Flex that Foot!

"They love me. They love me not. They love me. They love me not." That's the relationship many runners have with their feet and ankles. If you're a runner and if you're a runner getting in lots of miles, you're probably thinking you're a pretty healthy individual. You're probably right. Aerobically, you're fit as a fiddle. Muscular, tendon, ligament, and joint-wise "healthy" might be questionable, particularly in the feet and ankles.

Running is great. Been doing it for over 25 years. Swimming is great too. So is Cycling. The only thing with these three sports is their linear nature. You're moving forward. Constantly. Mile after mile.

That forward movement is in the sagittal plane of movement. That's what a runner, swimmer, and cyclist needs, right? Yes, you definitely need your quads, hamstrings, calves, and hip flexors in the lower body to help with the forward movement, no question. The problem is what happens when you step out of the plane of motion.

Ever jump over a pot hole? Step off of a curb? Dart out of the way of a ball, kid, or dog unexpectedly crossing your path while on your run?  When trail running, ever dodge trees, roots, fallen debris, rocks, washouts?  Ever roll your foot when making these movements?

When you step to the side laterally, then you've suddenly moved from the sagittal plane of forward movement to the frontal plan (lateral or side-to-side movement). If you've rotated your foot, leg, or torso, internally or externally, you've then moved your body into the transverse plane of motion.

The other day while running with my Intermediate Running Group at Volvo Trucks North America, the toe of my shoe snagged a divot in the pavement. I tripped, stumbled, then veered off the sidewalk which dropped down into about an inch or so of leaves, twigs and other tree debris. In a split second, I went from the sagittal plan to the frontal plan and into the transverse plane all at once. Amazingly, I was able to regain my balance, steer my feet back out of the debris and onto the sidewalk. There were some older ladies walking nearby that actually clapped when I successfully made my way back to the sidewalk without falling.

How did I do that? Well, a couple of reasons. God was probably with me. In addition to the spirits watching over me, I've become much more in-tune with my body. So, instead of my brain going, "OMG! I'm going to fall! Crap, this is going to hurt!" it said, "Okay, I'm falling, come on muscles pull me out of this."

The mind-muscle connection or lack there of plays a big part in the prevention of a fall or the severity of a fall. If the stabilizer muscles in the lower leg and feet (the little muscles that aid with balance, rotational movement, and lateral movement) are accustomed to being used, then, when you find yourself in a sticky situation (such as tripping and/or falling) they'll be more apt to come to your rescue instead of saying, "Huh? You want me to do what?" Even if you do ultimately fall, the recruitment of your stabilizer muscles will help the fall be less severe.

So how do you wake up these muscles? Use them! In your weekly workouts, take some time to focus on a few ankle exercises. These can be very simple and use just body weight or simple exercise equipment like resistance bands or tubes. One really easy exercise is standing on one leg. Yep, that's it. When you stand on one leg, you recruit a multitude of stabilizer muscles to help maintain your balance. So, next time you're waiting in line at the post office, grocery store or movie theater, pull up one leg and balance on the other. Just be sure not to always stand on the same leg. Give both legs equal attention.

Writing the ABCs with your toes is another easy exercise. Sit in a chair. Lift one leg and use the lifted foot to write each letter of the alphabet with your toes. When doing so, you'll be moving your foot up, down, left, right, front and back hitting all planes of motion and recruiting the stabilizer muscles in the lower part of the leg and around the ankle and in the foot. Stand to make the exercise more difficult. You'll recruit stabilizer muscles in the standing leg to help maintain your balance while you're working the muscles around the ankle and in the foot of the foot that's writing the ABCs. Check out the video below for more simple ankle exercises.


I've also discovered a cool new product, the AFX Ankle Foot Maximizer, that's great for working the muscles in the lower leg, around the ankle, and in the foot. Did you know you have more than 20 muscle in your foot! AFX is a strengthening system that enables you to strengthen all of those muscles and the ankle complex.

The thing I like the most about AFX is that it's one piece of equipment. No need to gather the towel, bands, or tubes. It also provides a wide range of resistance to meet everyone's needs. The odd looking contraption looks like it would be hard to use, but it's not. In just a couple of minutes out of the box, I was using it with ease.

With the AFX you're able to do plantar flexion, toe flexion, dorsiflexion, foot/ankle eversion, foot/ankle inversion as well as stretches.

Check out the AFX video below to learn more about it. 

Fitness on the Road

RunnerDude's Travel Workout Kit

One of the challenges that many of my clients face is work related travel interfering with their workout routines. Sometimes a hotel will have a great fitness center or provide access to a local gym, but more than not, there is either no fitness center or what's there is comprised of a treadmill and some dumbbells.

Several clients have asked me to create a travel workout plan that they can use on the road. Initially, I created full-body circuit workouts that contained exercises using only body weight, not knowing what, if any, equipment they'd have available to them.

Just recently, I put together a workout for a client (Marie) who is an international flight attendant. Her workout incorporated body weight exercises and some using a resistance band. When other traveling clients found out about Marie's plan, they too wanted a plan to take on the road.

My answer to this need is RunnerDude's Travel Workout Kit. The 10-exercise circuit workout hits upper-body, core, and lower-body and includes three resistance exercise bands (light, medium, heavy).The circuit design let's you get in a great workout without taking up a lot of your time. The great thing is you can just toss it in your suitcase. No need to pack awkward or heavy equipment. It's also great to keep at home when you're just not able to make it to the gym.

The Travel Workout Kit includes

• 10-Exercise Full-Body Workout (printed on a heavy-duty laminated card for long lasting durability)
• Pre and Post Workout Stretching(printed on a heavy-duty laminated card for long lasting durability)
• 3 Exercise Bands (light, medium, heavy)
• RunnerDude's ABCs of Fitness
• Information on Exercise and Aging
• All packaged in a plastic zippered pouch perfect for tossing in a suit case.

To learn more about or to order the Travel Workout Kit [click here]. While you're there, be sure to check out the Beginning Running and Fitness Walking Kits as well as the GYMBOSS interval timer (perfect for the beginning runner and/or for circuit training).

Ankle Strengthening Workout for Runners

A sprained ankle is no fun for anyone, but especially a runner. Sprains usually take a while to heal and runners just don't like staying away from the run that long.
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A sprained ankle usually coincides with a sudden sideways or twisting movement of the foot. Often sprained ankles are associated with sporting events, but they all too frequently occur during everyday activities. We're all just an awkward step or an uneven surface away from a Sprain.

Did you know there's a rating scale for the severity of ankle sprains? The scale is based on the types of symptoms you're experiencing and the severity of the injury to the ligament in the ankle.

• Grade 1 Ankle Sprain: This basic type of sprain stretches the ligament beyond it's normal state. The symptoms tend to be limited to pain and swelling. You can usually walk without assistance, but running or jumping may be difficult.
• Grade 2 Ankle Sprain: This sprain is caused by more severe partial tearing of the ligament. The swelling and bruising is typically worse than that of a Grade 1 Sprain. You may be able to walk a few steps unassisted, but it's pretty painful.
• Grade 3 Ankle Sprain: This sprain occurs when there's complete tearing of the ligaments. The ankle is very painful and walking is usually very difficult. Your ankle feels very unstable as if it may "give-way."

A Grade 1 Sprain, will usually subside and heal with RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), but if you exhibit the following symptoms, a trip to the doc it probably warranted.
· Not able to walk on your ankle
· Severe swelling
· Symptoms linger beyond a couple of days
· Experiencing pain in other areas than the ankle such as the foot or above the ankle

Sometimes the symptoms of a Grade 3 Ankle Sprain and those of an ankle fracture can be hard to tell apart without an X-ray, so when in doubt, see your doc.

So, what's a runner to do? Well, the best case scenario is to avoid ankle sprains all together and the best way to do that is to strengthen your ankles. The following video clip will take you through four simple exercises using an exercise resistance band that will help you strengthen all the small stabilizer muscles around the ankle area. The exercises will also help promote more flexibility in your ankles. Think of these exercises as "Pre-hab" to help prevent injury and avoid having to to "Re-hab" exercises.