A Sore Subject #4

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."- Lance Armstrong

www.gottri.org

Hope everyone is progressing with their training.  We are now 5 weeks out from the Shape Up RI 5k Run/Walk to benefit Girls on the Run Rhode Island.  At this point in the training we may start to get a snowball effect from all the training and the aches and pains may set in.  Let's discuss what we should be doing to address aches and pains.

As we talked about in the second post, Off and Running, symptom recognition is an important part of training.  It is typical to experience discomfort while increasing your distance and intensity.  However, it is not normal to experience pain.   Discomfort is general muscle soreness and joint pain that  resolves within 24 hours and it is a normal reaction to exercise.   Stiffness that resolves with stretching or activity is also a normal reaction.  Pain is distinguished by being present at the start of your run and gets worse as you continue or it forces you to change your running stride. Pain keeps you awake at night.  Pain is not okay, and you should not train when you have pain!

Brigham and Women's Hospital categorized running pain into 4 categories:

 • Type I: After activity: stretch affected area well (at least 3 to 5 reps, hold each for at least a 30 count), long, slow, gentle stretch, then ice for 20 minutes. Continue to progress program if discomfort appears to be muscle soreness. If joint pain and/or swelling develops, increase rest between exercise sessions and decrease activity level to previous level.


• Type II: During activity, at begin then dissipates: maintain same activity level and low intensity until symptoms dissipate.

• Type III: During activity, gradually develops and intensifies with activity: decrease intensity of activity, stop and stretch to relief symptoms, stop activity if those do not relief symptoms. Maintain same activity level; if symptoms continue, decrease activity to previous level.

• Type IV: At night, keeps you up or wakes you up: Bad, doing too much; total rest until symptom free, decrease activity to previous level and keep intensity low.

• Upon waking: In the morning, upon waking, then dissipates: sign of more to come, decrease activity to previous level and keep intensity low.

For more specific information on this program check out the link at:
Return to Running Rehab Program Brigham and Woman's Hospital


If you are experiencing pain follow the R.I.C.E. method.


RICE works!
R =  Rest
I =  Ice
C =  Compression
E =  Elevation



If you continue to experience pain at rest or with running after a few days of R.I.C.E., you should contact your physician or physical therapist.  The sooner you address the pain the sooner you’ll be able to return to running.



Physical Therapists and their support staff not only specialize in injury rehabilitation, but in injury prevention.  At Performance Physical Therapy we take pride in having 3 rehab specialists certified in conducting Functional Movement Screens (FMS).

The FMS is an assessment technique used with athletes to quickly identify imbalances in mobility and stability during fundamental athletic movement patterns. Using the findings from the Functional Movement Screen we can tailor your speed school experience to your individual needs to improve performance and reduce injury risk.






For more information on scheduling your FMS today please contact:
Adam Ware BS, CSCS, FMS-C
(401)726-7100
aware@performanceptri.com

Cheers,
Brian