Welcome
At San Francisco Sport and Spine Physical Therapy we listen to you. We use no aides or assistants, so you work only with licensed physical therapists who help you recover and meet your goals.
We evaluate you and your problem, and plan your treatment together with you.
Patients are seen one-at-a-time, and on time.
Whether you want to return to sports, work, running, skiing, cycling, dancing, lifting your child, climbing your stairs or simply bending over without pain, we can help!
Call 415.593.2532
How To Avoid a Rut in Your Running Program
Kim Parker, physical therapist, suggests a few simple steps to help prevent injuries and make good progress with Spring running programs, including warm up, pacing, strengthening, and selecting the right shoes.
Spring is here. The weather is warmer. The days are longer. Time to throw on those running shoes and hit the trail! Unfortunately many of us restart our workout routine to find that some of those aches and pains and feelings of discomfort that we had in the fall are back! What should you do?
Try the following tips on restarting your running program to improve your efficiency and get ready for that race, or just enjoy yourself and prevent injury.
First: Warm-up and stay hydrated. Drinking enough water before hand, and a warming up with a five minute jog and some gentle stretching of the key muscle groups (quads, hamstrings, calves, gluteals, and hip flexors) can go a long way toward preventing some needless injury.
Second: Ease back into your routine. Remember to pace yourself and ramp up mileage and pace as appropriate over time. If you've taken the winter off, start out with about half of the mileage you were doing when you left off. Increase by 10-20% at a time until you feel you are getting a good workout, or notice some muscle soreness the day afterward. Stay at that level until any soreness is gone, and then resume you increase. Too much too soon can lead to injury.
Third: Strengthen key muscle groups. Your gluts and your lower abdominals are the key muscles to keeping a stable core, which is critical for efficient running. Squats are a good exercise for gluts and quads. And while crunches may seem like the most direct way to strengthening your abdominals, that's not the way we use those muscles while running. Try isometric strength training for your abs by lying on your back and lifting one leg at a time, keeping your abs on and your core very still.
Fourth: Cool down. This is just as important as the warm up. Finish your run with a few minutes of light jogging or walking to slow down your heart rate. And then take a few minutes to stretch all those muscles that just worked so hard.
Fifth: Do your shoe homework. Remember, oftentimes shoe manufacturers change something about that favorite shoe of yours, and suddenly it doesn't fit quite right. Try them on before you buy the same style of shoe. Ask your shoe salesman what changes were made in the current model. Check with your physical therapist or podiatrist to ensure that shoe is the right fit for your foot. For more information on shoe selection, go to Dr. Jenny Sanders' blog at www.drshoe.wordpress.com.
Sixth: Don't ignore pain. If something hurts and isn't going away don't continue to run through it. We all tend to do it, but in the end if the problem worsens, that means more time off from running. See your doctor or physical therapist, or contact us at San Francisco Sport and Spine Physical Therapy. We'll help you figure out what steps would be best for you to get back to running.
Finally: Attend the Running Clinic on April 30. Location and more information is available here: Running Clinic
Happy Running!
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