♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet. ♪
- Hi, folks, I'm Mike Kenitz, Physical Therapist Assistant.
- Brad Heineck, Physical Therapist.
- And together,
we're the most famous-- - Well, we gotta stop there.
- No. - Bob's on vacation this week.
Mike is filling in for Bob.
We're happy to have him on here.
He's part of the Bob and Brad crew.
And he is a? - Physical Therapist
Assistant.
- And he's worked with Bob and I
for, I'm thinking almost 10 years,
but you're thinking eight or nine.
- It's been like eight or nine.
Yeah, but anyways, we know each other.
We know how each other work.
We're happy to have him fill in.
So today's title is going to be Running Injuries,
correct technique and tips to avoid injuries.
We're gonna help you and show you ways
so you can run pain free, longer, faster,
whether you're beginner or advanced.
But before we got any farther.
- Check us out on Instagram, Twitter,
and TikTok for 60 second versions of our program.
You can go to bobandbrad.com,
and check away the giveaway section for this week's giveaway
or be pinned to the top of our Facebook.
- And the giveaway is? - The Knee Glide.
- The Knee Glide, this is a really nice device.
If you have a knee injury or surgery or arthritic knee,
it works great for after surgeries.
We love them, they work out very well.
So that's our giveaway.
Okay.
So again, as I'd mentioned,
running injuries.
I've been running for over 30 years
and you've got how many years under your belt?
- I've been probably running for 15 years on and off.
- There you go, we both run.
I would personally semi-competitively,
5Ks, five 10ks,
half marathons, I did one marathon and you've done multiple.
- I've done three full marathons in the past.
I'm training for a half right now though.
- So we're gonna use our experience as physical therapists,
as runners
over the long time,
as well as some research.
Now, two books that I've personally read,
Bob and I have read, both read these books.
Mike hasn't, but they're really good
if you wanna reduce your injuries
and correct your form or improve your form.
The first one is "Born to Run".
That's by Christopher McDougall.
It talks about long distance running, forefoot running.
It really enjoyable read.
I liked it a lot.
Gave me a lot of motivation and technical advice.
Next book, number two, is the "Pose Method of Running".
This is written by a PhD, Dr. Nicholas Romanovs.
Very technical book, a lot of really good information,
a lot of drills and exercises,
and biomechanical
advice and support for why
running, particularly forefoot running
is gonna help you out.
It switched me over from my heel striker to a forefoot.
We're gonna get into that in a little bit.
- Yes, I have gone to a seminar
on forefoot running in the past.
I have tried it, it's fine.
I like to do it more if I'm doing trail running,
like grass or stuff. - Sure.
- But it's definitely something
you have to get acclimated to
and it's a totally different running mechanism
than heel striking.
I'm more of a midfoot/heel striker right now,
but it's definitely less of a heel striker than I used to be
after going to the seminar.
- Sure, good.
We're gonna get on that again a little bit more.
Right now I wanna talk about, if you're gonna go run,
I do advise a brief warmup.
I personally do not do a lengthy warmup,
and there's a controversy
whether you need to warm up at all.
If you're gonna go out and do a sprint
or an aggressive start, for sure.
There's need to be a warmup.
If you're just gonna start out slow,
I like to start walking,
pick up my walking speed as part of my warmup,
and then I get into my jog and progress the speed
as I tolerate.
Mike what you do?
- You can also do some body weight exercises real quick,
just to get your heart rate elevated.
'Cause right now I'm trying to run
a little quicker temple starting.
So that first mile is a little rough
when you go from a resting heart rate
of in the 60s to running a heart rate at 150,
like it's quite a jump.
- Right. - So just get
your body temperature warmed up.
You can just do some ballistic stretching.
You can do some jumping jacks, pushups, whatever,
body weight squats if you want.
- Ballistic stretching? - Static, ballistic, yeah.
- Okay, static. - Static.
- That's what I call it.
See, we're different generations.
We talked differently. - I guess.
(laughs)
I do wanna talk about stretching.
Again, stretching I've,
some people say you don't need to stretch prior.
I like to stretch.
I think there's three muscle groups that if you're
interested in stretching,
I think should be the primary muscle groups
that you should stretch if you're going to.
Number one is the calf muscles.
They're working awfully hard.
I think, by far,
an inclined board is the best way to stretch your calves
if you're gonna be doing a lot of running,
it's nice to have one.
This one I made,
I had the lumber laying around,
some one by sixes and a top.
You can make it right cheaply if you're handy
and have some tools.
If not, you can buy 'em for,
I'm not sure the price $15 to $20.
But this really is a good way to stretch the calf muscles,
get the soleus and the gastroc.
You can simply forget that and go to a wall,
and do the wall stretch and it works well too.
Not as well as the other one,
but it works good enough for running.
I have one of these right by my door.
When I walked out of the door,
I just simply do some stretching, obviously on both legs.
And then the hamstring.
If you're running, you've got fairly good balance.
I personally like to get on a chair.
This is a little bit
low for me.
Actually-- - You can also do it on steps.
- Yeah. (laughs)
I would go up to here. - I wouldn't do that.
- Some people don't have this flexible of hamstrings.
I do it and this less work for me.
So get a level that's comfortable for you.
Keep your back straight and stretch.
You can go 30 seconds, times three,
or on a five to 10 reps.
I would prefer the on/off myself and then hip flection.
This is probably the easiest hip flection.
Don't do it on a hard surface, you'll hurt your knee.
Grass or carpet and good posture.
I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on these stretches,
but just so you see the ones I really think
are the primary ones.
I do not do the hip stretch flex before I run.
I do the other two.
I do this one in another part of my exercise week.
- Yeah, I actually don't stretch
a whole lot before, more after.
Every morning though, before I run or eat every morning,
I actually use the foot massager to warm my feet up.
- Oh you do? - 'Cause usually
they're a little achy, yeah.
- Who massages your feet?
- The shot, it's a foot massager.
- Male or female?
(laughs)
Oh, you mean a machine. - The machine!
- Oh, okay, there ya go. - Or the massage gun.
I'll use two on my calves,
kind of dig in. - Oh that's a good idea.
- That's what I like to do.
Just get circulation your feet going,
'cause when I wake up in the morning,
my feet are a little achy.
They're just stiff and sore.
- Yup. - That's what I do
every time before I go running, it's great.
- Once you start running this is,
I was taught this by coaches
over the years and I just held onto it,
is learned to relax when you run.
If you relax, your energy goes to the muscles that need it.
One thing that helped me is one of my coaches,
in cross country said
keep your fingertips touching like this,
very gently.
Not a fist, nothing tight in your hands.
If you're got a fist, you may have tightened muscles.
You're not even aware of it.
So you have to have a lot of awareness.
- Yeah.
- Some people run tight and not aware of it.
- I actually run with fists,
but I don't like have a tight fist.
They're just like a loose fist,
but I never really thought about it.
I just thought it was awkward running with my hands open.
So I just, I used to also hold like an iPod
back in the day or my phone before I got a FlipBelt,
which Brad's actually wearing to hold my phone for my music
'cause I like to run with music, but yeah,
I guess I kind of fist.
- I've tried to run with a phone for my timer,
and it just throws me off because you have to hold it,
your muscles are tight here.
I'm completely not relaxed, so.
- Put the FlipBelt or you get a--
Yeah, the FlipBelt, yeah, that's a good option.
- GPS watch. - Yup, that.
- That's what I use. - Exactly.
Also, I check my jaw muscles.
If my jaw muscles are tight, a lot of times you're not
even aware of it.
Everything is gonna be tight up here.
Once your face is tight, it goes down into your hands,
your lungs or your shoulders and your lungs.
So if these muscles are loose,
everything else seems to be loose with me,
relaxed breathing, relaxed, upper body.
Let the energy go to those hips and the legs
keep moving forward.
- I actually run with gum. - Chew gum?
- Yeah. - Oh wow.
- It keeps my saliva glands going,
and it doesn't get me dry mouth.
So I'm going on a long, like 10 mile run and it's hot out,
I don't have water breaks,
'cause I don't really need them for 10 miles.
So I just chew gum to get saliva going in my mouth.
- You run 10 miles without water?
- Yeah. - Wow.
You must be like a camel.
My wife is life that. - Most I've done is 15,
and it was pretty rough.
(laughs)
- Hydration is very critical. - It's,
I super hydrated before it and had a bunch of electrolytes.
It was kind of on purpose to see what I can do.
- Especially in hot weather.
You really need to hydrate before,
and during the run, if you're running any longer.
- Go early in the morning.
That's what I've been doing.
- I don't run long distances anymore.
So I don't have that issue.
I do want to touch posture.
Just want to say the biggest mistake
that we see with people's running is
forward posture and not being aware of it.
It takes a lot of energy.
When you're forward, you cannot breathe as well.
Your diaphragm is stuck in there
against your visceral organs.
So you got to get up so you can breathe better,
shoulders back.
There is a couple instances where this is not true,
is if you're running up a hill,
you obviously need to run forward.
Run into that hill, climb the hill.
One of my coaches taught me that,
and I keep it with me today.
The next thing is, what was the next thing, Mike?
I was going to talk about, oh.
If you're a forefoot runner-- - Yeah, then you lean forward.
- Slightly lean forward,
but it's not enough to really know.
But there is a slight forward posture.
- Yeah, forefoot running's different.
You're kind of falling
into the step as I would say, from what I watched
in a seminar?
- That's what they'll talk about
in the books I mentioned.
You feel like you're falling forward,
so your feet have to keep up with you.
It's a subtle fall, it's not like, whoa.
You just feel a little bit that way.
It's like you're pulling yourself forward.
It is really a nice, nice experience once I figured it out.
And that is the heel strike.
I was a heel striker for at least 20 years.
Landed on my heel, roll through.
That's the way I was taught in high school
back in the 70s.
You gotta roll through,
got very much used to it.
And then I decided, because I've got spondylolisthesis,
I wanna save my back for the long haul.
I'm gonna become a forefoot runner.
It took me about two years to break the habit
so I could do it,
and now I can run without thinking about it.
However, it took a while,
and a lot of calf strengthening that first year
because all the sudden that that impact,
instead of going through your joints,
your calf absorbs it like a shock absorber.
And it takes it out on it.
So you gotta build it up.
The shoes I used to wear,
I'd always buy a cushioned shoe, which this is,
I wouldn't run with this shoe,
but more of a cushion in here.
I would take insert and take the
factory insert out, put a cushioned insert in.
And then when I have cushion, I always felt better.
When I was a forefoot runner,
I get minimal issues and I run on my forefoot,
and these are thick compared to my old pair.
But very little support is needed because you're running on
your forefoot.
It's a nice advantage, I think.
They're lighter.
And what do you do, what do you use, Mike?
- So I have a Saucony and Endorphin Speed.
They have the rolling heel technology,
compared to a standard shoe, as you can see here.
So it kind of propels you forward.
If you do land more on your heel, it's definitely different.
When I first bought them, I noticed,
like my feet kind of had to get used to them,
but I enjoy 'em now.
They're pretty thick.
They are a little flexible,
but I like these ones.
They're definitely, if you want good shoes,
you have to buy what terrain you're going to train on.
So if you're gonna do more cross country running,
or if you're gonna do road running,
or you can do trail running, you need the different grips.
And the shoes are completely designed differently.
And like these are $160.
- Sure. - So, a good pair of shoes
are not cheap, but they're well worth the investment.
So what other shoes have you used?
New balance? - I used to use New Balance,
Asics, those were my two big ones when I was a heel striker,
but that was years ago and they change.
They never keep the same shoe--
- No. - From season to season.
- They always change. - Yeah, they always change.
- The color and it's like, you get one you like,
and then the next year you get the same name,
and they change it a little bit.
- Yeah, I'd use New Balance. - That's a frustration.
- New balance, Sauconys are these, I've had Asics as well.
I like them all, they all make good shoes, I'd say.
There's a brand called Hoka
that's out there now too.
They're a little newer, a lot thicker.
That's more for the high mileage runners,
like the ultra runners. - Keep the cushion,
protect the joints and the back.
So spend time with your shoe.
It is a one thing you do need to spend some time
in the store, try on a number of different shoes.
Get one that feels good for you,
that matches your running style.
And last but not least is
find a running buddy or support group.
There's gonna be days you don't feel like running,
and you got your goal to achieve so many miles per week,
or you got a race or an event coming up
you want to prepare for.
Always more fun,
always helps to have someone to cheer you on.
You're supposed to meet someone at 6:00 AM before work.
A lot of times I won't do it
unless there's someone there I
have to meet, then I'm gonna be there,
and I'm, you're happier done.
So find some support a buddy, carry on at that route.
Anything you got, Mike?
Oh, you've got digital.
- My support buddy is
through my Apple watch here cause he has an Apple watch.
So whenever we work out,
we each see what the other person worked out.
It gets sent to our watches.
So I know if he did his runs for the day,
or if I did mine.
- Without even bein' there. - Yeah, he's lives
two and a half hours from me. - Wow.
He's kinda seeing me run, so he's running now.
He actually hasn't done distance running before.
- Wow, that's kind of weird for me.
(laughs)
I kinda like it in a way,
but it's-- - Future, Brad.
It's gonna take me a while to get into that,
but I will.
So I'll work on that for next year.
- These are super nice too
'cause it can see your pacing,
like how fast you're running.
Super handy, jst to look at your wrist real quick,
then look at your phone.
- I definitely, I definitely will consider that,
but then I'd have to find a buddy
that also has one of those. (laughs)
- That would be hard because at my age, a lot of them,
you know, anyways, that's another story.
- I'll add you to my list.
- People are dropping off,
they're all pretty much off,
(laughs) off this video by now anyways.
So enjoy, there's one thing we can fix
just about anything except for?
- A broken heart. - But we're working on that.
- Does running help? - Yes it does.
- It does strengthen your heart.
- But just a little bit.
You're not gonna fix it,
you're just gonna help.
We'll work on it.
That'll be another chapter in the book.
- Thanks for watching. - Carry on.
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