The Sacroiliac Joint - An Often Overlooked Source of Low Back and Hip Pain

Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain is thought to be involved in 15% of all low back complaints. Symptoms of sacroiliac joint pain include low back pain, gluteal pain, sacral pain, groin pain, or hip pain. The pain is typically worse when walking and standing, with relief while lying down. Often rolling over in bed, sneezing/coughing, and climbing/descending stairs aggravates these symptoms.

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I Have Sciatica...What Does that Mean?

Contrary to popular belief Sciatica is not a diagnosis but rather a symptom which can be caused by a number of conditions. Sciatica can be a very debilitating symptom and understanding the root cause allows for appropriate treatment.

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Strength Training for Runners: Overwhelming Evidence for Injury Prevention and Performance

Due to the repetitive nature of any sport, cross training with strength training is recommended to challenge the body in ways that the athlete’s main sport cannot offer. Strength training not only offers benefits of injury prevention for runners, but can also benefit running performance.

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What are Stress Fracture and Why do we get them?

Stress fractures were first described in sports medicine in 1958. Since then the prevalence of stress fractures has been increasing, especially in athletes and military recruits. The prevalence has been reported to be between 0.4%-49% in athletes and military recruits with 10%-31% occurring in running sports. A stress fracture is the result of an accumulation of micro-damage from repetitive loading of a bone leading to fatigue within the bone causing a crack. The crack does not traverse the entire bone compared to a frank fracture from trauma, which separates the two ends of the bone. A stress fracture is considered an overuse injury and can arise in any bone; however 95% occur in the lower limb with the tibia being the most common bone.

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The Sophomore Jinx!

I am a sports fanatic! I have often wondered about the dreaded sophomore jinx. Does it happen in triathlon? Why does it happen? Is it real? If it is real, what are the characteristics which contribute to it? Perhaps most important, can it be prevented! It took many years and great experience but I think I have made some headway on the subject and thankfully it took my experience in triathlon to help me understand. There are in my mind ostensibly two reasons for the jinx. Lets for the sake of this piece call them 1) experiential 2) logical. 1 is based on the love and passion for the sport and 2), while logical and sensible, is dastardly, diabolical and cruel in its ever present hold on the athlete, is based on the rate and general curve which one athlete can improve, or not!

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Outdoor Riding

The weather is getting nicer outside (finally!) and you will start to see many cyclists out on the roads!!  Outdoor riding is a very important part of training for those of you who plan on participating in cycling and triathlon events this summer.   However, it is important that you remember that even though you are outdoors instead of indoors on the computrainer, that every workout has a purpose.  If you are out for your long ride, it is important that you are working to build your aerobic system and therefore resisting the urges to ride harder up the hills, or hammer home with a friend or training partner.  If you are out for a shorter ride and trying to build speed, it is important that you are still doing those intervals at the appropriate effort or exertion level.  In my experience, for those athletes who opt not to do these focussed rides indoors on the trainer, they have a harder time finding the appropriate terrain (flat versus hills) or the appropriate distance without having the delay of a stop sign or traffic lights.  For this reason, I recommend that most athletes do their specific interval training indoors, even when the weather is nice, and do their long aerobic rides and their tempo rides outdoors away from the traffic lights and stop adn go of the city. 

Inspiration

Today I had the opportunity to work with a very unique client.  The gentleman came in, I met with him, and he said he needed some help putting together an exercise program that was safe and healthy for him.  This in itself is not so unique, as we get this all the time!! What was special about this particular client was that he was 92 years old!  And, a veteran of World War II.  Today I put him through a workout that focused on joint stability, balance, posture and range of motion.  He did great!  In fact, he wanted to do more.  I had to convince him that that was enough (45 minutes of exercise!) for one workout, and to save some exercises for next time. 

This man is an inspiration to me, and I could see that he was an inspiration to others that were on the gym floor exercising at the same time as we were.  To think that I can go another 62 years with regular attendance in the gym! :-)

This man also proves how keeping one's body moving as much as possible throughout life is so important.  Many people reach a certain age and decide they are "too old" to keep going to the gym, or "their knees won't allow them to continue to exercise," etc etc.  However, deciding to stop exercising is one important step in aging.  Keeping the body (and the mind!) moving and inspired is key to delaying and slowing down the aging process. 

Let him be an inspiration to all of you!  Keep working out as you love to do  - the workout specifics may just need to be modified as you go through life!

The Longest Walk In Sports

When I played Professional Golf I learned a very important lesson. The toughest challenge was walking from the practice tee, to the first tee! More about that later.

The other morning in our Computrainer Studio, one of our coached athletes had a kick ass workout. She was excited about all the hard work she had done and her level of fitness which has improved immensely over the winter. She said after her workout "I am going to get out on the roads this spring and surprise a lot of my friends I rode with last year". Instantly I thought back to my competitive days playing golf and my (sometimes unhappy) realization that while hard work and practice do pay off, there is no substitution for the real thing!

Without being de-motivating or deflating to this athlete, I asked her if we could spend a moment to chat about the transition from inside to outside. She agreed and we talked for quite a while. I related my story and explained that she should do some rides outside and to capitalize on all the hard work shes done she should take a few rides to ease into the outdoor season. Specifically I spoke about the static nature of her bike on the trainer; the recruitment of different muscles outside; and the uncontrolled environmental conditions of wind/heat/cold/humidity which would play into performance for the first time since last fall! The good news is that it just takes your body a bit of time to get used to riding outside for the hard work to pay off in spades. It will not happen the first ride for sure!

I told her its a long walk from the Computrainer Studio to the open road, just as it is from the batting cage to home plate; the swimming pool to the lake; the track to the road; or the practice tee to the first tee!

Don't get discouraged if your first outdoor ride isn't your best. Set realistic expectations and give your body a chance to acclimatize itself to the new environment and you will be amazed at how great you do!

Safe riding and see  you out on the road. 

Water Running

This week I happen to have seen two patients, both female runners, with stress fractures. Both of them wish to maintain their fitness and continue with their training during the 6 to 12 weeks period of bone healing. These patients are not able to run or do any other impact activity, so a good solution for them is water running. With water running, athletes are able to maintain very specific run fitness. It is even possible to improve run fitness with water running only!

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A Moment To Congratulate All of You!

I arrived late this morning to Absolute Endurance. 7am and I couldn't get a parking spot. After parking down the block and walking a bit, I walked into a bustling active positive environment full of the most dedicated people I know. YOU. The gym floor was busy and the CompuTrainer class was full. There were a couple of physiotherapy and massage appointments going on as well. February 3rd and all of this. Realizing full well that all of you have busy full and hectic lives, it made me stop and reflect for a moment.

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