Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Mobility for Your Feet

Quote of the Day:"Armstrong also said that every top rider doped during the prime of his career and that his doping techniques were unexceptional, if not conservative"

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20130305/lance-armstrong-interview/#ixzz2MlxuBNdH


I don't have a problem with Lance Armstrong. He's done as many good things as he has done bad. But he needs to admit that he was determined to be the best at everything which included his "program". Just leave this quote out and I'd be fine. Yes, every one doped but most everyone also got caught. You did not which makes your program better. 

MobilityThe number one question I get is this "I'm injured, what do I do? In the San Diego Area I am a connector. I connect injured athletes to specialists who I think can help. The shoe cobbler, the massage therapist, the chiropractor, the trainers you name it they get the referral. To some degree it makes sense. 79% of all runners this year will suffer some kind of injury. Just in my household alone, I stepped on a date that put me on the ground writhing in pain. That ballooned up ankle kept me from running for 6 days. Marco suffers knee pain often. Mary has a displaced rib currently that although is not a result of running it is all connected and since the rib issue running has not been consistent.

I stated earlier that I believe mobility is more important than flexibility and flexibility is important. Mobility it taking that layer in your body that is limiting your range of motion and making it fluid. I was first introduced to mobility by Chris Maund at the Chek Studio. At the time I was still recovering from a nasty bike accident where fixing my face was more important than fixing my structure. 8 years after the accident, Chris worked on my structure. He taught me how to mobilize my lower back to make sure tightness there did not limit what I had to do. I still use that mobility today almost 18 years later. Chris also taught me that taking care of my feet was maybe more important for a runner than anything.

Phil Wharton taught me that taking care of your feet was also a form of mobility. It was mobility that fixed my ankle. Slowly but surely I got that baby more mobile each day. I met Phil in Boston MA. He was part of a group brought in as Friends of adidas when I worked for that brand. He has the calmest demeanor and is simply a walking talking running guru. He's just brilliant. The below video is one of his best. If you simply do this routine or part of this routine 5 minutes before you run, bike, swim, hike, climb etc and then spend time doing again as part of 30 minutes each evening of mobility and stretching and your chance of injury will be greatly reduced. Other than dates, my injury rate is quite low and it's due in large part to guys like Chris and Phil.

I'll write more on Mobility and Stretching. There is no one answer and not everything I talk about or put on this page will work for everyone.  But it's worth at least a try for everyone since 79% of you will get injured this year.

It's a good life....
Dave

No comments: