Want to see what we are up to @ Rebound? Come grab a beer, some eats, and join us for our open house this Thursday! (superhero dress optional)
The Bat-signal has been lit: time for a PARTY!
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Tag Archives: running
Pace Maker: an interview with Today in PT
Today in PT is a magazine for the physical therapy profession. They wrote:
Americans are increasingly on the run, with Running USA’s 2012 State of the Sport report counting nearly 39 million runners. Runners spend nearly $2.5 billion annually on footwear, according to the report. But, unfortunately, new shoes don’t come with accurate information and proper training to safely and successfully pursue the activity. For that, Today in PT turned to Jay Dicharry, PT, MPT, SCS, author of “Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention.” click here for the rest
They threw out 10 questions, and i threw out 10 answers. Check out the link if you’d like to see some of the reasons why i do what I do, a few lines on the book, and why i got into this aspect of athletic injury care in the first place.
Running Injury Management on Therapedia
Fresh off teaching this past weekend at University of Michigan – a great group of folks joind together for a course called “Putting the Athlete Back in Triathlete: a clinician’s role in care of the endurance athlete.” …….and more content to come.
I’ve been invited to be a part of Therapedia’s webcast series, and its airing Thursday this week. And yes, it will be available to view after the course as well. Check out this link for what looks to be an interesting discussion!
Coffee Talk: TrailRunner Nation Podcast
The guys at Trail Runner Nation podcast gave me a call, and asked a few questions. If you’d like to hear some inside scoop on what you can do to keep healthy and happy on the way to your next PR, grab some of your favorite brew, and tune in here.
We’ll debunk some myths, babble about footwear, talk about why we don’t treat injuries by treating symptoms, and discuss some cutting-edge approaches on strength training for endurance athletes. Its a long hour of conversation, but all this talk is aimed at ways to help make running fun. Because that why we do this stuff. And more fun is, well, just more fun.
Why does your achilles hurt, and how to fix it
I was contacted by Jason Fitzgerald at StrengthRunning.com to help clear up a lot of the mystery behind achilles issues. Even though this injury can be a major complicator for your training, the mechanics of it are actually quite simple. If you’d like to check it out, check out this link.
Elevator Up? The Mindset Behind a Champion
A few weeks ago, I got to present along side Dr. Joe Vigil at a USA Track and Field conference in LA. For those of you who have to ask “who is Joe Vigil?”…..this man is to coaches as Rolex is to watches: the best.
Dr Vigil always has the uncanny ability to break down complex tasks and ask you the “right” introspective questions to help you reach your next milestone. We don’t just train the body in isolation. We’ve always heard that the body can handle more than the mind wants to give. So with that, I’m going to leave you with the following picture. Is it time to take the elevator up the “achievement triangle?” – What’s holding you back from reaching your goals? Change all starts with the desire to change.
In fact, lets move beyond kumbaya and start this process in motion right now. Turn the computer off. Get out a sheet of paper and make 3 columns. Write down your goals in column 1. Then write down the obstacles that stand in the way of each of your goals. Then make a 3rd column of exactly what you are going to do to beat each of those obstacles. Stick it on your fridge and remember your passion. When one of those obstacles seems like its standing in your way, make your tiger face and beat it down. Mental Tough = Body Tough.
And if you need help with your plan, give me a ring – I’ll help you find your tiger face.
OK, so this may have just been an excuse to use the iconic Beastie Boys song as my blog title, or a way to share the great review that the Prospect Park Track Club from Brooklyn, NY wrote for my book. Check it out at the link!
How a physical therapist and mega-technology can make you a better athlete
Got some amazing local press this week from The Source here in Bend. While I chose the use the sub-title as the heading for this post, the writer’s main title was pretty witty “Jay and his fancy treadmill”
Granted, I’ve been doing this stuff for quite a while, but I honestly think its pretty simple, and the “right” way to do things ,really. In comes the writer. His body has some issues that need to be cleared up. Why? well, we’ve always heard “(running) form follows function.” Improve the function of your body so you can further improve – and maintain – your form. We identified things for him to work on and established a plan of attack. As I’ve said over and over again, there are things you can do outside of running that will improve your running.
Next we used some fancy tools and some custom software I developed to identify where things broke down in his gait style. Then we used the toys in the lab to give him some biofeedback to improve specific aspects of his running form while he’s actually running. We worked with this for a bit, and then captured more baseline data. End result, The writer improved his economy by 11% and decreased the stress to his body (called “loading rate”) by just over 33%. Running easier, with less stress to the body? I call that a win. Give the office a call if you are interested in seeing yourself improve as well.
Learn how to run (better) from your couch!
Yes, I’m suggesting you actually spend about an hour on your bottom if you want to learn to run better. Join me on Tuesday, Feb 26th, I’ll be hosting a webinar for USA Triathlon. A quick summary and a registration link is right here.
Topic: Building the Perfect Runner: How Strength and Form Can Improve Your Performance (with Jay Dicharry)
What’s the best way to run? While often polarizing headlines read “everyone must land on their forefoot”, there is a lot more to efficient running form than a foot strike. In this webinar presentation, Jay Dicharry will use both scientific data and simple analogies to discuss what good running form is. Then, it’s on to the naked truth: There are things you can do outside of running that will improve your running economy. By the end of this presentation, you will understand:
•What defines proper running form, and how it plays a role in injury and performance.
•How to ensure that you are putting the best ingredients (your body!) into your running form.
•The mobility requirements for proper running
•How to optimize your strength training to ensure it directly transfers into better running.
•How to optimize posture and effectively integrate it into your daily activities and training.
Join Jay as he looks past the hype and shares the information you need to perform at your peak.
“black box” training = grey answers
The black box training model that most of us follow is pretty much like a blender.
Its time for breakfast, and you want a smoothie. You scrummage through the kitchen and try to find anything resembling fresh or frozen fruit. The blender is loaded up, and spinning loudly as the morning sun crests through the window. You take a sip……its good. But why isn’t as good as the smoothie you made a few days prior. What specific things made the other smoothie better?
Most of us put as much forward thinking into smoothies as we put into our training plan. We throw a bunch of training hours in, and based on our success, we arrive at conclusions. Well, what really happened? Some of you may have gotten faster. But could you have gone faster yet? Some of you may have plateaued…..why? And a few of you may have even gotten slower…..a lot of people really want to know the answer to this!
Wouldn’t it be nice to know more than just “effort in = race performance out?” What if you could actually see inside the black box?
When athletes come to me for an analysis, my goal is to find their limiters. Everyone has them, but not everyone knows how to find them. Over the past decade, I’ve blurred the lines between sports medicine, lab analysis, and performance training. And I’ve done it by being specific. I take a hard look at the state of your body, and a hard look at your sport performance. My lab has fancy tools like force platforms and instrumented treadmills, and a real knack for understanding how these values actually impact your sport’s performance. I can see into your body in ways that no “trained eye” could ever hope to capture. Specific measures = specific answers. I call it “opening the box.” It works.
Over the next few posts, we are going to go through some examples on how this approach has helped others in the past. But if you want to know how it helps you, and want to look inside your own box, give me a call!
