Running drills

Nothing is easier than running, right? You tie on your shoes, open up the door, and start.

Why then, are there so many injuries?

If something is that easy, why are we always trying to improve upon it?

 

As it is, running is a good form of exercise and it is easy to do. However, like other forms of exercise it is important to understand where you are and develop a plan to get to where you want to be. Everyone has a different ability to run and tolerate the stress of running. It is important to start easy while building a base and then progressively increase the activity either through time, distance, speed, hills, frequency or any combination of these.

 

Like other forms of exercise, if there is pain, back off. Take some time to cross train and recover before trying again.

 

It also helps to use good form. This link has some good tips with how to keep your form strong so that you get the most out of running and decrease your risk of injury.

 

http://naturalrunningcenter.com/2013/11/17/40-tips-improve-running-form/

 

 

Supplements

When you are trying to improve your performance, gain size or lose weight their are some thing that will help.

1. Follow a good nutritional diet. There is no replacement for eating right.

2. Proper training. Make sure your training plan is approriate and that you out forth the required work. 

3. Rest. Your body repairs itself with adequate nutrition and rest so make sure you get enough sleep. 

If you are training for a specific purpose there are additional things that can assist you, if the above are adhered to. The International Society of Sport Nutrition has listed these as apparently effective and generally safe:

Muscle building-weight gain powders, creating, protein, essential amino acids

Weight loss-low calorie foods, caffeine

Performance enhancement-water, sports drinks, carbs, creatine, caffeine, post exercise carb and protein mix

Depending on your goals, training, and nutrition, some of those supplements can help with achieving the goals. 

Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture

This morning I had the opportunity to assess a semi pro football player who injured his ankle. Upon exam he has a clinical picture consistent with an Achilles' tendon rupture. That got me thinking of the treatment options for these injuries and is surgical or non surgical treatment preferred?

I did some research and it appears that there is no clinical significance between surgical or non surgical treatment. Non surgical care has a slightly higher incidence of re rupture, but surgical has great her incidence if complications including nerve damage and infection. Both outcomes show improvement at 6 and 12 months but less than the non-injured side, as expected. 

Two treatments that seem to help regardless of surgery or no surgery are a functional brace instead of casting an early rehabilitation. 

Active individuals who want to return to activity may lean more toward surgical treatment. 

firms of endearment

I just finished this book and it was great. It is based on the premise of stakeholder centered management.
Companies can be very successful by putting their people, customers, suppliers and distributers at the forefront of everything they do. By estsblishing strong ties with these groups and working together to solve problems they have been able to create strong, successful brands and increase their performance.
By managing in a way that respects all they do business with, they have more people that want to do business with them. They maintain high quality standards that lead to increased sharsholder value.
Give it a read, it offers a different perspective to typically managed corporations.

Keep things simple

The more I learn and interact with others the more I realize how much I want to simplify my life.

Creating principles to guide what you do and what you stand for helps you keep your programming, networking and interactions simple. They can guide you in what you do and provide your basis for  your system. 

Over time you can evaluate your principles for their effectiveness and make any necessary changes to it. These principles also serve as talking points when you talk with others about how you are different and how your system provides results. 

Depending in your client base, their goals and your background, the principles you use may be different. They main thing is to understand what those are, how they work together in a system to provide results and how you evaluate their effectiveness. 

By simplifying your approach and streamlining your process you can maximize your time for other things. 

Power of a team

As much as we can try, we can't know everything. This is when it is nice to call upon those who know more than you do.

When you devote yourself to developing a specialty you learn as much as you can in that area. While your knowledge can, and often does, expand in other areas, it is hard to know everything about those subjects, too. 

When you are presented with a challenging case or a client that wants a specific outcome you need to know who to send them to. Cultivating relationships with others that have specialties different than your own can help ensure that you meet all your client's needs. 

Your clients appreciate knowing that they can ask you a question and you can find the answer. This will keep them coming back and continuing to trust you.

When you choose people to refer to it is important to make sure that they perform work at the same high level you do. Keeping the client satisfaction levels high will increase referrals and continue to expand your client base. 

Fitness Secret

Whenever you see someone really fit, strong or looking good, it is tempting to ask what their secret is. Unfortunately, there are no secrets.

The truth is it takes hard work and dedication to meet your goals, both fitness and otherwise. 

I was talking a colleague about this and some of the new research and, really, we know what works. We know that following a clean, calorie controlled diet will assist with weight loss. We know that lifting weights is important for muscular strength, power and health. Interval training will help with weight loss and fitness improvement. Doing these things will help when it comes to losing weight and building muscle. 

It is important to structure your workouts to achieve maximum results. Your goals will dictate the type of workout and training you need. In order to get the best results it involves committing to the workouts, working hard for each one, and eating and resting enough to adequately recover and adapt. These secrets will allow you to meet your goals. No shortcuts, no gimmicks, just hard work and recovery over time.