Running effectively with optimum function

Running effectively with optimum function

Improving your running form can help you run faster, more efficiently, and with less stress on your body and reduced risk of injury. Follow these tips to work on perfecting your running form.

Look Ahead

Your eyes should be focused on the ground about 10 to 20 feet ahead of you. Don't stare at your feet. Not only is this proper running form, but it's also a safer way to run because you can see what's coming and avoid falling.

Land Midfoot

Don't be a toe runner or a heel-striker. If you land on your toes, your calves will get tight or fatigue quickly and you may develop shin pain. Landing on your heels means you have overstrided and you're braking, which wastes energy and may cause injury. Try to land on the middle of your foot, and then roll through to the front of your toes.

Keep Your Feet Pointed Straight Ahead

Make sure your toes are pointed in the direction you want to go. Running with your feet pointed in or out could lead to running injuries.

Keep Hands at Your Waist

Try to keep your hands at waist level, right about where they might lightly brush your hip. Your arms should be at a 90 degree angle. Some beginners have a tendency to hold their hands way up by their chest, especially as they get tired. Ironically, you may actually get more tired by holding your arms that way and you'll start to feel tightness and tension in your shoulders and neck.

Relax Your Hands

As you run, keep your arms and hands as relaxed as possible. You can gently cup your hands, as if you are holding an egg and you don't want to break it. Don't clench your fists because it can lead to tightness in the arms, shoulders, and neck.

Check Your Posture

Keep your posture straight and erect. Your head should be up, your back straight, and shoulders level. Keep your shoulders under your ears and maintain a neutral pelvis. Make sure you're not leaning forward or back at your waist, which some runners do as they get fatigued. Check your posture once in a while. When you're tired at the end of your run, it's common to slump over a little, which can lead to neck, shoulder, and lower-back pain. When you feel yourself slouching, poke your chest out.

Relax Your Shoulders, Too

Your shoulders should be relaxed and square or facing forward, not hunched over. Rounding the shoulders too far forward tends to tighten the chest and restrict breathing.

Rotate Arms from the Shoulder

Your arms should swing back and forth from your shoulder joint, not your elbow joint.

Don't Bounce

Try to keep your stride low to the ground and focus on quick stride turnover. Too much up-and-down movement is wasted energy and can be hard on your lower body. Take short, light steps, as if you're stepping on hot coals. The higher you lift yourself off the ground, the greater the shock you have to absorb when landing and the faster your legs will fatigue.

Keep Arms at Your Side

Avoid side-to-side arm swinging. If your arms cross over your chest, you're more likely to slouch, which means you're not breathing efficiently. Imagine a vertical line splitting your body in half -- your hands should not cross it.

Most importantly get your spine checked a long with having your feet scanned to evaluate your weight bearing biomechanics.  Your body structure determines your overall body function.  Dr. Florendo can evaluate the integrity of your nervous system to see how well you are able to run.  Call 702-920-6556 or Visit Drflorendo.com and schedule your appointment 

Enjoying a Healthy, Pain Free Pregnancy

Enjoying a Healthy, Pain Free Pregnancy

Good health should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, especially during pregnancy. As your body changes to accommodate your baby, subtle natural changes occur to your body, which allow you to carry a child. Over time these changes cause the aches and pains that are so commonly associated with pregnancy.

Nearly 50% of all women experience some form of sciatic, back or neck pain at some point during their pregnancy.

The increased discomfort to the back and neck pain is often due to a spinal misalignment caused by your baby’s increased weight in the front of the body, as well as natural changes that occur in the pelvic area that prepare your body for delivery. This along with increased organ stress and natural weight gain, disturb the normal structure of the lower spine.

When the normal structure of the Lumbar spine is disturbed, there is an increased risk of spinal misalignment, which may narrow or block the openings between the vertebra, causing compression, choked or irritated nerves and resulting in the pain that you feel. The hands-on care given by Dr. Florendo at the UNLIMITED WELLNESS INSTITUTE will help correct the cause of your problem, so your body can heal naturally.

Chiropractic care is a natural form of health care.  It eliminates the risk of potentially hazardous side effects, which often accompany prescription pain drugs, and medications.

At the UNLIMITED WELLNESS INSTITUTE we care about you and your child’s well being. Follow these 3 simple rules and you will enjoy a Healthy, Pain Free pregnancy.

·      Eat properly and drink the right fluids.

·      Exercise regularly, but also get plenty of rest. While you are exercising, don’t over exert yourself. If you get tired, stop.

·      Avoid drugs! Including: tobacco, alcohol, illegal substances and medication, unless prescribed by a doctor.

Call (702)-920-6556 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

JYou and your baby will be in caring hands J