Florida Sports

Posts Tagged ‘Pain’

Developing an adequate strength base is essential to meeting the demands of any sport, especially running.
Some runners are hesitant to strength train, believing –incorrectly– that strength training will harm their running performance.  On the contrary, proper strength training has been scientifically proven to improve performance in runners and any athlete who repeatedly engages in knee bending.
Researchers discovered that runners who will suffer injury move differently than those who don’t become injured, and that most injuries are related to poor running mechanics. Recent studies show that injured runners have poor alignment of the foot, knee and hip, as opposed to healthy runners, who are able to keep their joints in a neutral position.
While you may think your leg muscles are to blame for altered mechanics and poor running performance, it’s really the core muscle groups that are responsible for proper joint alignment. Unfortunately, although they are essential to healthy running, core muscles don’t get trained when you run. In fact, it’s just the opposite: the limited range of motion involved in running tends to weaken all the core muscles surrounding your legs and hips.  Running just involves back-and-forth motion in one dimension, not really any lateral side-to-side movement, so the core muscles that work to stabilize your trunk get weaker literally with each mile…
If you look at other competitive sports such as basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and pretty much any other sport you can think of, you see that athletes perform sport specific exercises in the off season to get stronger, increase their power, improve core strength, and cure common sports injuries. Strength training allows athletes to perform at a higher level.
So, let’s repeat so we can really drill this in: core muscles don’t get trained when you run, but they are essential to healthy running.
The healthy and successful runner needs to understand that pain-free, fast running is as much about the strength of your core as it is about your legs.
What I’ve seen over and over again is runners who like to just run.  Strengthening is seen to be a distraction or annoyance and not an essential part of running.  This is especially the case for recreational runners who often are trying to ‘squeeze in’ a run before or after work.  Or, many runners are motivated to run to keep weight under control and think that strengthening leads to bulking up.
What you must realize is that strengthening your core muscles does not translate into getting ‘bigger’ or regaining weight.  Simply, it’s a critical part of running that is about upgrading the muscles among runners that inevitably get long and weak — the muscles you rarely use in running — into strong muscles that can stabilize your pelvis and allow explosive power from your limbs.
In short, a strong core is as important as getting comfortable sneakers — it is a TOOL of healthy, pain-free running.  You have to think of strengthening as an integral prerequisite of running, not as something that’s tangential or as a bonus when you have extra time. In fact, your schedule needs to allocate specific times during the week for a set number of must-do strengthening exercises. If not, you’re inevitably going to get injured (almost all runners do) and lose even more time by having to completely stop running.
Runners often think that running more is the only way to increase their performance.  It turns out the best way for runners to improve performance and prevent injury is to increase strength and the stabilization that results from a strong core.

To learn more about establishing a baseline of strength to cure and prevent injuries and start running even faster, Click Here to Download the Guide Now!

Golf is a sport that is played by millions the world over, and has been around for several centuries. However, it is said that few truly understand the sport and know what makes the game run like it does. If you are in the market for clubs, you need to remember that while many people will offer their opinions, many of them have about as much a grasp on the sport as you do. You will be faced with many different choices when finding golf clubs, and you will have to do the best you can to make the choices that will benefit your game in the long term. This is certainly a daunting task, and may lead to quite a few stressful visits to the club shop in search of the clubs that are perfect for you. Read on to find out about some of the ways you can ease the pain of choosing golf clubs, and how you can do it without too much trouble.

If you are looking to spend money on golf clubs of your own, you obviously have some experience with the sport previously. Consider the clubs you have been using prior to this. Have they been working well for you, or do you have problems? Before picking new golf clubs, you should write down a little table of the old golf clubs. Write down the things you like, and the things you don’t like. If there are enough things you like, you may decide that you don’t need new clubs after all and that you are perfectly content with your current ones. Either way, the list should give you an idea of what you should look for in your new clubs. Try to find new clubs that retain all of the things that you appreciate and have grown accustomed to, while fixing the things that you don’t like.

Have an expert golfer decide for you whether the length of your current clubs are proper for your playing. Playing with clubs that are too long or too short can have a surprisingly large effect on your game, and if you have been playing with the wrong length then you will be amazed at what switching to the right length can do. Have a seasoned golfer friend study your swinging position closely, and decide whether the length of your golf club appears to be a proper fit. Getting advice like this is very important for the process of buying your golf clubs, and will shave countless hours off of the amount of testing or research that you have to do. You may even use the help of internet forums or message boards to tell you what you need to hear. Their combined expertise will be very useful.

The club store itself is an indespinsable resource when deciding what golf clubs are best for you. Since they have every single new model of golf club, you can hardly go wrong with a visit to the store. Walk around inside of the store and try out all of the latest models or the ones that you are considering buying. Many stores will give you the chance to try out the club that you are looking at, and maybe even take it out to the course (or a smaller, contained course). Usually this will be the last step of the process before you purchase the club, and will give you the final chance to make sure that the club is really for you. If it’s possible to go on and try out a large number of clubs, this is an even better way to find the one that really hits your sweet spot.

No matter how you choose your golf clubs, you should not take the process lightly. A good set of golf clubs is going to cost a fairly large amount of money, so consider carefully all of the things that you want from golf clubs. By taking into account many different factors, you can make sure that your money is well spent.

Discount Golf

Running and jogging are a great form of exercise. Sure, running can be great for your heart, but what about your knees!?
Whether you love running, or like to occasionally go for a jog, sharp knee pain can take you out of the race almost immediately. If you have been sidelined by sharp knee pain when running or jogging, you may be tempted to throw in the towel on the sport. But you may not have to do that!
While simply not running or jogging may be one way to avoid sharp knee pain, you may have other options that can keep you in the race.
Whether from injury or overuse, at some point, most runners experience sharp knee pain when running. The knee discomfort problems you are having can subside with rest and various training improvements (i.e. better running shoes, cutting back on downhill running, changing the surface you run on, etc.). Some athletes find that icing the knees after a run helps to reduce the pain. However, if the sharp pain persists, worsens, or recurs whenever you are running, it is important to have the problem evaluated by a qualified medical specialist.
The area of the knee where the sharp pain occurs can serve as a good indication of the possible cause of the pain when running. For instance, if the sharp pain is more localized within the joint line (interior) knee, the cause of the pain may be the menisci. However, if the sharp pain is primarily in the front of the knee, the cause may be related to the patella (kneecap). Either way, even if training improvements, rest and the application of ice do alleviate the pain, chances are, if you continue running, the pain will return.
So does that mean that to save your knees, you must give up running or jogging?
Not necessarily. Something as simple and affordable as a knee brace may help reduce or even eliminate the sharp pain and help keep you on the trails.
Knee supports are not difficult at all to use, and they come in a variety of styles. Some are firm and rigid, while others are soft and flexible. However, whatever the style or type, a knee brace is designed to help support the knee, helping to reduce the stress and impact on the muscles and ligaments caused by running. – They do not have to be big and bulky either. There are many options available for runners.
A knee brace can also be helpful in keeping the knee and knee cap properly aligned, which in turn can also help reduce or eliminate sharp pain in the knee when running. Helping the knee joint to remain in proper alignment and stay supported when running can really help reduce injury levels.

Has chronic knee pain when running gotten the best of your knees?

Have you ever considered giving up the sport of running because of your knee issues?

Are you worried that the solution might involve drawn out therapy or painful surgery or other costly ventures?

Often times knee issues from running come from the fact that there is a significant amount of stress placed on your knee. The knee and its surrounding anatomical structures must deal with a lot of stress when running. When you take a moment, and think about it, the knee can take an extraordinary amount of stress… This is especially true if you’re a distance runner, or if you run on hard surfaces (such as concrete or asphalt).

Dislocating knee caps, meniscus tears, ligament tears and other knee problems can all happen when you are out there pushing yourself. Maybe you can relate, due to personal experience. Whatever your particular situation, it is important that you face your knee issues, instead of trying to out run them.

Do not let chronic knee pain stop you from doing the things you want to do. The answer to your chronic knee pain when running might be something as simple and easy to use as a lightweight, low profile knee brace. These braces can be extremely helpful when you are running because of the extra support that they can provide to you. Many people refer to them as a “pain killer” because the knee support takes the place of the medication that they are consuming everyday to stop the discomfort.

Other conventional treatments, such as ice therapy, rest, and over-the-counter pain medications, generally address the symptoms without addressing the problems that cause the symptoms to begin with. Yes, they can be helpful, but they do not necessarily promote healing? A knee brace is designed to help support the knee when running and to help keep the knee in its proper position. This, in turn, can help promote healing of an injured knee.

A support can help reduce the impact running has upon the knee joint and can therefore help alleviate the issues that may lead to chronic knee pain when running. For instance, if the chronic pain is being caused by dislocating knees, or any of the other problems mentioned above, a knee support can help limit excessive movements at the knee, or simply act as a reminder to you not to make a movement that hurts you.

In the end the choice to get a knee brace, or to try other treatment options is yours to make… We are just writing from personal experience, because we have seen what a knee support can do for people that have knee pain when they run.