It’s that time of year. Those good intentions that spring to life with the turn of the year have either fallen by the wayside or are getting a reboot as February kicks in.  If you’ve got the running bug (or are determined to find it), your legs will probably already be telling you about your exertions. We will deal with managing legs between sessions in a future blog.

What many new runners don’t recognise is the role of the upper body in running. You will often see people out running with their phone or a bottle clasped in their hand. Over time they come to realise that this is less than ideal.

Running with a relaxed upper body is the goal here. Tense the upper body and you will automatically restrict your breathing potential, antagonise your neck for no good reason and wonder why your shoulders have started to ache in a rather unusual manner. There are several contributing factors, some of which are easier to deal with than others.

Hands

Back to our runner out with the phone/iPod/bottle gripped in one hand. The hands determine the tension of your upper body. Holding onto something in your hand requires sustained muscle contraction which is managed by and transmitted to the muscles and nerves of the upper arm, shoulder and neck; nothing in the body works on its own. Holding that contraction on one side at a time is going to unbalance the load through the shoulder girdle. Over time this will accumulate and manifest anywhere between the hand and the neck.

Arms

There is another consequence of having one hand holding onto something whilst running. It alters how that arm contributes to your running action. Holding onto something reduces your arm swing on that side; run behind someone and see the difference between the movement on either side.

Now, you are probably thinking that you run with your legs. Actually you run with your entire body and your arms are an important contributor to your forward movement – if you allow them. Keeping your hands open with your fingers pointing forwards will ensure that your arms are contributing to forward motion. If you do prefer to run with your hands gently closed into a loose fist, that is no bad thing. Make sure it is a loose fist (not one you could use to throw a punch) and instead of thinking about your fingers pointing forward, think of your thumbs pointing in the right direction. To get the feeling, imagine you have an egg in each hand that you must deliver to the finish point. You cannot close your hand around that egg too tightly or disaster will strike.

Letting your hands cross in front of your body is also incredibly common but it wastes a considerable amount of energy as instead of helping you move in your desired direction, they send your energy from side to side which is not beneficial. If you keep the hand position in mind, with the fingers pointing forwards etc this easily

• Relax your shoulders
• Open your hands
• Fingers forward
• Elbows back

What’s the solution?

How to solve the holding kit in your hand issue? Put your iPod in an arm pocket (something like these) or the pocket in the back of your leggings. If you really need to carry water with you, put it in a waist belt (many styles to choose from). (If you at out for under an hour, unless it is a very hot day, you can probably leave the water bottle at your finish point to pick up on your return.)

Head

The head is a hefty weight on the top of the body. Place it in poor alignment will result in your muscles and bones having to manage a much increased load unnecessarily. Look ahead at your natural angle; look at where your feet will be going rather than watching each step hit the ground. This should keep your head over your neck and shoulders rather than letting it drop forward. Think about holding onto an orange under your chin. You don’t want to hold it so tight the juice squeezes out but enough to keep the head in a relatively relaxed position.

Remember to stretch out your upper body even though it’s your legs that will be shouting loudest at you! They’re in the focus next time out.

[In the spirit of full disclosure, links out to Amazon will generate a small payment to me if you make a purchase…]

I know it’s the title of a book but the fact it’s been around for over 25 years, it clearly hits a universal mark.

When I was contemplating my move back to Yorkshire through the pre-Christmas viral haze, it seemed to be the scariest thing in the world. Nothing was certain, everything was up in the air and there was no visible means of support. To be honest, it was terrifying.

Things don’t always follow the plan, and delays or apparant roadblocks can seem insurrmountable. The key is to have your focus on the big picture. Plan A may well not happen but there are other ways to achieve that bigger goal. There are always other ways. Patience is also a virtue; it might feel right to leap to putting fingers to keyboards but knowing when to step away from the conversation is as important as knowing when to stick your oar in.

So here I am. In my room in Ingleton, treating my first patients and building my networks in a new area, from scratch without a parachute. It will work because I will make it work come hell or high water. So, Feel the Fear and do it Anyway!

This was the view early today, before sun up whilest walking the dog. Even in the twilight, I know jolly well why I’m here and living the dream.

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” 
― John Muir

I finally headed to the hills after three days in the hut. At last I felt that the bump on the head was sufficiently recovered to make a trip up high a sensible idea. So with an early (ish) start on a beautiful day I was off,

Lingmoor Fell tends to be overlooked in favour of other peeks but I had found the gate accessing the path yesterday and I was curious to see where it led. There was a swimmer in the pool above Slaters Bridge as I passed; an unusual sight at that time of the day. It has to be said that Lingmoor is not the most enthralling of fells but in the early sunshine it made a great start to the day.

Down to Blea Tarn and on to Pike O’Blisco. Apart from the coach parties around the tarn I saw one person only until the summit. Most people there seemed to have come up either on the Great Langdale or the Wrynose paths. From here back to the Band it was a veritable motorway of people enjoying the good weather. Took the route over Crinkle Crags with an idea to tackle the Bad Step but on reaching it, with a party trying to come down through the hole I headed into the wind and round the path side. Either that or what appeared to be a long wait. Next time. Over to the three tarns then down by the band to the ODG for a swift half before heading back over Blea Tarn to the Tibberthwaite path to top of High Hall Garth.

The canine count had been quite low up to this point but thankfully the four pawed companions became more evident as the afternoon progressed. It was sad that the Hollydog was still recouperating from her op as she would have loved all this clambering about. All the while, my grin was getting wider and wider until I was in danger of disappearing into it, just like the Cheshire Cat. Why the cheesy grin? I was in the hills. That’s all it takes; I’m a girl of simple needs.

A week later it was back, this time in the Yorkshire Dales on the Three Peaks. Even in the fog on the summit of Pen-Y-Ghent I couldn’t stop smiling (even when the resident ewe showed a curious interest in my sarnie. (Is that reverse sheep worrying?) It felt more of an achievement on the top of Ingleborough by which time the clouds had cleared and the view clear to the coast and beyond. The feeling of elation needs to be bottled.

Or I need to be in the hills more often.

Sport England has launched a new campaign aiming to address the gender gap between men and women exercising regularly in England.  Two million fewer women exercise regularly than men; this applies across all age groups and is predicted to grow. Yet between the ages of 14 and 40, over 75% of girls and women want to exercise more.

This campaign has been created to encourage more girls and women in England to participate in exercise regularly by changing attitudes and behaviour across the country, across age groups. It has long been shown in research that whilest there is a desire to be more active this is tempered by assumptions about how young women will be viewed by their peers, how they feel about themselves during and after activity and by attitudes to performance.

So this campaign is all about feeling in control, just doing it for your own benefit. What ever “it” is; the artwork and tv ad feature girls doing all sorts of things. From, Zumba to cycling to running to climbing they are up to all sorts. The even kick balls (“get over it”). But there’s more to campaigns than the visuals.

Where will these ads be viewed? If they are being placed in fitness magazines and on the in-gym tv channels, then it may be preaching to the converted.  It has already been described as sexist and sex focussed on the basis of a viewing in a gym setting. But if the target audience is those not currently exercising, then the gym setting can only be preaching to the converted.

I do hope the media buying does not let this great initiative down. Personally, I love the execution and it deserves to succeed!

with iZettle.

Eye-Bex Sports Therapy can now take card payments. Using the Swedish iZettle platform, we can now take chip and pin cards from all these card issuers for your convenience.

Making it easier to keep active people active!

Eye-Bex gift vouchers are available now.  An ideal gift for birthday or Christmas buy your loved one some R&R or a sports assessment and massage session.

1/2 hour session         £25

1 hour session              £45

Discounts available for members of local sports clubs.

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