I have been on the road a ton lately. Just this last week I have made two trips to Arizona and one to Denver. They were all good, productive trips. I had some very productive meetings at NASM corporate in AZ and attended a very helpful performance management training course alongside many of the managers from the Mesa office as well. I had a great time in Denver. I shot some footage for NASM TV, taught a corrective Exercise Specialist Workshop for NASM and got to see some friends for dinner Friday night. I even shot some video footage for the CPT Assist eTeach course Saturday night. Needless to say I was wiped out by the end of Saturday! Leading the workshops for NASM has been one of favorite parts of my “jobs” over the last ten years. More specifically, I have really come to enjoy teaching others.

As I shared to my Corrective Exercise class in Denver as well as on my NASM TV shoot, my first opportunity to educate other professionals came when I was working as personal trainer for 24 Hour Fitness in Aurora, CO.

Where it all started...

I’ll save the long story for another day, but knowing that I have made a contribution to others makes me feel amazing. They may use the information for themselves or to help their clients, it doesn’t make a difference to me. At the Perform Better Functional Training Summit in Chicago, I had a packed house for the hands on session.

I had a blast in Chicago and Providence!

I mean people were spilling out into the hallways. It was awesome. The title of my session was “Save Your Back: get Your Butt in Gear.” After my hands on breakout session a woman came up to me with tears in her eyes. She had pain radiating down her posterior and lateral hip for some time and could not find relief despite seeing several medial professionals. She was overjoyed that she was experiencing relief. All I taught the group to do was NASM’s four step Corrective Exercise (CEx)process- Inhibit, Lengthen, Activate and Integrate. I focused on the lumbo-pelvic hip complex and threw in my own wrinkles to the stretching and activation section, but it was NASM CEx straight up. To be able to provide someone relief from pain is a great feeling. I home that she keeps up with her program and can in turn pass the techniques and system on to others.

You have me on a cross country flight with a full battery, so I have some time to give you a nice solid post! Okay, back to barefoot training. Last post I wrote about progressing sensibly from a supportive shoe to a minimalist shoe if there were no injuries or congenital conditions that made barefoot training contraindicated. During Mark Verstegen’s lecture at Perform Better, he even gave a history of minimalist shoes and provided pictures of the best minimalist shoes on the market today. He cited a research study that compared 186 pairs of feet. He compared the feet of people who did not wear shoes to the feet of people who did wear shoes. If you want to read the study, search for “J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1905, Conclusions Drawn from A comparative Study of Barefooted and Shoe-Wearing Peoples, Hoffman, M.D.” Hoffman found that the barefoot group had more separation and straightness to their toes with the toes being the widest portion of the foot. Verstegen also included a picture of a Bronze Herculaneum Statue that depicted a runner and the adduction to the great toe (the big toe) is much more prominent than what I see with my clients, patients and athletes today. For those who wear shoes, especially something like a cowboy boot, women’s high fashion shoes or anything with a small and restrictive toe box, this is basically going to compact the tarsals, metatarsals and phalanges.

Look at that big toe...and it only ges worse from here

This can happen in men’s professional shoes and kids sneakers too. The shock absorption of the foot is all but eliminated. The rich amount of proprioceptors in the sole of the feet are shut down. Imagine walking around with a canvas bag tied tightly over your head all day. How well would you be able to process information?

I magine a rope around the bag...

All of the ground reaction forces that should be stored and released throughout the kinetic chain and propel someone through the gait cycle are now forced to be transmitted to the knees, hips spine and beyond. Ambulating now requires more effort and places more stress throughout the human movement system. Think of all of the professional basketball players in the 1900’s. The all wore Chuck Taylors, Converse All Stars. Chucks basically were and are just a shank of rubber with some canvas and a lace. It did not have arch support and had a wider toe box than most shoes seen today. It also did not have an elevated heel. This let the calve sit at it’s natural resting length and kept the pelvis better balanced. I have a pair that I wear during when performing yard and house work and a pair that I wear in public. The public ones are cleaner and more respectable. The house work ones have paint stains and are much grungier. For $35-$40 they are worth every penny. I used to train clients in them and work out in them too. I have to admit, lifting, kettlebells, core and flexibility were more comfortable than agility or cardio with them on. I wanted to slowly bridge the gap from the Asics 2150 pronation control show than I had been wearing for a year or so, and a minimalist shoe like the Vibram Five Fingers.

And the Chucks were a good cheap option. My feet felt so comfortable and cozy all wrapped up in my Asics. The arch support felt good from ankle to hip….but the elevate heel aggravated my sacroiliac joint and low back to no end. I could just feel them tightening up as the day went. At the time I had a standing desk, so when I wasn’t training clients I would work standing up. So being upright with those shoes was not a good fit for me. Notice I said for me…

I did try a minimalist shoe back in 2005 when Nike came out with their Free 5.0. They launched the shoe at IDEA World and I happened to presenting a Speed Agility and Quickness for Youth session for NASM there. I saw the shoe, bought a pair. Like them so much that after three days at the show, I went back and bought a second. I still have the newer pair! What happened, because I had some 1st MTP, ankle and LPCH issues that were unresolved is that after a week or so I started getting some aches and pains and slowly moved away from them. I put them on every now and then, but the 5.0 still has too much of a heel for me. Their 3.0 is even lower and the 7.0 is even higher in the heel, so they provide their customers with some choices which is nice. Nike toe boxes tend to run on the narrow side as well and I did feel a bit restricted through the toes as well.
From there I went to a New Balance tennis trainer that had minimal arch support and a very low heel. I liked these. Unfortunately, the discontinued the model and I could not find a second pair anywhere and I eventually had to move on. I found some funky orange Teva walking shoes that I tried for a while. I still have them somewhere. A physical therapist that was helping me with my joint restrictions in my big toe and ankle thought that I needed some more support so I tried some over the counter shoe inserts called Superfeet. They run about $30 and have three versions that range in level of support. They were decent.

Another physical therapist that I saw thought that I needed even more support and convinced me to go with the Asic 2130. This worked great for the foot ankle as I mentioned and I matriculated to the newer 2150 model from there.

Until I said enough is enough with the stinking elevated heel! The reason that these pronation control shoes need the heel is that they need a place for the arch support to “sit” in. That is one of the reasons that the Superfeet did not help out my Tevas very much. The Tevas were flat from heel to toe, there was no “drop”. So the arch support had minimal support underneath it and did not have the desired effect. I knew that, but thought it was better than nothing. I also ran into some plantar fascia pain, yes plantar fasciitis, last year while transitioning to my Chucks. I saw a podiatrist to try and find out more about my 1st MTP and ankle restrictions. He started off well talking about the global effect of foot ankle issues and the potential negative impact of wearing shoes with an elevated heel. He recommended Spenco arch supports which I found on Amazon for less than @$10.

<iframe src=”http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=ericbecom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B000FPKUZ0″ style=”width:120px;height:240px;” scrolling=”no” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ frameborder=”0″></iframe>

They seemed to help in my Chucks some, so I stuck with them for a couple of months. Then he ended one of our appointments by saying that I had some pathologies in my feet and I would eventually have to have surgery…I disagree, so I never went back.

If you haven’t seen this, there is some amazing info on this DVD I put together. I used some of these techniques to help with my foot pain
http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z43XTB

That’s all for tonight. I’ll be back for part 3 soon! Thank you for reading!

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team
Corrective Exercise Specialist

AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard
http://youtube.com/theericbeard

• August 7, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-3 (0)
• July 5, 2011 -- Perform Better Show Review: Barefoot Training – Mark Verstegen Part 1 (0)
• December 10, 2010 -- Improving Running Performance and Running Mechanics (0)
• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 3 (0)
• August 21, 2010 -- Corrective Exercise 2010 Summer Update (0)

If you observe the first woman with the green shirt, you can notice her right knee moving in and foot moving out. Often their is tightness in the muscles around the ankle and hip, like the lateral gastrocnemius fibers, soleus, TFL, psoas, illiacus and biceps femoris short head and quite possibly a joint restriction at the subtalor joint in the ankle. Many time sin this situation, the medial hamstrings and gluteal complex along with the medial gastrocnemius are under active and weak.

If left unchecked, this pattern can wear down the medial meniscus, aggravate the plantar fascia, patella femoral joint and lead to low back pain, neck pain and even headaches as the ground reaction forces are transmitted through the kinetic chain.

The man in the blue shirt displays a varum or bowlegged stride. This can be congenital and has a similar pattern of muscular imbalance with the piriformis and long head of the biceps femoris joining the over active group. There is less that can often be done about this type of gait because it is possibly structural, but corrective exercise can still help to minimize the muscular imbalances and enhance personal athletic performance and recovery from running.

Lastly the woman in the yellow top that takes the orange from the girl in the crowd displays that leg whip (foot out/knee in) compensation similar to the woman in the green shirt.

These compensations can all be observable in a movement assessment like the overhead squat, which makes a great pre-screen to a  running program.

Even a basic regimen of self myofascial release, static stretching, core stabilization and balance training can have a major  positive impact on these three runners and how they feel during and after a run.

I have helped several endurance athletes train for and recover from major and minor events and it is a challenge to balance corrective with the Horus of training needed to complete these events, but the importance of a corrective exercise program, good sleep, a smart meal plan, consistent training and complimentary/adjunct therapy (massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy) is the way to have long term success with endurance sports,even if they are just F.T.F.O.I. (for the fun of it)

One more to go!!! Thanks for your persistence:)

Eric Beard
CEO A-Team

Corrective Exercise Specialist

AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard

http://youtube.com/theericbeard

• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post 1 of 2 (0)
• April 19, 2010 -- Please Read This: Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 4: The Juice (0)
• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 2 (0)
• April 16, 2010 -- Running Sneakers Are Horrible… (0)
• December 10, 2010 -- Improving Running Performance and Running Mechanics (0)

Boston Marathon 2010

Although I have lived in Framingham and Natick for a combined total of 21 of my years, I have not gone down to the Boston Marathon race route as an adult and probably only did it a handful of time as a kid. Route 135 in Natick is literally a block and a 1/4 from my house and every year my wife, children, mother in law, some friends and their kids, neighbors and countless others in our community take in the spectacle. My kids love to hand out orange slices and get high fives from the runners, but this is the first year that I have witnessed it live.

I usually work a full day every Patriots Day, a holiday in Massachusetts so I never get to share in the reindeer games, until this year. I took a half day and made sure to get up early and park my car on the other side of rte. 135 so I could get to work when I was ready because the road is closed most of the day for the Marathon. So my Lab and I dropped the car off, enjoyed a brief walk back to the house and started to get ready for the Marathon. We loaded up on snacks, juice boxes and of course tons of orange slices for the marathoners.

It is a tough racket as kid handing our orange slices. There are now engineered yummies such as Cliff Bar “Shots” etc.

So many runners go high tech and skip taking an orange slice from some snot nosed kids who ay have already licked the orange they are offering him or her.

Nature's Sports Refreshment!

It was fun for the kids regardless and we helped facilitate the offerings to these running crazed marathoners, who are so appreciative of the support they get. They give kids high 5′s, cheer and clap back to the screaming crown and are mostly smiles (so are in down right agony). Our post was about 10.5 miles in to the race…so most people were still cruising pretty good, but I am sure much more pain was yet to come.

Let me stop this post now and come back with round 2 in case you are getting bored:)

Thanks for reading!

Eric Beard

CEO A-Team

Corrective Exercise Specialist

AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard

http://youtube.com/theericbeard

• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 3 (0)
• April 19, 2010 -- Please Read This: Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 4: The Juice (0)
• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 2 (0)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• April 16, 2010 -- Running Sneakers Are Horrible… (0)

A six mintue plea for help…

http://www.youtube.com/user/theericbeard#p/a

How can we stop low back, pain, knee pain, plantar fasciitis, runner’s knee and more otehr than corrective exercise? The proper footwear for tehe individual!!!

Thanks for checking in!

Eric Beard

CEO A-Team

Corrective Exercise Specialist

AthleticShoulder.com
http://facebook.com/theericbeard

• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 3 (0)
• February 26, 2010 -- First Month of Another Fitness Challenge Brings Eric Beard Some Results (1)
• February 24, 2010 -- Another Fitness Challenge Update on Ankle Mobility of Eric Beard (0)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)
• February 9, 2010 -- 5 Minute Core Stability / Corrective Exercise for Back Pain by Eric Beard with the MECA Back (0)

It’s estimated that up to 70 percent of runners experience an overuse injury each year and about half of those injuries occur in the knee.

Preventing runner’s knee is about the alignment and function of the entire body or kinetic chain. Ever heard the expression that a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link?

Runner’s knee is about the ankle not moving like it should and the hip not controlling the femur like it should.

Let’s focus on the hip today okay?

“The hip muscles are responsible for stabilizing the leg during running,” according to lead researcher Dr. Reed Ferber, of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada-courtesy of Amy Norton and her article

Weak hips may lead to runners’ lower-leg injuries

More from Amy’s article “If, for example, the hip abductors — muscles at the outer hip — are weak, this allows the knee to roll too far inward, toward the midline of the body. That, Ferber explained, can set runners up for patellofemoral pain syndrome, which causes pain under and around the kneecap, or iliotibial band syndrome, where pain arises in the outside of the knee.”

So what do people do? Rest? Ice? Compression? Elevation?

Buy the latest sports medicine strap or gizmo to deal with the SYMPTOM?

I think R.I.C.E. is a great approach for a fresh injury and straps and wraps can suppress pain to allow one to compete through pain…but the do not address the CAUSE…ALIGNMENT AND FUNCTION.

When the glute is weak the TFL grabs on to the ITB and aggravates the kneecap, making it track laterally, pain will follow! The weak VMO is part of the equation, but that is like saying the little old lady walking the poodle started the riot…she may be in it with 99 other people, but she was not the catalyst.

Typical scenario…we sit on our rears, wear high heels or high heels disguised as sneakers…

..then take our tight hip flexors and calves out for some jogging and the TFL muscle puts a choke hold on the knee cap trying to do the work of the glute (which has usually been asleep for a good 10-20 years) then after a 5K or two…whoops! What do you know! Runner’s knee! I must need to take some Advil and buy a wrap to put on my knee, or better yet, sneakers with a BIGGER heel so I can keep running. Proper sneakers are important…but not enough.

This then leads to more knee pain or the knee feels better and low back pain, headaches or shoulder pain pop up out of nowhere or get blamed on their new lifting program or having to paint the trim in the kitchen.

A corrective exercise specialist would perform an integrated assessment, spot the weak glutes in the picture above and address the imbalance before the pain and time on the shelf.

Amy reports what we have know for years…

“In other research, Ferber and his colleagues have found that six weeks of hip-muscle training can alleviate pain from various running injuries in most patients. The researchers are currently studying whether such strength training also prevents overuse injuries.”

It would help a whle lot faster if they tired this too…

If you are a runner, or simply like to move..then integrate corrective exercise into your program for faster results now and less pain later.

Thanks for reading, please take care of yourself and be proactive, and let me know if I can help!

Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com

• May 10, 2009 -- Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) (1)
• April 16, 2010 -- Running Sneakers Are Horrible… (0)
• June 9, 2009 -- Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) Solution-Tube Walking!…Not Quite. (3)
• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 3 (0)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)

I have worked out a few times while I have been here at a gym in Castle Rock over the last few days and I was not able to shut my “work brain” off as usual. Lots to blog about from these workouts, but I will stick with Runner’s Knee (more recently called Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome or less recently Chondromalacia). My friends were running and biking indoors while I did my thing and I watched them as well as the other regulars at this gym. Endurance athletes and runners are a mess more often than not. It seems that the traditional information that they receive is helpful in the short term at best and crumby over the long term at the worst.

What is runner’s knee??

Wiki does s nice job with the definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runner%27s_knee if you are unfamiliar with this condition.

Another site I perused tonight listed the possible causes as;

• Wide Hips (female runners)
• Knock Knees (Genu Valgum)
• Subluxating Patella
• Patella Alta (high patella)
• Small medial pole of patella or corresponding portion of femur
• Weak Vastus Medialis
• Weak Quadriceps Muscles
• Tight Hamstrings or calf muscles
• Pronation of the feet

YES DO THIS!!!

Over-Active Muscles	Under-Active Muscles
Calve complex	Tibialis anterior/posterior
Tensor fascia latte (TFL)	Gluteus medius
Psoas/illiacus	Gluteus maximus
Vastus lateralis	Intrinsic core stabilizers
Adductor magnus	Medial hamstrings/popliteus
Biceps femoris (short head

• June 9, 2009 -- Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) Solution-Tube Walking!…Not Quite. (3)
• June 16, 2009 -- Knee Pain: Quad vs. Glute Dominant Lunges (1)
• April 19, 2010 -- The Gratuitous Boston Marathon Post Part 3 (0)
• June 8, 2009 -- I’ll Take Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) Instead of Corrective Exercise Please (1)
• July 29, 2011 -- Barefoot Training Part-2 (0)