Stretching my limits

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Last year I learnt that the Spirited Women’s Adventure race was coming to Alexandra and decided this was some-thing I could challenge myself with and hopefully be able to complete. We got a team of 4 together with a combined age of 235 years and entered the Masters women’s short course option.

The race consists of a mix of hiking 5-10km, mountain biking 15-20km, kayaking about 2km and a mystery event along with finding our route, navigating and checking all 39 check points.

I had never done an adventure race and with knees that have moderate arthritic changes needed to put in some serious training and over the five months after the entry went in. I swam for cardio fitness, cycled over 400km and walked using Forrest Hill as one of my main training places as well as doing some kayaking over the Christmas break. Nordic walking certainly helped with the hills.

On the 14th of February our team went to the briefing and were given our route maps, dropped our bicycles of at Chatto Creek and then spent time deciding the most efficient routes to take to get from one transition stage to the next and being able to get all 39 check points!

The short course had the last start time at 10.45am and was in two waves for the 79 teams. In all we had 9 transitions and these were all mixed between cycling and walking with the kayaking being at the Lower Manorburn Reservoir. Our mystery activity was also there and this consisted jumping 5.1metres into the dam from a rock face. Our team all completed this and did not incur penalty points.

After 7 hours 31 minutes we completed the race with smiles on our face. We finished 4th in the Masters section and 43rd out of the 89 teams that ranged from high school students up to our age group. Over-all pretty satisfied with our achievement as a group with a combined age of 235 years!

Coronavirus

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Accelerate Physiotherapy are still OPEN (sort of).

Even though our physical clinic is closed, we are still taking appointments. These will be done via Telehealth. If you have an injury, you are still able to get it assessed, treated, and rehabilitated through utilising a video link. This may be through your smartphone, tablet, or computer. You are also still eligible for ACC and we can still lodge the claim for you, if this is applicable. The cost of our Telehealth is $10 for ACC sessions and $40 for non-ACC sessions. You can expect the session to be up to a maximum of 25 minutes.

For those of you who are already on our current lists, the physiotherapist will be in contact with you shortly, to begin this new service delivery.

We are also ‘seeing’ our cancer rehabilitation clients. The Pinc and Steel foundation have assured us that these video conferencing sessions will be funded. The physio will contact you in due course, if this applies to you.

If you are currently in one of our Pilates classes, you will have the privilege of accessing our ‘Power Pilates Class’. We will send out the link to you. This link will only be available for the lockdown period.

Accelerate Physiotherapy also has an array of equipment to buy, in order to aid your recovery. Braces, tape, Swiss balls, spiky balls, and theraband. We will be able to drop it to your house, if you are in the wider Invercargill City area.

So, please contact us on 03 2186583, or office@acceleratephysio.co.nz, or go on our Facebook page and send us a message.  We look forward to chatting with you soon.

 

Tibial Stress Syndrome (Shin Splints)

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June 2018

Introduction

Tibial stress syndrome is a term that encompasses any overuse or repetitive overload injury of the posteromedial shin (medial tibial traction periostitis) or anterolateral shin (lateral tibial traction periostitis). The inside shin pain is more common and is usually termed in the general population as shin splints.

Incidence

  • 10-15 % of runners
  • Up to 60% of lower leg syndromes
  • Females have a higher incidence rate when compared to males

Risk factors

  • History of previous lower leg injuries
  • Improper running technique/form
  • Less than optimal running cadence
  • Training errors
  • There is suggestion regarding foot type and dynamic foot movements during running

Causes

  • Muscular imbalances around the hip, knee and ankle
  • Traction injury to the outside of the bone caused by the muscle pulling excessively

Symptoms

  • Diffuse pain localized to the inside of the lower shin (medial tibial traction periostitis)
  • Made worse by running initially but when the area warms up it tends to improve
  • Once the exercises is ceased the pain returns and is usually higher in intensity
  • It can also be aggravated by jumping or high intensity ballistic type exercises

Treatment

  • Activity modification initially
  • Keep a thorough training dairy with emphasis on symptom resolution
  • Physiotherapy modalities addressing muscle imbalance and core activation
  • Running technique retraining (if appropriate)
  • Corticosteroid injections (if appropriate)

Possible complications

  • If not addressed appropriately then recurrence can be high and progression on to a tibial stress fracture is possible

What should you do next?

If you are feeling pain, discomfort and/or stiffness in your calf, shin or lower leg region then I recommend you get in contact with us at the clinic and we will be able to help you moving forward with your rehabilitation.

#Acceleratephysio #ShinSplints #RunStrong #MTSS

Until next time,

Keep Safe and Happy Running 

Joel

Physiotherapist & Exercise Scientist

Certified Professional with “The Running Clinic”

 

Pilates Services

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As a Pilate’s clinic, we offer different Pilates-based services. These include mat classes of varying levels, equipment based exercise classes and one on one appointments focusing on tailoring a Pilates programme suitable to your ability.

One of the main aims of Pilates is to ensure the stabilising muscles to the spine are effectively working during exercise and functional daily activities. We will aim to prevent fatigue which is caused by unwanted muscle activity and limit any incorrect movement patterns. Pilates also focuses on flexibility/muscle length.

What are some key concepts of Pilates?

  1. Breathing: The most important rule when it comes to breathing is to not hold your breathe! It is important to follow your instructor’s guidelines about your breathing technique. If you can breathe comfortably during exercise and maintain activation of the ab line, this will often translate to activation of this muscle during normal daily activities
  2. Neutral spine: This refers to the position of the spine which is halfway between fully flattened on the mat/ground and fully arched
  3. The ab line: Engaging the ab line refers to activation of the transverse abdominis muscle. This muscle is crucial in supporting the spine and should be working all the time at a low intensity

What are some benefits that can be gained from Pilates: 

  1. Increase in core strength
  2. Ensuring correct movement patterns are developed
  3. Increasing flexibility
  4. Ensuring correct breathing technique during core exercises

 

We hope to see you soon! The Accelerate Pilates Team 🙂

Do you currently or have you in the past had Achilles pain?

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April 2018

What is the Achilles tendon?

The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in the human body, it attaches the calf muscles to the heel bone (calcaneus) and is integral for everyday life activities, including (but not limited to) walking, going up and down steps and running.

How does it work?

The Achilles stretches and stores potential energy when the foot hits the ground, then it is used to generate over 50% of the positive work done at ankle during running. Interestingly the Achilles tendon can be exposed to forces up to 6 times body weight during running. Given that optimal running cadence is 90 steps per leg per minute, the total force the Achilles has to endure is considerable.

How can it be injured?

Injury to the Achilles is usually caused by 1 of 3 (or a combination of) things – issues with tensile loading, shearing compressive forces or hyperthermia of the tendon itself.

  • Tensile load can be compared to a tug-of-war scenario. Imagine the calf muscle is one team and the heel is the other team, the Achilles is the “rope” that each team is pulling on, if the pull is to great or the rope (Achilles tendon) is to weak then you will have a failure of the rope
  • Shearing and compressive loads can be compared to a rope (Achilles tendon) going over a pulley. If you take the example as above about the tensile load being a tug-of-war, as the rope goes over the pulley the compressive load comes from where the rope is contacting the pulley and pulling down into it. This happens where the Achilles attaches into the heel.
  • Hyperthermia of the Achilles tendon occurs when the tendon becomes too warm during activity and the heat loss could potentially lead to a change in loading dynamics and lead to injury

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How can it be injured?

Injuries to the Achilles tendon can be acute (1st time injury – pushing of at squash and feeling your Achilles “go”) or chronic (persistent) whereby you have a niggle there all the time and it has been there for several months to years. Given the important part that your Achilles plays in everyday walking and activity it is very easy for the acute injury to progress to a more persistent injury if the loading and activity modification is not monitored in the early stages. Interestingly, your body maybe trying to tell you that and injury is coming as 1 in 5 people report calf tightness/soreness prior to injuring their Achilles tendon. Improper running technique can lead to excessive loading through the Achilles and result in an early injury during the training calendar.

How likely are you to get it?

The incidence of an Achilles injury in runners varies from 8-10% of all running injuries and there is some evidence to suggest a small genetic predisposition. Potential risk factors for runner developing or having an Achilles injury include: biomechanical, environmental, age, sex, neuromuscular recruitment and the level at which they are performing their running. Slower paces for recovery and endurance runs have been shown to be less loading on the Achilles while people that run at close to race pace that don’t allow adequate recovery time show increased incidence of Achilles injuries.

What should you do next?

If you are feeling pain, discomfort and/or stiffness in your calf, Achilles or heel region then I recommend you get in contact with us at the clinic and we will be able to help you moving forward with our rehabilitation.

#Acceleratephysio #Achillespain #RunStrong

Until next time,

Keep Safe and Happy Running 

Joel

Physiotherapist & Exercise Scientist

Certified Professional with “The Running Clinic”

Pregnancy and the Pelvic Floor

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As many of you will already know, pregnancy has many effects on the body. Probably one of the most well-known are those changes that occur to the pelvic floor. Yes ladies, those pelvic floor exercises are very important to complete both during and after pregnancy.

So how does pregnancy really affect the pelvic floor?

During pregnancy, the body has many hormonal changes occurring. It can be a time where women may experience bladder leakage for the first time due to hormonal changes softening the pelvic floor muscles which normally assist with holding in urine. As the foetus grows, more pressure is also placed on the already changing pelvic floor which can contribute to developing weakness. During the birthing process, the pelvic floor muscles stretch dramatically, up to 250 times their normal limit. This contributes to weakness post-partum and can also lead to muscle tearing.

What can occur with pelvic floor dysfunction?

  • Muscle weakness
  • Incontinence
  • Muscle tearing during the birthing process: the degree of tearing can vary from a first, second, third or fourth degree tear
  • Prolapse
  • Loss of ability to control wind

How can physiotherapy help pelvic floor dysfunction during or after pregnancy?

A pelvic floor physiotherapist will be able to set appropriate exercises for you and discuss important considerations regarding diet, exercise, and toileting routine. Up to 33% of women completing pelvic floor exercises are completing these incorrectly which is where seeking the guidance of a trained physiotherapist is of immense benefit.

So if you are pregnant or have recently given birth and have any concerns regarding your pelvic floor, make an appointment see to one of our pelvic floor physiotherapists today.

 

 

PINC & STEEL Move Over Cancer Night Fundraiser

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Cancer…the word no one likes to hear as the cause of their pain and symptoms! Cancer affects tens of thousands of Kiwi’s every year! The data released from the Ministry of Health in December 2017 showed that in 2015 there was 23,149 New Zealanders newly diagnosed with Cancer and the split was roughly 50% between male and females. How can we as a community help? Bring on PINC & STEEL!

Who is PINC & STEEL and what do they do?

PINC&STEEL are a cancer rehabilitation trust set up to assist people affected by cancer through physical rehabilitation, the PINC helping the ladies and the STEEL helping the lads.

Move over cancer is a Nationwide Challenge to help fund raise for the PINC & STEEL.

The team here at Accelerate Physiotherapy are joining forces with Emma Ferris (Physiotherapist, Breathing Coach and the Founder of the Butterfly Effect) and putting on a fundraising night to support such a wonderful organisation. The evening will consist of a 1 hour Pilates class followed by an insightful talk from Emma. Emma will be talking on the Power of Effective Breathing and how this helps patients recover from dysfunctional breathing patterns, injury, stress, chronic fatigue, hyperventilation, depression and chronic pain – all things that people with cancer can be inflicted with as part of their cancer journey!

The details:

Where: Ascot Park Hotel

When: 8th May 2018

Time: 7pm for Pilates and speaker or 8pm for speaker only

Cost – Pilates plus speaker – $35 or Speaker only – 20$ (with all funds going towards supporting the PINC & STEEL trust)

Tickets: Available from          www.thebutterflyeffect.online or at Accelerate Physiotherapy on 60 Deveron Stret Invercargill, Ph: 032186583

From the team here at Accelerate we really hope you tell all your friends and family to come along to an evening out to support a wonderful organisation and raise some much needed funds for the people currently (and in the future) living their journey through cancer! We hope to see YOU there!

 

Hamstrings – the long and the short of it!

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March 2018

The hamstrings are a collective term used for the group of muscles that sit at the back of your upper leg. They include the:

  1. Biceps Femoris
  2. Semimembranosus 
  3. Semitendinosus

The Primary functions of the hamstrings are to extend the hip – move the leg backwards and flex the knee – take your heel towards your bum. They are important in everyday life for walking around, to riding your bike to running down the road. The incidence of injury is related to non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors, with previous hamstring injury having a >30% recurrence rate.

Non Modifiable risk factors include:

  • Age > 23 year of age
  • Previous hamstring injury (34% recurrence)
  • Spinal changes to load

Modifiable risk factors include:

  • Hamstring weakness
  • Lack of flexibility
  • Fatigue and muscular imbalance of muscle of the lower limb
  • Excessive pelvic tilting
  • Core muscle weakness and reduced endurance
  • Adverse neural tension

The two main ways the hamstring muscle gets injured is:

  1. Closed chain – When the foot is in contact with the ground and you lunge forward
    • Example – Lunging in squash
    • These injuries are normally higher up the back of the thigh and usually take longer to get full rehabilitation
  2. Open chain – with the shin and foot is moving and not in contact with the ground
    • Running, dancing or kicking movements
    • In running, one of the main roles of the hamstrings is to slow the shin down as you prepare for foot contact with the ground. This is called eccentric control and means that as the muscle contracts to slow the movement it also lengthens at the same time. This requires a lot of control and unless trained specifically for this, injury may ensue.
    • Usually lower down the back of the thigh (not always) and usually a quicker rehabilitation occurs

Rehab focus

  • Early establishment of goals and time frames
  • Pain & swelling management
  • Facilitate tissue healing
  • Restore normal muscle length, neural movement and walking patterns
  • Regain strength
  • Retrain the bodies awareness of where it is in space (what your brain thinks it is doing)
  • Running retraining and sport specific rehab

Rehab the mind as well as the body!

  • Use imagery early on
  • Make use of goal setting
  • Fear avoidance (of re injury) retraining
  • Reducing Catastrophizing of re injury

If you currently have tightness or pain in your hamstring, or have had an injury in the past, it pays to focus on this and get it sorted early on so that further recurrence doesn’t limit your goals in the future! 🙂

Until next time,

Keep Safe and Happy Running 

Joel

Physiotherapist & Exercise Scientist

Certified Professional with “The Running Clinic”

Tapering – what is it? And how do you do it?

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February 2018

What is it?

Tapering is a term used in the sports science and training scene and with runners is used in the lead up to a specific target event or race they have in their training calendar. It involves a portion of the training program that has reduced volume and increased intensity in an attempt to manage the appropriate training load, in order to have peak performance at the specific moment in time on race day.

Types of Tapers

  1. Linear – gradual smooth decrease in overall training load
  2. Exponential slow decay – slower decrease in volume
  3. Fast decay – quick reduction in load that then slows with time
  4. Step – large initial drop that then plateaus for remainder of program

 Components of a Taper

  1. Duration
    1. 2 weeks for a 3-5km and 3 weeks for 10km upwards
    2. However the level of fatigue going into the taper is the key determinant of the duration
  2. Volume
    1. 40-60% reduction in volume over 2 weeks is a good starting point
  3. Intensity
    1. Should remain the same or even slightly higher with focus being on recovery
    2. The most intense session should be 5-14 days prior to 5-10km race and up to 30 days prior to a marathon
  4. Frequency
    1. Reduce frequency by no less than 80% for elites and by no less than 50% for the less trained

How does tapering effect performance?

  1. Improves oxygen carrying capacity
  2. Improved training recovery
  3. Improved glycogen stores and muscle oxygen capacity (mitochondria)
  4. Improved muscle strength and power
  5. Reduced muscle and overall body stress (reduced cortisol produced)
  6. Improved psychological and energy states
  7. Reduced rating of perceived exertion

Research suggest that improvements in performance are in the vicinity of between 2-5% and the recommendations for how much to taper depends on the volume, intensity, frequency and duration of your current training program.

Practical Applications

The following guidelines are recommended when considering a taper for long distance athletes.

  1. Use a period of between 1 and 4 weeks
  2. Shorter periods (1-2 weeks) appear to be better for 3km-5km.
  3. Longer periods (3-4 weeks) appear to be better for 10km and above
  4. Reduce normal volume of running 40-80%
  5. Maintain or increase intensity of efforts. (Example –  increasing the speed of running, reducing the recovery between efforts)
  6. For 5km and 10km perform the most intense session 5-10 days before competition
  7. For the Marathon perform the most intense session up to 30 days
  8. Reduce frequency of running sessions by 20-50%

Things to monitor and learn from in regards to your tapering (you will need some baseline measures to compare to)

  • Heart rate – resting, during and between efforts
  • Running form, cadence, energy levels, sleep quality, weight, mood and appetite – just to mention a few

It is very important to use recommendations and things that you read as a guide and to get to know your body and its training response. I hope that this gives you a little “food for thought” and allows you to tailor your training program to best suit your own personal needs.

Recap – General Guide to tapering for distance runners (5km-Marathon Distance)

  1. Duration – 1-4 weeks taper
  2. Volume – reduce by 40-80%
  3. Frequency – 20-50%
  4. 4Last difficult session – 5-10 days prior to race (5-10km) and up to 30 days (Marathon)

 

Until next time,

Keep Safe and Happy Running 

Joel

Physiotherapist & Exercise Scientist

Certified Professional with “The Running Clinic”