A Journey Through Elite Sport

I recently attended an inspiring conference celebrating 25 years of the Institute of Sport and Remedial Massage. One of the speakers was Neil Black, Performance Director for UK Athletics. I was extremely impressed by the points he made during his talk entitled 'A journey through Elite Sport: Athlete, Physical Therapist, and now Performance Director for UK Athletics'. I have been telling my clients about it and most have been very interested so I thought I would put up a brief summary of his main points on my blog.

He was emphatic that high quality training and the right mental approach is fundamental to success, far more important than the physique you inherit. He is also in favour of children doing a wide range of sports and avoiding specialising too early as he thinks this can inhibit their success. He also made the point that it is never too late to achieve goals in sport; it just gets harder!

Internal drives:
These are in his opinion vital for success.

• an inner voice
• personal high standards
• internal motivation
• self respect

Domino effect:

'Stacking your dominoes' to ensure that you achieve your goal: the power of cumulative effect.

• decisiveness, focus, and not wasting energy on the unimportant.
• multi-tasking limits achievement so be very selective when using it!
• Discipline: build up powerful habits one at a time, giving each habit enough time to become established into your routine. This will release energy for the next goal.
• Don't spread your willpower too thin.
• Monitor your fuel gauge.
• Time your task.

Professionalism:

• respect but explore conventions; don't be inhibited by them.
• soak up the 10% of knowledge everyone can offer you.
• be clear: clarify your position and abide by it - for instance, whether you are leading or following in a situation.
• Prioritise and delegate: teamwork requires integration and communication as well as respect.
• Consistency, commitment, improvement and training.
• In order to facilitate change, gather the specific information required; develop your own tools to do this if needed to make more accurate.
• Have a plan!

Hope you find this summary of interest. Neil is an excellent speaker and accompanied the above with entertaining and relevant examples which I won't try to repeat.

ISRM conference

This Friday (7/11/14) I will be heading down to London to attend a conference. This means I will not be available for appointments, but I will be back at work by the Monday afternoon.

I'm very much looking forward to the conference; Mel Cash and co have organised some fantastic speakers and I will be attending these workshops:

• anatomy trains and movement assessment
• active fascial release
• clinical application of movement control.

I'm sure that I will return energised and inspired, having acquired new knowledge, understanding and skills!

Nine Edges

I hope everyone running or walking the Nine Edges today has a fantastic event! I decided to pull out on Thursday due to a minor injury, but I'll be supporting my brother as he runs the edges for the first time.

Useful advice for runners (and others) nursing injuries....

I rarely follow my own advice; this means that I often have first hand experience of what my injured clients are going through.... I've had achilles tendinopathy through changing my training too rapidly and then ignoring the warning signs (pain that continues after rest and on activities other than running); sciatica through failing to keep up my hip abductor and calf strength, and I'm currently nursing forefoot pain caused by failing to notice that my footwear had worn out. A lovely mix of extrinsic and intrinsic factors! Extrinsic factors - for instance when and where you run, your footwear, your training schedule - are often easier to fix than intrinsic ones that relate to your body itself; this is where seeing a health professional, remedial personal trainer or running coach can be of great help in identifying issues and offering advice and exercises. 

When I was 10 my mother took me to a podiatrist to discuss my pronounced ankle pronation that was breaking my shoes within a few months of wear. He recommended expensive shoe alterations to support my ankle; I asked if I could do that myself using the muscles and he agreed that I probably could. I figured out some exercises for myself and 32 years later I now wear out the soles of my shoes long before the heel keels over. Of course I had to take care in the initial years whilst building up my ankle strength, giving it suitable support during activities that put a lot of strain through it, and I was helped by starting young and having strong intrinsic foot muscles from wandering around barefoot. I do still have that over pronation, just in a milder form; I should therefore still be stretching the resulting tight muscles and continuing with my strength and balance training regime. Yes, indeed I should.....

As I've mentioned before, I find The Running Physio's site full of useful advice. He links to other helpful sites, and includes articles by other specialists. Here are two useful articles from his archive:

How to decide whether you should run:
http://www.running-physio.com/runornot/

Helpful tips to avoid injury:
http://www.running-physio.com/trainerror/

Many of these tips will apply to sports other than running!
Tom also points out that these are generic tips; if your problem continues, then do seek specific advice for you. 

I also found this site:
http://thewalledcitymarathon.com/injury-clinic/prevention-of-running-injuries
which has some useful information on running related injuries.

July discount

It's summertime, and to celebrate I'm offering a 15% discount on one hour treatments during July this year; that brings the price down to £30. To book an appointment, contact the 919 Clinic on 0114 250 1164

Please note that the discount only applies to appointments attended during July, and does not apply to the 30 and 45 minute appointments.

Dandelion Days....

This is a great time of year for making herbal remedies. I am collecting and drying the calendula flowers from my garden to use in my popular ointment, and the elderflowers from the local woods (following the wild gathering rules of only taking a small amount from different areas) to make a tincture and cordial with. There are many other useful plants coming up for harvest, and where better to learn about them then on a weekend break with experienced herbalists!

Many of the Sheffield herbalists will be participating in Dandelion Days:
http://www.dandeliondays.co.uk/
8th-10th August at Unstone Grange. 

There will be workshops, talks and walks to help you identify useful plants and learn about their uses, and much more besides - including a workshop on barefoot running style followed by a short run! Tickets are on sale now. The event is child friendly, with many fun activities for them to participate in.

Clinic dates

I will be away from the 919 Clinic from 26th-30th May. I will be back at work again in June as normal.

Please note that I am no longer working at the Greenhill Physio Clinic.