Archive for May, 2009

You may have observed that my articles are all about my clients and their aches, pains, injuries, training, events and successes.  I’m passionate about what I do because I too am an active athlete and also have aches, pains, injuries, events and successes. 

I’m currently in an intense training period for my first Ironman in July  http://www.racenewforest.co.uk/09Forestman.htm  This requires a combination of long cycle rides, runs and open water swims.  I have found that my training is not about quantity, but the quality of what I do supplemented by massage and very importantly, conditioning.

Rather than focusing on how many hours I am doing each week, I have ensured my own injury prevention by concentrating on shorter, high intensity sessions. These consist of cadence runs, rides and tri-bricks coupled with conditioning at the end of each workout.  This ensures I maintain strong core stability which is pivotal to injury prevention. 

I still do the long rides and runs, but not exclusively; I realised early on that to build good fitness and stamina required sufficent rest. I see little point in training if you are already fatigued at the start as your risk of injury will increase. It is better to train at 100%  and enjoy the experience than force out ‘dead’ miles at 60% just because you feel you should. Your body has to repair and rebuild between workouts and if you do not allow sufficient recovery time the tissues will breakdown and injury will follow.

This is proven in my case by injury-free 6 months into my 9 month Ironman training programme, a series of running PBs and feeling energised by some long but great quality cycle rides.

The treatment I can provide is not just for the recreational or serious athlete, it can be beneficial to everyone no matter what lifestyle you have. Those long hours at work can ‘jam up’ the muscles and create tightness throughout the body. A wide range of treatment modalities can release that tension that can develop not just in your neck and shoulders but equally through the legs and lower back.

It may be your opportunities to exercise are limited, perhaps due to illness or pregnancy; these are often the very situations that benefit the most from deep tissue massage and assisted stretching or joint mobilisation. Remember to look after yourself by treating your body from time to time, as a pregnant client of mine realised through a bi-weekly massage programme.

There are guidelines regarding treatment of people with illnesses and pregnant ladies which can be discussed at a consultation so that the treatments can be tailored to your specific needs.

I have recently worked with a client who is pregnant and recently have had some great sucess in relieving her aches and pains as part of a regular massage programme.  As the female body changes and responds to increased demands of pregnancy, lower back pain is often a common complaint, as you may expect, which can lead to some symptons of scaitica; this can be reduced or erradicated with carefully applied massage and articulatory techniques, as has been the case with my client.

I have had success over the last couple of months with clients who have felt tight and aching sensation in the lower calf muscles when running, along with some achilles tendon soreness. In addition to the usual treatment of massage and with stretching the muscles and tendon, I have found that conducting an assessment and treatment of the bones of the foot can have a significant impact on relieving the stiffness and soreness. 

Keeping this simple, the foot is made up of several individual bones; when these work together, they act as an additional shock absorber by moving against one another and taking the strain off each foot strike. When they become stiff, the impact of each step transfers further up the leg and can cause the soreness associated with Achilles Tendinitis or a feeling of aching fatigue in the lower calf muscles.

Using a technique that works on each joint in the foot and by moving those joints, I have had very good results with clients who were struggling with running and simply walking.

Congrats to all London Marathon finishers, in particular to Mark, Dawn and Sam! An already tough challenge compounded with warm weather impacted many runners’ times.  I enjoyed the event as a spectator watching my wife, Paula, who completed yet another marathon – her 3rd London and 18th marathon overall.

Stephen is a client that I have been working with for sometime. He is an active and talented runner, cyclist and adventure sports enthusiast. We have focused primarily on injury prevention by using a variety of massage techniques to compliment his intense training. This year his main goal is the imposing challenge of completing his first Ironman event, the Swiss Ironman in July. We met at the start of the year to discuss a preventative treatment plan that would support the increased and varied endurance training he has planned to support his sub-10 hour goal. To achieve this he is leaving no stone unturned, having undergone various physical assessment tests and working to an individually tailored training plan to work around his work and personal commitments.

He has recognised he needs to maintain the ‘tools’ of his ambition (ie his body) and we agreed a 6-month contract at a discounted rate. This consists a bi-weekly treatment plan that fits in with his rest days or supports particularly intense training weeks. Further to the fixed appointments is the flexibility to add in extra dates so that we can respond to any injury or strain at the same discounted price.