Your Moral Leader

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Running Without Injury

I used to have a horrible running style. I'd land heavy on my heal with each step, jarring my whole body. By age 12, I had bad knee problems and had to quit jogging.

Susanah Baker writes:

For those of you who have been following the barefoot and minimalist shoes debate, the recently published research by theHarvard ‘barefoot’ team led by Daniel Lieberman adds weight to the argument that what matters most in preventing injury is how you are running rather than what if anything you are wearing on your feet.

In their latest published research Foot Strike and Injury Rates in Endurance Runners: a retrospective study the team from Harvard did a retrospective study to test whether runners who habitually forefoot strike have different rates of injury than runners who habitually rearfoot strike. They concluded that runners who habitually rearfoot strike have significantly higher rates of repetitive stress injury than those who mostly forefoot strike. But they also found that some runners were fine with a rearfoot strike, while others were injured with a forefoot strike. The team “predict that these runners have better form than those who do get injured: they probably land with less overstride and more compliant limbs that generate less severe impact loading (…). These predictions are supported by several recent studies, and they emphasize the hypothesis that running style is probably a more important determinant of injury than footwear (with the caveat that footwear probably influences one’s running style)”

This research certainly backs up much of the theory that Malcolm Balk aims to put into practice during his Art of Running workshops. Applying the principles of the Alexander Technique helps runners to achieve the ease and efficiency of movement needed to prevent injury.

There certainly seems to be a good case for using barefoot running or minimalist shoes as a way of improving one’s running style and to overcome nagging injuries which can often be caused by a heavy heel strike action. But looking to these as a panacea is not the best way forward. Instead the focus should be on running form.

Latest Mortgage - Real Estate News

February 6, 2012

February 1, 2012

January 31, 2012

January 30, 2012

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Back Pain Solutions

Dr Loren Fishman is the Medical Director of Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York City and the Author, 'Cure Back Pain with Yoga'.

She writes in the Huffington Post:

The Alexander technique, developed more than 100 years ago by Frederick Alexander, helps students become aware of and stop habits and muscle use that may be contributing to pain. Mild, hands-on work and instruction for postural improvement teaches students techniques for sitting, walking, standing and many other activities of daily living. Students who praise Alexander technique sometimes tell me they feel it has "lengthened" them or "created more space" in their spines. Some believe that the Alexander technique works through release of tension, decompression of the spine, more balanced muscle activity and improved flexibility.

In a study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers discovered that patients who had 24 Alexander technique lessons during a year experienced just three days of discomfort due to back pain, compared to 21 painful days for those receiving conventional medical care. A short course of six Alexander technique lessons (plus exercise) had a better result than either massage or conventional medical care.

PAIGE MCKINNEY COMMENTS: The article offers a good description of the Technique, and a link to an excellent2009 NY Times interview with Paul Little, lead author of the BMJ back pain study. Because the author of the Huffington Post article suggests a mix-and-match approach to “alternative therapies,” I feel compelled to report that from my own experience with back pain, mixing and matching never helped. In fact, it was only when I decreased the number of approaches to dealing with pain that I found relief. Sometimes less is more.

Dr. Fishman writes:

Spondylolisthesis: In Greek: 'listhesis' means slipping. In your back, one vertebra slides out of alignment. It usually slips forward, but sometimes back or to one side or the other. It's a radiological diagnosis, and state-of-the-art EMG techniques can determine if that's your problem. PT to strengthen abdominal muscles (front back and sides) and possibly an abdominal binder are good treatments, but some yoga also helps, as does Alexander Technique, which can work wonders with posture.

Spinal Stenosis: This is where the canal inside the spine gets too narrow, compressing nerves. You may need an MRI to be sure of the diagnosis. Posture is the best conservative solution -- Alexander Technique is probably the single best treatment, though PT is helpful too. Stenosis may worsen inexorably over time, and then it's one condition where surgery may be the best option.

Bradying - The New Internet Meme

It's impossible to really feel down unless you physically compress. If you allow your head to retreat into your torso and your back to collapse in, then you can truly access despair.

If you stay tall and poised, it's impossible to feel despair.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – You know you’re having a bad week when:

After being hailed as perhaps the greatest quarterback of the current era, you get your team all the way to the Super Bowl only to ultimately fall short on a desperation Hail Mary throw in the last play of the game.
After losing the game, your gorgeous, gazillionaire, super model wife throws the rest of your team under the bus for the loss.
The picture of you sitting with your hands between your legs, humbled after the epic loss, becomes a web meme mocking your sorrow.

Let’s face it: It has not been a good week for Tom Brady. And while many New Yorkers will likely mutter “Good” when thinking about that, it seems like the hits are just going to keep on coming for the superstar athlete.

“Bradying” seems to be the latest meme to hit the internet. While “Bradying,” a subject is shown sitting on the floor, legs stretched out, with their hands folded between their legs. The head is bowed.

Banks To Pay $72 Billion Price For Shoddy Mortgages

February 6, 2012

February 1, 2012

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Housing Market Doldrums Despite Record Low Mortgage Interest Rates

Karen Triggiani emails me these links about mortgages, real estate and the housing market:

February 1, 2012

January 31, 2012

January 30, 2012

January 28, 2012

January 25, 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Rejecting The Extreme Orthodox Position On Bugs

Dr. Marc B. Shapiro blogs:

See Eitam Henkin’s post here. For another post by Henkin on this book, see here. English readers are probably unaware of Henkin, the son of R. Yehudah Herzl Henkin. In the last few years he has really created a reputation for himself as he has authored a number of important articles which show an incredible amount of knowledge on the history of Torah Judaism in modern times. He has also published a sefer, available here, which deals with the halakhot of bugs in food. Unlike the rage today, he rejects the extreme positions, one of which is that due to bug infestation, strawberries are no longer permitted to be eaten. See e.g., here.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Live In Response, Not In Reaction

Alexander Technique lessons helped me to:

* Feel great, more energetic, and more calm
* Let go of unnecessary tension, back and neck pain, and Carpal Tunnel problems
* Overcome Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
* Beat plantar fascitis
* Move more easily and exercise without injury
* Project my voice without strain
* Be less compulsive and more patient

Hello, my name is Luke Ford. I studied daily for three years at the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles to help myself and others to lead a better life. Just as the way you drive your car affects the way it functions, so too the way you drive yourself affects the way you function.

Alexander Technique is a way of noticing how you respond to stimuli and how you can let go of those responses that don't serve you. For instance, most people respond to stimuli by compression. Whether they are lifting a bowl of soup, talking to the boss, or getting in and out of a chair, they tend to scrunch. They feel like if they can just make themselves smaller, other people will hurt them less. But that doesn't work. We can compress ourselves and other people are no more gentle with us. By contrast, when we learn to expand into activity by letting go of our interfering tension patterns, we think and feel more clearly and move more gracefully and our friends and co-workers are relieved to be around somebody who's tranquil and poised. Life is hard, but we can learn to be gentle with ourselves while simultaneously meeting our responsibilities with ease and joy.

When most people age, they get caught in a tightening strait-jacket of their own habits until the tasks of daily life like driving, reaching into a refrigerator, or working at a computer become difficult. This is not necessary but it has become the default trajectory for Westerners. When I see friends click a mouse or lift a beer or project their voice across a room, I notice that most of them tighten up and pull down and in on themselves in these simple acts, thus setting the stage for pain and poor performance.

It doesn't have to be this way. Most people can learn the basics of Alexander Technique within a few lessons and begin to notice and to let go of destructive habits of needless tension.
I charge $100 for a 45-minute lesson (bring a friend or five friends to the lesson, the same price holds). With package deals, the price can go down to $50 per lesson.

Luke Ford 264 S. La Cienega Blvd. #1417 BH, CA 90211 E-mail: lukeisback@gmail.com Phone: 323-528-5814