Tweak to Improve Your Walking and Running

Springtime is here, or should be, and this is the time when many of us try to increase our walking and running mileage.  Some good Applied Functional Science (AFS) flexibility, mobility, and strength exercises can help you walk/run better, and prevent injuries.

A transformational zone is an important position for a particular activity.  Examples of common transformational zones are the backswing a follow through positions for golf or hitting a baseball, or the wind up and follow through of throwing a baseball.  The main transformational zones for walking and running are standing with your right foot forward with your left arm and torso rotating to the right, and standing with your left foot forward and right arm and torso rotating to the left.

A great AFS strategy to improve sports or activities is to position yourself in the transformational zones, and then drive or move your hips/pelvis and arms in all three planes of motion.  The three planes of motion are sagittal (forward/backward), frontal (left/right), and transverse (rotating left/right).  A great warm up and cool down before you walk or run would be to stand staggered left then right and drive your pelvis/hips and then your arms forward/back, left/right, then rotate left/right.

Another AFS strategy that could help your walking or running is tweaking.  Tweaking is changing a movement, activity, or load, to change the body's responses.  Walking and running can be very repetitive and overwork certain areas.  Walking or running tweaks can help you stay loose and help you walk/run farther with less wear and tear.  Walking and running tweaks help "get more friends working together".  They help wake up the muscles, proprioceptors (body sensors), and joints in all three planes of motion.

Next time you are out walking or running try to mix in some tweaks once in a while.  A good time to tweak is if you are feeling tight or tired.  Try a few long strides, then short choppy strides, try high steps, try wide steps, try narrow steps, try toeing in, try toeing out, try turning your torso left/right while still walking/running, try exaggerating your arm swing forward/backward, left/right, and rotating left/right.  Have some fun, and keep moving.  Let us know if you have any questions, and we'd love to here your feedback on your walking/running tweaks.

ASTYM

What's the Treatment Like?

Be an active participant in your recovery!

The problem starts with scarring or degeneration: Stubborn soft tissue injuries result when inappropriate healing occurs in muscles, tendons or ligaments.

Scar tissue can be part of your body’s normal healing process, but sometimes the scarring gets out of control. In these cases, scar tissue becomes disorganized and crazy-it looks like steel wool. Healthy tissue lies down in nice, tidy organized lines. Scar tissue can restrict the natural movement of soft tissue, and those restrictions can cause pain.

Degenerative tendons are simply not producing enough healthy cells and collagen (the stuff that gives tendons their strength.) A degenerative tendon is unhealthy, has poor blood flow and is prone to weakness and injury.

The ASTYM system works to heal both the problem of scar (inappropriate healing) and degeneration (lack of proper healing.)

Jump-start the healing process!

ASTYM treatment initiates the natural healing response of the body by gently disrupting abnormal soft tissue. The body sends new collagen to the area being treated, replacing dysfunctional tissue with healthy tissue. Here's how it works:

First they stimulate: An ASTYM-certified therapist follows specific treatment parameters to initiate the healing process. She or he will run instruments firmly along your skin, following the direction of the muscle, tendon or ligament. You will feel bumps as the instrument moves along your skin. These bumps are the defective soft tissue. The first couple of treatments can be uncomfortable-but stick with it. As your body heals, those bumps will decrease and the area around your old injury will smooth out nicely, indicating healing. There also may be some mild bruising in the area being treated, but don't worry! That is one indication that the body is hard at work, absorbing the old tissue and laying down healthy new tissue.

Then you stretch and strengthen: It's up to you to guide how your body heals. Your therapist will give you a customized stretching and strengthening program designed to encourage your body to heal correctly. Stretching tells the new fibers to line up properly, in nice parallel lines. Strengthening makes the fibers stronger, allowing your symptoms of pain and discomfort to go away.

And stay active: We've found that if you continue to work, play sports or do your favorite activities during your ASTYM treatment, the tissue remodeling will occur in a way that supports these activities. The great news is that the ASTYM treatment allows you to participate in these activities without the pain you previously felt. By remaining active during the ASTYM process, you will get even stronger in your old injured area.

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