To Run or Not to Run

As we roll into nicer weather here in Chicago, I see more people out jogging. Running seems to be something of a fault line in the fitness world, I've talked to cardio kings and queens who use running exclusively as their method of exercise, but will give their workouts variety by occasionally using the elliptical to supplement their daily treadmill fix. What one might call the majority typically respond that they do run, but they don't enjoy it. I've had clients flat out refuse to run, not because of injury, simply out of distaste.

At Chicago Fitness Training, I take the position that running is a basic human movement. There are only so many ways that the human body will naturally move; and each will improve the coordination, endurance, strength, and flexibility of a number of parts of the human movement system. Like other movement patterns, it should be trained to reinforce proper technique and eliminate inefficiency. Any form of exercise that is enjoyed and can be done safely should be embraced (But remember, no single exercise should comprise your entire training regiment). If you don't like running, train it anyways. You might be surprised to find that by training it correctly, it will become tolerable and feel much easier.

For those of you that experience pain and discomfort (beyond typical muscle soreness) during or after a run, remember; pain is a signal from your body that it is being damaged. Do not disregard it. Learn from it. Pain is telling you that your form and technique are incorrect. Improper movement leads to compensation, synergistic dominance, altered joint mechanics, and ultimately, to injury. Do not presume that you are running correctly, work on the techniques. The better you become, the easier it will be, and the faster and farther you will be able to run. It can be very difficult to diagnose what you are doing incorrectly; ask someone (friend or trainer) to watch you run. Better yet, have them record video of you running. Use a track or field, and run toward them from fifty yards away and have them continue to film as you run past them for another fifty yards. Contact me (mark@chifittraining.com) if you would like help with film breakdown.

Running is another form of exercise that many people tend to repeat exactly, e.g., "Every other day, I run three miles on the treadmill at 7.5 mph." BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. In fact, doing a variety of different runs has much greater benefits for your body. Windsprints, hills, obstacle courses, and hurdles are great examples of runs that are anything but the slow and steady drudgery that people subject themselves to on a treadmill. Or add a half mile in at the end of each of your circuits. Just keep in mind that your technique is of the utmost importance. If you're going to train something, train it right!

A Lesson from Mom

Hello and Happy Mother's Day! Today's post is on the topic of consistency, and is, of course, inspired by my mom.

When I was growing up, my mom worked as a librarian in the school that my sister and I attended. I have some very happy memories from that time, but I digress. As the librarian, she was well-liked by all the students and faculty, being responsible for story-time for the younger children, and helping the older children with research for projects. Her job was fairly active, climbing ladders to get books from the higher shelves and pulling down boxes of materials regularly. I didn't know it at the time, but one such box was responsible for my first lessons as a personal trainer. The box was out of the way, and other things had to be moved to even reach it. It was an awkward lift, and the second that she did it, my mom knew that something was wrong. She had hurt her back. The pain was there right away, and lasting, and it got worse. By the second week, she knew that she wasn't getting better and made an appointment with her doctor. She was referred to a back specialist after the x-rays had revealed that she had slipped a disc in her spine. They had to operate, and it took her a few months of physical therapy to feel like her old self again.

A few years later, she hurt her back for a second time lifting groceries out of the back of the car. She had re-injured the same part of her back. My mom felt miserable after the second injury, probably worse than the first time, because she knew what she was in for the second time around. It didn't help that the injury occurred doing something that she had considered to be easy. But during that second stint of physical therapy; two things happened. The first thing was that the pain and suffering that she went through gave her the motivation to do whatever she needed, to ensure that she didn't go through anything like that again. And the second thing was a conversation that she had had with the physical therapist after she asked what she needed to do, to make sure that she never had to go through that ordeal. He asked her what exercises she had been doing during the time between the two operations. Her response was that she had not been exercising at all, aside from taking walks with the family dog. The therapist told her that her mistake was that she had not kept up with the exercises that she had learned during physical therapy. She didn't make that mistake twice. Since her second back surgery more than twenty years ago, she has exercised five days a week. Over time she has progressed from the basic therapy exercises to a much more challenging routine. Not only has she not suffered another back injury, but she is by far the most active and fit of her life.

My mom learned some valuable lessons, and through her experience, I did too. Always lift and move appropriately; even easy tasks are difficult and dangerous with poor form and technique. Exercise to stay healthy; the best results come from consistency and a gradual progression of difficulty. Finally, being released from physical therapy does NOT mean that you are fully recovered (especially if an insurance company is justifying expenditures!), it only means that you are healed enough to gradually resume normal activity.

And for everyone that is scrambling for a last minute gift: give the gifts of health and happiness. Buy her a gift package for beginner's yoga, water aerobics, or a gift certificate for a new pair of running shoes. A deep tissue massage is always nice for anyone who is already active. A consultation with a corrective exercise practitioner can be the next step to resume the healing process for any that did not complete their rehabilitation process.

I'd like to take a moment to thank my mom for everything that she has done for me:
 Thank you for all the things you have done, for all that you have sacrificed, and especially
 for all of the patience that you have had. Love you. Happy Mother's Day!