I am going to be doing some running assessment evenings at Next Generation Health Club, Westbury-on-Trym over the next couple of weeks. If you're interested in having your running assessed, trainers and muscle lengths and strengths looked at and some advice and exercises let me know. This will take 20 minutes and cost £10. Remember to come in your kit and bring your trainers! For more information and to make contact log onto www.thephysiplace.com