Runners unite! This is an especially important standard. We are almost there! There are 12 standards in total. Everybody at some point has had an issue with the topic we will discuss today. Whether it’s from a hobby, sport, waking up, standing, etc. This standard affects us all throughout our lives.
Standard #10: No Hotspots
Staying active as a runner or whatever
your activity, is the key motivation here. Instead of becoming sedentary and picking up the crossword puzzle out of the New York Times as your hobby, I’d like you to be able to stay active. Running or training through pain or injury will only get worse over time and isn’t any fun anyway.
Almost all of us have “hotspots”. It’s that burning feeling in your heel, the throbbing in your knee, or aching in your tight hip when you train. You brush it off as an ache and pain and normal for getting older. Some days it’s worse, some days it’s better. When you keep pushing and grinding your way past injuries, your body will eventually shut down. Usually it will damage other parts of your body on it’s way to doing this. There’s a mechanics problem or dysfunction of some sort that is screaming to get some attention from you. Runners are notorious for being able to continue through extraordinary amounts of pain to finish a race. Great job on the mental toughness. Now start using your noggin and taking care of yourself.
Dr. Starrett states, “If you feel pain during or after moving, then what you were doing was not functional movement”. Do not wait around until it debilitates you from your everyday mundane activities. Here’s Dr. Starrett’s comparison model:
- A runner goes running.
- The runner notices a tweak during the run. ____ starts hurting, and the hot, wincing pain gets worse as the run goes on.
- The runner still feels pain after the run. He gets out a bag of frozen peas, puts it on the hotspot, and tries to “stretch it out”.
- The runner thinks, ” I must need a different type of running shoe”
Here’s a new model:
- The runner does a thorough warm-up before the run, including mobility work to tend to areas in particular need.
- The runner notices a tweak during the am run. ___ starts hurting, and the runner immediately cuts the run short.
- Back at home, the runner begins focused compression work on and near the hotspot. (voodoo floss band coming up next)
- The runner performs mobilizations above and below the problem. This is as simple as it sounds-go after the tissue above and below the hotspot with mobility exercised that we have discussed. Spend at least 2 minutes with each mobilization. For example: if the hotspot is at your knee, then you should perform mobilizations for your lower leg and upper thigh.
VooDoo Floss Band
This technique is called “voodoo” because it attacks a swollen joint or dinged muscle in a broad spectrum of ways. Why it works may not always be understood. But it DOES work. The VooDoo Floss Band can be used as compression for swelling, or for reviving an achy, painful joint/area. According to Dr. Kelly Starrett, here are some ways that it can help:
- It restores sliding surface function, creating an omnipotent shearing effect that un-glues those sticky surfaces.
- It restores range of motion to the joint.
- It floods the area with blood. When you release the band, blood floods in with nutrients. This is especially valuable for those connective tissues (tendons and ligaments) that don’t easily get a lot of blood flow.
- It reduces swelling and revives the joint. When a joint is swollen, the natural stream of information from proprioceptors is lost, as nerve endings get dulled. Joint mechanics suffer. VooDoo Floss Band compression pushes swelling back into the lymphatic system.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Start a few inches below the hotspot.
- Wrap the band toward your heart. If you’re wrapping your knee for example, start below the knee.
- Use a half-inch overlap with each wrap of the band.
- Shoot for about 75% of stretch tension when wrapping the problem spot.
- Leave a bit of slack as you near the finish so that you can tie it off.
- Once it’s wrapped, immediately begin moving the joint or the entire limb through its full range of motion. (for your knee this would be doing a lot of air squats, lunges, etc).
- Don’t keep the band on longer than 2-4 minutes. If you feel pins and needles like crazy, and your limb is turning purple, it’s time to take it off.
Here is what it would look like to wrap the knee:
Running Intro,
Running Series #1,
Running Series #2,
Running Series #3,
Running Series #4
Running Series #5
Running Series #6
Running Series #7
Running Series #8
Running Series #9
Running Series #10
Running Series #11
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