The muscles in your body are grouped into different compartments which contain muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. These compartments are divided by fascia, which is a layer of connective tissue found throughout the body. The main purpose of fascia is to hold tissues in place. When there is excessive swelling in one of these compartments, it leads to something known as Compartment Syndrome.
As we approach the one-year mark of living in the era of COVID-19, it’s natural to reflect on what’s changed. Our day-to-day lives, most certainly, are all different to varying degrees. The pace of life has slowed down and everyone is spending more time at home.
I was introduced to Pilates in college. I had two low disc herniation injuries from high school and had to stop running. Someone suggested Pilates to me and not only did I enjoy doing it, but I was able to decrease my pain and return to running. That was when my interest in basic Pilates for rehab started.
One could argue that our feet take the brunt of the beating and are considered one of the more vulnerable areas of the body while running. Every day we squeeze our feet into different types of shoes (sneakers, boots, flats, dress shoes, etc.) which can have a negative effect on the overall health of our feet.
Unfortunately, a lot of runners I’ve seen over the years have had some level of experience with stress fractures. As a result, they know the signs to watch for and many of them will use a hop test.
There are various causes of vertigo, including infection and much more serious problems, namely blood vessel occlusions and brain masses. Luckily, most vertigo we experience is known as “Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo” or BPPV.
The majority (~70%) of running injuries occur at or below the knee (Kluitenberg et al., 2015; Lopes et al., 2012). This finding is true for both men and women. In order from most to least common, the most common running injuries are patellofemoral pain syndrome, Achilles tendon injury, Medial tibial stress syndrome, plantar fasciitis, and IT band syndrome.
Stress fracture: the injury that haunts any runner who has ever had one. It is typically due to a combination of factors including poor recovery, lack of sleep, nutritional deficits, mileage changes, and overtraining. Lately, however, we’ve seen an increase in the number of stress fractures and it isn’t because people are running more. In fact, some of them are running less. I’m talking about 15-20 miles per week TOTAL with no tempo or speed work runs. So why is this happening?
Setting and adjusting expectations comes with the territory of working with injured athletes. It’s something I have to do with my clients on a daily basis, typically throughout the entire day. So when it came to adjusting my own expectations for my own injury, you’d think I’d be a pro. (Hah).
For many athletes, the worst thing about getting an injury is being sidelined. While it is true that an athlete needs to change their training with an injury, ‘rehab’ and ‘training’ are not two separate things. They are different points on the same training continuum. The goal of rehabilitation is to modify training appropriately to prepare an athlete to meet the baseline requirements of their sport
