The importance of running easy

Here at Pro-Am we are lucky to work with a variety of runners and triathletes from elite level to recreational. Regardless of level there is a common trend in the most common cause of injury.

“Lack of understanding of the importance of easy running”

About 80% of my clients run there easy runs too hard, or just don’t do them. Sometimes its not the lack of understanding, I think it is the hardest habit to change. We as humans are great at feeling guilty for not working hard enough or getting into a pattern of I need to push myself in order to improve. Yet easy runs have a massive importance to your training, variety is key to allow recovery and get the best out of harder sessions.

Whether running for performance (to get faster) or running for health benefits (to stay healthy) many runners think that running faster or harder is most beneficial. If you are only running once or twice a week and relatively short distances (under 5 km) you MIGHT be able to get away with this approach. But if you are trying to fit in more than three runs per week and you are trying to progress as a runner, you are likely to come unstuck at some point.

The reason this happens is that the faster you run, the more pressure or stress you put on your tendons and tissues. Tendons typically take up to 48 hours to recovery from plyometric load (running) so the more frequently you run, the less time the tendons have to recover. This will eventually lead to overload and often injury. The most common response I get when I flag this issue is: ‘But if I run slower, I won’t progress or feel like I haven’t done anything’. This is factually incorrect. Aerobic training (60–80% of max HR) is a highly effective and a necessary part of a weekly training schedule.

80% of your weekly training should be easy. But how easy is easy. There are many ways that you can calculate and ensure that you are training in your aerobic zone. If you like using heart rate (HR) you can use this as a guide. Your aim on your aerobic runs should be to keep your HR between 60-80% of your HR max (zone 2) (To estimate your maximum age-related heart rate, subtract your age from 220.) Hard sessions should take you into zone 4 and above, the Kenyans have a bigger extreme in that easy runs are zone 1 and hard in zone 5. There is a catch with this method though in that often your HR can vary according to fatigue and stress so its not always a reliable measurement. Personally I suggest you calculate your training paces through doing a 5 km race or a 3 km time trial. From this you can use various pace calculators that are readily available on the internet to give you accurate training paces. As a rough guide you if you run a 20 min 5 km (4 min/km average) your easy pace should be 5.30–6 min/km. Your immediate reaction maybe ‘that’s really slow’, often followed by ‘I cant let people see me running that slow! Honestly, my response is ‘Its your body, your ego’ I don’t mind if every time I see you, it is to constantly fix and repair but I would much prefer to be getting you moving better and helping to improve your performance which is much easier without pain and dysfunction.

It shouldn’t matter if anyone overtakes you during your runs… your running should be about you, getting the most out of yourself! So focus on doing the right thing for you and your progression and enjoy running at a pace that you will learn to love! I have seen so much progress in performance with clients who are able to implement this. It is not always about improving times either but balancing the strain of the repetitiveness of running by keeping running pain free which you have to admit is a lot more fun, feels easier and helps decrease mental stress.

What to wear for a Massage

A very common question I get asked when somebody books in who is new to my services is what do I need to wear? This is a very valid and appropriate question as different therapists will have their preferences depending on the type of treatments they are trained in. Here at Pro-Am it is ultimately down to what is comfortable for YOU.

As a manual therapist we are trained to adapt our techniques to suit your needs. In the UK you should never be expected to lie on a table in the buff exposed, this is not acceptable practice, you will keep under garments on and there should always be towels provided for modesty and also warmth. Most of the time only one area will be exposed to treat, for example an arm, leg or back.

We will always explain what we are going to do as we go through the treatment so you can give consent for us to go ahead. You have control and can say No Stop at anytime.

What is best?

At Pro-Am if it is your first visit to us for an injury consult then just make sure you wear comfy clothes you can move in. Sometimes we may need to expose the area we are assessing to be able to see how it moves or look for signs of injury like swelling, redness and bruising. For example if you have a knee injury wearing shorts or having shorts to change into is helpful to the therapist. If it is for the shoulder or back then removing your top can be helpful, again to assess movement. Females will never be asked to remove their bra for any assessment purposes. If you are uncomfortable unclothing, do let us know, we can still assess your injury fully clothed. You have come to us because you are in pain and we want you to feel safe and comfortable.

Sports massage/soft tissue treatments may require you to disrobe to your under garments. We will always provide towels for you to keep covered and only the specific area we treat will be exposed, unless it is the glutes then we work always through the towel. If we want to finish with some exercises like stretching then we will ask if you want to get clothed first, as some positions can make you feel a bit exposed.

The reason we ask you to disrobe and expose the area to be treated for massage is so we can visually see what we are treating and so we can use oil/wax, this helps us use more gliding type techniques which can have a soothing effect on the body and help warm up the tissue before we go into deeper techniques, if required. A therapists hands should never work underneath clothing or towelling, the therapists hands should always be visible. For more deeper techniques, we tend not to use oil/wax and quite regularly apply through towelling, we may just expose the site to get a sighting of specific landmarks to where we need to treat.

Groin injuries are the one injury most will put off seeing a specialist for, it is a sensitive area for obvious reasons. We would never ask you to expose your genitals. Wearing shorts or big knickers/pants is ideal but we can work through trousers, it can just be harder to find our anatomy reference points to make sure we are palpating specific and appropriate structures. When dealing with males we may ask you to cup and scoop sensitive areas out the way either with your own hands or provide a towel to make sure we do not come into contact with anything we should not. No palpation should ever go below the pubic bone. If this is uncomfortable for you then we can ask and direct you on what muscles/tendons/bones/ligaments to palpate. Palpation is used to find specific pain sites but it is not compulsory for diagnosis or treatment. We will always explain what we are going to do so we can ask permission for consent to go ahead. If you find it uncomfortable, tell us and we can try another position or skip it all together. We have other techniques to use if hand position in the groin area is not right for you.

If you feel at all uncomfortable during your treatment please do let us know, as we can change and adapt our treatment approach to suit you.

So if you come to us for an injury consult or massage then we do not expect you to disrobe if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Just let us know how you feel so we can make your treatment approach specific to your needs and comfort.

If the therapist finds your behaviour inappropriate at any stage they also have the right to stop your treatment and ask you to leave.