Sunday, November 29, 2020

PLANTAR FASCIITIS TREATMENT

 

HEEL PAIN >> HELPFUL TIPS, EXERCISES, AND STRETCHES FOR PLANTAR FASCIITIS TREATMENT

The foot is the basis of almost every movement of the body: when we run, the foot’s job is to absorb the impact of our body weight and transform this energy into forward propulsion. This complex process requires 28 bones, 31 joints and 23 muscles working in perfect harmony. If something isn’t functioning properly or is out of sync, this can lead to overuse injuries. One common problem that often takes the fun out of running is plantar fasciitis.

A woman is stretching in the gym

WHAT IS PLANTAR FASCIITIS?

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar ligament which runs from your heel to your toes. The plantar ligament runs along the sole of your foot from your heel to your toes and stabilizes your arch. This ligament plays a major role in running: when your foot makes contact with the ground, the ligament acts as a shock absorber and gives your foot control. Without the flexibility of the plantar ligament, our body wouldn’t be able to transform the force of our body weight into forward propulsion.

If the foot strikes the ground with too much force, this can overstretch the plantar ligament and cause tiny tears in the tissue, which leads to inflammation of the plantar fascia – plantar fasciitis. After the tears heal, these micro-injuries leave behind scars that can limit the flexibility of the plantar ligament and thus lead to performance problems.

Good to know:

Plantar fasciitis often develops slowly over time. At first, you only experience slight heel pain when you run, but later on, it becomes a stabbing pain even when you are at rest. The healing process usually lasts somewhere between six weeks and a year.

HEEL PAIN: 5 HELPFUL TIPS TO PREVENT PLANTAR FASCIITIS

1. INCREASE YOUR MILEAGE AND INTENSITY SLOWLY AND STEADILY.

This is the only way your body can get used to the increased demands and make the necessary structural changes in your muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments.

2. SCHEDULE TIME FOR RECOVERY. 

Give your body the chance to recover from the training sessions. If you don’t, you run the risk of overtraining. Tip: make sure to take a rest day between every two or three workouts.

3. WEAR THE RIGHT RUNNING SHOES. 

Damaged running shoes (loose seams or soles) can cause injuries or trigger plantar fasciitis. So, track your runs with the adidas Running app and use the shoe tracking feature. That way you’ll know when it’s time for a new pair of shoes.

4. STRETCH BEFORE YOU RUN.

 Both your feet and your calves tend to be tight (for example, from sitting for a long time). Stretching can help you loosen them up and prevent plantar fasciitis.

5. WORK ON COORDINATION AND FOOT STABILITY.

When you run, your foot is constantly under demand and should balance out the unevenness of the surface during the stance phase.

2 PREVENTIVE PLANTAR FASCIITIS EXERCISES

1. STRETCHING TO IMPROVE THE FLEXIBILITY OF YOUR CALVES, ANKLES AND THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET

How to do the exercise:
Assume a push-up position. Then walk your feet forward toward your hands. Try to keep your heels on the floor. If it’s not possible, you can bend your knees and reduce some of the tension. Walk your feet forward until you form at least a right angle at your waist and press your heels to the floor in the final position. Hold this position for 30 seconds and then slowly return to the starting position. Do this strengthening exercise five times a day for 30 seconds.

A woman stretching in the gym

2. EXERCISE TO INCREASE THE MUSCULAR CONTROL OF YOUR ANKLES AND THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET

How to do the exercise:
Stand on one leg and cross your arms in front of your chest. Turn your upper body to the left and then to the right. Keep your ankle straight and flex the arch of your foot. Do this exercise three times a day for one minute on each side.

A woman stretching in the gym

DO YOU SUFFER FROM PLANTAR FASCIITIS? >> TIPS AND EXERCISES

If you are already suffering from plantar fasciitis, read through these 5 tips and try making the following changes: 

1. STOP YOUR RUNNING TRAINING IMMEDIATELY.

Your foot needs rest to let the injury heal. Any additional stress will delay the healing process.

2. ROLL OUT THE TENSION IN YOUR FOOT.

Reduce the muscle tension in your foot by rolling out the soles of your feet with a small ball for two or three minutes a day. But be careful: do not roll directly on the area that you feel pain.

A woman is rolling her foot on a tennis ball

How to do the exercise:
Roll out the soles of your feet slowly with the ball. Increase the pressure on the sensitive areas for about 60 seconds.

3. STRETCH THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET REGULARLY.

It is important to keep the soles of your feet flexible, even during the acute stage of pain. Do the following stretch two or three times a day:

How to do the stretch:
Place your toes on the floor and slowly sit back on your heels. Keep your upper body straight and upright. Hold the stretch for about 60 seconds.

A woman is stretching in the gym

A woman is stretching in the gym

4. STRENGTHEN YOUR SHIN MUSCLES.

Strong shin muscles relieve the pressure on your calves and reduce the tension in the soles of your feet. Do the following exercise three times a day for 45 seconds per leg:

How to do the exercise:
Pull a resistance band towards you using your toes. Flex your foot, hold the position and then straighten your foot again.

A woman is stretching in the gym with a resistance band

A close-up of a woman stretching her foot with a resistance band

5. WORK ON YOUR RUNNING TECHNIQUE.

Good running form is characterized by a natural rollover of the foot and short ground contact. This helps to relieve stress on the arch of the foot.

“After your foot injury heals from plantar fasciitis, start back by working on your running technique,” recommends running expert Sascha Wingenfeld. “The only way to avoid re-injuring yourself is by improving your running form.”

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Sascha Wingenfeld
Sascha WingenfeldSascha, health trainer & active triathlete, has been coaching runners from beginners to professionals for over 10 years. "I love my job and I love running."View all posts by Sascha Wingenfeld »

IS THE RUNNING AFTERBURN EFFECT REAL?

  

IS THE RUNNING AFTERBURN EFFECT REAL? FIND OUT THE TRUTH!

A woman running in New York City

What if I told you that you could burn calories while sitting on your couch? Well, you can! Of course, it’s not only sitting on the couch that makes the magic happen — it’s the running afterburn effect. Have you heard of it before? Here’s how the afterburn effect for runners works and what you have to do in order to reap the biggest benefits.

A woman running in New York

WHAT IS THE AFTERBURN EFFECT?

First things first, what is the afterburn effect in general? The afterburn effect is simply additional energy expenditure that occurs after exercise. Meaning that if you train strategically, you can burn even more calories after you have already completed your workout.

HOW IT WORKS: THE IMPACT FOR RUNNERS

The technical term is “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption,” or EPOC, which gives you a hint to what’s going on. After running, your body must put checkmarks next to a couple of things to recover and return to a resting state:

 replenishment of ATPcreatine and oxygen stores

 removal of lactic acid

reparation of the muscles and much more

All these processes require oxygen, which is why oxygen consumption rises after exercise. This requires extra energy; therefore, additional calories will be burned on top of the ones you have already torched during your workout.

INTENSITY IS KEY

The intensity is very important when it comes to EPOC. The best way to benefit from the running afterburn effect is through HIIT training. Additionally, tempo runs, fartleks, and interval workouts are excellent ways of creating a running afterburn effect.

Especially for runners, HIIT-style exercise performed on a regular basis (1-3 x per week, depending on your fitness level) makes you faster and stronger. Of course, a steady run also burns calories, but the running afterburn effect isn’t as significant as it would be after a HIIT or interval training, for example. And it must be mentioned that consuming the proper fuel before you train (i.e. a protein shake with a banana) will help you last longer and give it your all during intense exercise.

WHAT ABOUT STRENGTH TRAINING?

As a running coach, I always recommend a well-balanced combination of both running and strength training for best results. A lot of runners I work with generally like to perform bodyweight exercises like push-ups, dips, lunges, sit-ups, donkey kicks and step-ups because they can easily be done at home after the run.

You can definitely perform HIIT and interval training with bodyweight exercises like the ones mentioned and gain the benefits of the afterburn effect as well. However, the increase in muscle tissue and decrease in fat tissue that accompanies regular strength training deserves more attention. Increasing your muscle mass (no ladies, that doesn’t mean getting super big!) is going to boost your metabolism and increase your BMR (the number of calories your body burns at rest).

RUNNING AFTERBURN EFFECT: HOW SIGNIFICANT IS IT??

Now back to the main question: Is the running afterburn effect a noteworthy phenomenon? Yes. But the reality is that the calories burned during exercise are the most important factor in fat loss and are always higher than the calories burned after your workout. The exact number of calories burned will, of course, vary from person to person, but research from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) notes that EPOC can increase calorie burn by 6-15%.

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Sabrina Wieser
Sabrina WieserSabrina works as a running coach in New York City. For the past two years she has been combining her running with active bodybuilding.View all posts by Sabrina Wieser »

TREADMILL TRAINING

 Cardio

TREADMILL WORKOUTS IN WINTER: FREE TREADMILL TRAINING PLAN

The treadmill is the perfect alternative for keeping up with your running training during the dark, cold months of winter. 

Even though many runners think it can get pretty boring, treadmill running actually offers some great benefits:

  • it allows you to focus on your running performance and improve your speed
  • it challenges your body in new way
  • it’s easy to adjust inclines and speeds to personalize your hill and interval workouts

treadmill training

Ready to start your treadmill training?

Below you will find a downloadable treadmill training PDFtreadmill workout videos, and answers to some common questions.

TREADMILL TRAINING PLAN DOWNLOAD (FOR ALL FITNESS LEVELS)

TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUT VIDEOS

 

 

CAN YOU REPLACE ALL YOUR RUNS WITH TREADMILL TRAINING?

Sorry, you can’t just switch out outdoor runs for treadmill training. You should use the indoor tool as a way to challenge your body in new ways and to add some variety to your running training.

HOW DOES RUNNING ON A TREADMILL DIFFER FROM RUNNING OUTDOORS?

Running on a treadmill is different from running outside in several key respects. For example, your legs do not have to push off and propel your body forwards. Instead, the belt rolls away under your feet. This is good for improving stride frequency, but it is different than the sequence of movements usually made when running and works completely different muscle groups. This is why you should continue to do your endurance runs outside. It is the only way to ensure that your body doesn’t forget what it feels like to push off and drive your body forward. Plus, exercising outdoors is a great way to clear your mind and relax after a hectic day. It’s pretty hard to attain the same state of serenity surrounded by all the noise of the gym.

Expert tip:

You can add more variety to your winter training through a mix of interval and speed training on the treadmill and endurance runs outdoors.

Are you interested in training on the treadmill? Find out how with these 7 tips!

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Sascha Wingenfeld
Sascha WingenfeldSascha, health trainer & active triathlete, has been coaching runners from beginners to professionals for over 10 years. "I love my job and I love running."View all posts by Sascha Wingenfeld »