It’s been awhile since I’ve consistently updated the blog, but I’ve been consistently pushing my limits in play and training. Have you? Here’s a primal activity for you to try out this week:
Barefoot Sprinting
It’s only fair that I do it barefoot, since I don’t expect Ronin to wear shoes…
Truth be told, it’s a miracle that I was able to run across that field today. I was told be several doctors and specialists that I would never run again. Back in high school, I developed a serious case of patellar tendinitis in both of my knees due to over-training in long distance running. This created a chain-reaction of events all throughout my body that led to several scattered, debilitating injuries. I had to sit out my senior year Spring track and field season due to the many injuries I had accumulated – right when I was at my peak. This is a long story, so I’ll cut right to the lesson.
Your body is a gift, and gratitude is one of the first steps to healing. It took me 3 years of seeing my doctor, a sports medicine specialist, an orthopedist, and several different physical therapists to heal my injuries incurred from overtraining. But first, I had to take complete responsibility for my injuries and for the healing itself. I couldn’t place my trust just in my medical team whom I saw for only one hour a day, because it’s what I did the other 23 hours of the day that really mattered. I had to OWN my pain, embody it, and thank God that I had experienced an opportunity to learn and grow.
I had to adopt some PREhabilitative exercises in order to cement my healing and ensure that I could continue to exercise without pain and without limitations. I collected bits and pieces from various different sources, and it wasn’t until I found the RMAX Powered Running Program that I had tried a complete system for prehabilitating your body for the rigors of running.
If you’re a runner, or used to be and would like to get back into it, then I highly recommend you invest in your health and your hobby by checking out a copy of RMAX Powered Running. This DVD will teach you a very specific warmup and cooldown routine to help you bullet-proof your knees from injury (and the rest of you, too!). It will also cover some of the different biomechanics of different running stages: walking, trotting, running, and sprinting – to ensure that you have good running technique at every speed.
To your health and success,
.jpg "John Sifferman")
Fitness Professional and Barefootter
Hey, remember when I beat you and Jeff in that race we had at the park? I guess I can beat both you AND Jeff in a 100 meter dash…
haha, that’s not how I remember it!
:-P
Hi John,
So who won? (I guess my reading glasses aren’t strong enough any more!) :)
Jeanne
I won, but I’m not sure if Ronin was trying as hard as he could have been. He was probably thinking…
“there goes Dad…”
“This is GREAT!”
“Where are we going?”
“I will follow you, pack leader!”
:)
That is insanely fast! Do you have any tips for a runner and weight trainer with some pain at the insertion site of the Achilles tendon? ha… Worth a shot. Too much, too fast in the squats department I’m guessing.
Hi Jocelyn,
thanks for your comment.
I’m not a doctor or physical therapist, so your best bet is to seek out their advice first since I could be wrong and it’s very difficult to diagnose a problem without being in-person.
But with that said, I would begin some ankle and foot mobility exercises on a daily basis. You can find some tutorial videos on my site here:
http://johnsifferman.com/blog/mobility
Recovering a full range of motion at your joints is a logical first step. Then, you can begin to strengthen that range of motion.
On the other hand, I’ve also heard many anecdotal reports that going barefoot (post about barefooting: http://johnsifferman.com/blog/the-definitive-guide-for-going-barefoot ) actually helps relieve some of these pains and injuries naturally – without any extra effort. If going completely barefoot is not an option, take a look at those Vibram Five Fingers that I mention since I think this is the most logical and safest transition footwear to bridge the gap between natural foot movement and protection/propriety.