Many thanks to the contributors to our Health and Fitness workshop yesterday evening. It was well attended and I think everyone took something away from it – I know I did!
Did you know that strength training can reduce injury to less than 1/3 and overuse injuries could almost be halved? (Lauersen et al 2013). Chris gave us this information and Brenton demonstrated how just a few regular exercises could help us build stronger muscles and protect ourselves from injury. If, like me, you are nervous of the weights then having a PT can really help. First of all they will make sure you get the technique correct but will encourage you to be that bit braver than you would on your own. Hamilton Fit have a special offer this weekend of 15% off all packages.
Yoga is not just for flexibility! We learned Yoga can help with mobility, with balance and with breathing control. It is also a great way to build all round strength. Louise at Sandstone have a special Yoga for Runners session at 6.15 this Sunday evening. Why not give it a try?
Jack from Box Nutrition had some great ideas for helping us make small changes to our diet to improve our overall health and performance. He recommends making one change at a time and stacking one good habit on top of another. So rather than face a terrible uphill struggle in January why not take two weeks to adjust the one thing that you know is not doing you any favours – might be booze, cake but just one thing for two weeks. Once you have nailed the new habit then it’s time to tackle the next one!
Chris from REACT physio had loads of interesting and in some cases controversial information that created some lively debate! His main message is that most of the runners’ injuries he sees are from increasing training load too quickly. That might be too much extra mileage, introduction of a speed session you’re not used too, might even be a change outside running putting extra load on your body. His rule of thumb is to follow a training programme that keeps to 10% increase each week, that way your body can adjust to the extra demands. Everyone at the workshop got a 10% discount for their next appointment with Chris. I kind of hope you don’t need it but it’s there for if you do!