The Fitness Guru

The Los Angeles Times ran a story yesterday about all the fancy, expensive equipment you can buy if you are suffering from running-induced knee problems.

It reminds me of a joke:

Guy walks into the doctor’s office and says “Doc, I don’t know what to do. It hurts so much when I do this.” Doctor wrinkles his brow, contemplates for a moment then says “Don’t do that.”

Sure, if you have anywhere from $3000 to $30,000 that you would like to part with in order to avoid pain, go ahead and buy yourself the AlterG Anti-Gravity M320 Treadmill. I’d like to think there is a better way.

Pain is the body’s way of saying that your mechanics are slightly off. Sometimes the pain is a result of muscle overload: I went rock climbing for the first time yesterday and today I feel that overload– more on that later in the week. Sometimes the pain is simply a result of poor technique and alignment.

The knee is a hinge joint. It allows the lower leg to swing forward and back from the thigh. But, as a hinge, any additional movement in other directions cause friction. Ever tried to hang a door in a frame all by yourself? I did. Once. Boy, what a mess! You have to hang it just so or the hinges don’t work properly and the door won’t open or close the way it is supposed to ( the lesson, my friends: always buy your doors pre-hung). So much of the way we run is based on the quadriceps muscles, the big muscles right on the fronts of your thighs. All that work from those big muscle draws the tracking of your hinge slightly out of alignment. The result: friction, wear and tear, and possible injury to the ligaments that help hold the knee together, including the ever popular ACL, Anterior Cruciate Ligament.

Doctors and shoes companies will try to convince you that you need shots and lifts and insoles and the special new double action insulated poly-pneumonic running sole that mimics the running position of a gazelle…….whatever.

I’m no doctor. So I am allowed to think outside the box. You need balance. You need to build your inner thigh muscles and your hamstrings, the muscles along the backs of the thigh, so that all the muscles around this injury-prone hinge joint are in balance. That relieves the tension and friction.

On top of that, there is a relatively new trend in barefoot running. I am not totally sold that this is right for everyone, but the argument is a good: all these new fangled shoes have served to weaken our feet and our natural inclination to run in a healthy manner. We are constantly trying to prop up our bad habits. I just finished a fascinating book, Born To Run by Christopher McDougall (I’m not going Oprah on you, but definitely a good summer read), that tells a great story about the history of barefoot running and a tribe in Mexico that practices it as a way of life. Not a whole lot of knee injuries there so maybe, just maybe, they are doing something right?

And I am fascinated by the new running shoes that…..well….that aren’t really shoes, there like slip covers. I’m going to try out a pair of the Vibram FiveFingers just to experiment on myself now that the weather is nice.

I usually run in the Nike Pegasus, a great shoe, but, as my friend Lee at JackRabbit Sports pointed out to me, Nike keeps redesigning the damn thing in an effort to re-invent the wheel and create more product. Very, very frustrating! (Author’s note: if you aren’t quite ready for the barefoot approach, get yourself to a quality shoe store like JackRabbit where they can take a look at how you run and set you up with the shoe that is best for you!)

So, as you are figuring out what to do in the midst of all this information, check out this quick video on some exercises you can do at home to help balance out that knee joint, avoid pain and injury, and make this the greatest running season you have ever had!

Rock on!

As a parent, I want what’s best for my kids. And I am pretty sure that almost all parents would agree with me. The idea of our children becoming unhealthy is, at best, terrifying. But, as the percentage of children battling weight-related problems continues to increase, weight itself is a harbinger of problems that can occur later in life. And, according to new studies and reported in the LA Times, major factors in children’s weight-related issues may be in place prior to birth.

According to a study from 2008 published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the odds of a 7-year old being overweight were 48% higher if his or her mother exceeded recommended weight gain guidelines during pregnancy. Another more recent study found that obesity risks rose with a weight to length ratio in the first year of life: if a child was in the 75% for length but 95% for weight, the risks for later weight-related problems increased. The  reasoning is that as the brain is developing, it may be programmed to expect more food in order to feel sated. And the study team found that obese children as young as three had higher levels of a protein marker for the inflammation that leads to heart disease.

We have many women pass through the Guru during pregnancy. Without question, they take the idea of health and nutrition very seriously and, with the help of their doctors, seek to maintain balance in their food choices. Yet there is always temptation and many women might choose to go crazy with “cravings”, reaching for the Snickers bar instead of a piece of fruit.

This pic has been photoshopped for dramatic effect. Don't bother sending me evil notes

I recall about ten years ago, I had a wonderful woman, then in her 70′s, who used to come to my aerobics classes. Blanche. Blanche would casually regail us with stories of the three children she had and her wonderful pregnancies. She was able to keep her weight down by using speed. Hey, she would say, it worked, and the kids were alright. This was the same period that expectant moms could also be found lighting up their ciggies if they were stressed out. It took a little time, but both speed and tobacco fell out of favor with expectant mothers.

I hope that the new trend will be the development of healthy eating habits, throughout pregnancy and infancy, allowing kids the opportunity to start off on the right foot.

Here’s the latest from the week that was. All things considered, pretty busy week. So grab a cup of coffee, kick back, and give a read…..

Junk food may make you depressed (though “Twinkie” is still a funny word- heh heh)

All this “lack of fitness” is starting to effect the military!

The good news: obesity rates aren’t rising. The bad news: it’s because most of us are already fat.

Watching TV will shorten your lifespan.

As you kick back with your cup of coffe this morning, check out some of these top stories from the week in health and fitness.

Tiny tattoos could help diabetics ditch needles-Scientists are starting to test a kind of high-tech tattoo that changes color with rising blood sugar levels

Buying Cigarettes and Stop-Smoking Aids from the Same Company?- Conflict of interest? Ponzi scheme? What are they up to?

The Best Exercises for Healthy Bones- Where do cycling and running rank?

Would you drink Coke or Pepsi for breakfast?- It’s hard to believe but maybe that glass of juice for breakfast isn’t all that great for you…..

Should Parents of Obese Kids Lose Custody?- Is it reasonable to remove children from parents’ care if the paretns can’t help them maintain reasonable and healthy weight goals?