Sport

Program design in fitness

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Following some recent research, I have been thinking about the way we approach fitness training.There is some evidence that there are 2 modes in the body and we need to activate both for the best output. There is the short time, high intensity work and then the long, slow output.The problem is, when we train with people, we don’t focus on these, we fall onto the middle ground. It’s easy. We don’t need to work hard, we don’t need to push the client. But then they don’t improve, they get disheartened and our reputation isn’t enhanced.

Instead of taking them for a jog around the park, change it up. Make them sweat, push them hard. Use the primal patterns, look at complex movements if they are capable of them. And if they’re not, get them ready.

And then guide them to being more active every day (the long slow stuff). Help them change their diet so they eat clean.

They will see changes and you will enhance your reputation too!

Blood pressure and treatment

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An article in New Scientist in November 2010 noted that a group of researchers had successfully managed to lower a group of patients blood pressure by 10mmHg. This is significant because, as they stated, this reduces their risk of stroke and earlier death by approximately 30%.

It seems to work by affecting the nerve supplying the kidneys. Which got me thinking that, if they were able to reduce the pressure via the nerves, surely maximising the health of the nervous system would also have the same effect.

This is not a random and unsubstantiated claim that Osteopathy can do this directly but we do know that treatment affects the nervous system and therefore if we can maximise patient health, then maybe this would have a knock on effect, helping the neural supply to the kidney as well. In fact, whilst at college, I was aware of a fellow student who was measuring the effect of cervical manipulation  on the blood pressure of the patient, but I am unaware of her outcomes.

Of course, the best thing to do would be conduct a nice randomised controlled trial but as with many things osteopathic, this would be difficult to do, if for no other reason than the funding.

However, it is something to bear in mind as we treat.

We should, of course, always bear the patients blood pressure in mind when we are treating, since it is a risk factor in cervical manipulations and, as potential primary care practitioners, we may be the first person the patient has been to see for years.

Out with the syphg and onwards to better health!

A brief thought on running mechanics and gait

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It is generally thought that there are 4 main phases to the gait cycle when running:

Inital strike, stance, take off and forward swing.

Breaking this down into 2 separate sections, we can firstly look at the strike and stance phases. As the foot makes contact with the ground and rectus femoris (one of the quadriceps group of thigh muscles) proactively fires. As the foot touches the ground, the subtalar joint inverts or everts, the midfoot abducts or adducts and the forefoot plantarflexes or dorsiflexes. All these subtle movements combine to allow a small amount of pronation to occur, maximising the foots ability to dissipate shock.From this, we can see that a tight foot that underpronates limits this ability, which may lead to achillies problems, calf strains, lateral knee pain and illiotibial band issues. Conversely, overpronation can lead to tibial strain, anterior calf injuries and medial knee pain, due to the medial rotation occurring in the tibia. 

Swing phase happens at the same time on the opposite leg. The pelvis rotates forwards, with hip flexion initiated by the iliospoas. The Hamstrings start to lengthen, limiting the extension in the lower leg, caused by the quadriceps.The lower leg decends, hitting the surface as the body accelerates, ideally creating a vertical line between head and toe on impact.

During both phases, the core provides stability for the upper body, allowing the forces to be shared and transferred correctly. As the spine can be considered by some researchers a store and transfer for the energy contained within the running motion, core integration is important and if not present, an indicator and predisposition of other issues that need to be addressed.