My own testimonial: Prior to my Ultra Running career I was injured any time I tried to exceed 25 miles a week. That was my upper limit. And it wasn’t until I received instruction on how to use my body when running did I start to enjoy the ability to run more and not be plagued by injury and layoffs and the disappointment that accompanied these. The idea of “how to use my body” was unique when I first heard about it in conjunction with Running Form improvement. Now having studied the body and worked as a Physical Therapist for thirty years, and having myself been coached from the perspective of “learning and improving” in form, endurance and performance, I have gained a personal and professional appreciation of the “How” we learn to improve our movement skills. I bring this understanding into all my work with Runners, Running Form and Technique.

Running From the Core

This is perhaps the most important skill to learn and also the least understood in terms of implementation. How this is generally approached is to strengthen muscles associated with the lower abdominal and pelvic region of the body. Lots of planks, squats, and a variety of other methods of muscle strengthening. Then when we go to run we might study a little about foot-strike, and stride mechanics and hope for the best.

What isn’t addressed and understood by this model is how “do we learn to direct ourselves” so that our body works harmoniously, all parts contributing their necessary effort to the “whole running body”, with no extra effort. Nothing blocked, rigid, or turned off.

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March 24, 2020

With the deep understanding of the critical role running (and other forms of aerobic exercise) plays along with diet and mental attitude in the health of our immune system I have decided to continue my work with clients, at least for the time being.

The work that I do – while it can include hands-on involvement – it doesn’t have to, and most of my work is not hands on. My work involves

1. Recognizing patterns of movement that are contributing to a runners pain and injury issues, and
2. Teaching body awareness skills and movement skills while running to correct the faulty patterns. This involves demonstration, verbal cueing, and visual reinforcement through the use of video.

Therefore it is possible to adhere to the “social distancing guidelines” while helping runners to overcome injury issues and give training guidelines if applicable.

Along with that I suggest if you are feeling at all ill or under the weather to postpone your session until a time when you are feeling better.

An alternative option is to start with Skype sessions and continue in person when possible.

Thanks for your support in this,
Douglas Wisoff, PT

 

 A Brief Survey of the Territory

Running is a key that generates a variety of experiences and joys for a large number of people world wide, hence the astronomical increase in citizen participation in road races of every distance. This blog and ones that follow will address the topic of “Runners High”, why such a thing exists, how might we cultivate it, learn from it, and weave its lessons into the fabric of our lives?

We have evolved into a species that has all the anatomy and physiology in place to excel in endurance athletics, especially running. We also have developed emotionally and mentally over time, giving us the capacity for a psychic/mystical orientation towards experience. Blend these two qualities, the endurance and mystical capacities, and a very luring hybrid emerges, commonly known as the Runner’s High.

It is likely that the sense of bodily strength, lightness, and the fluid ease of movement that accompanies transcendent running experiences developed first for our nomadic ancestors. As we climbed the evolutionary ladder, our consciousness expanded from mere survival to creativity and influence on our environment, and the mystical aspects of higher emotional and mental functions developed.  Continue Reading »

Truly we feel best when we feel a unity of purpose in our activities. This is not different with running. We feel like we are clicking. Many times I’ve heard a runner say, “it turned over” or “I got in a groove” or “everything felt connected”. These experience are associated with a runners high. We have gone from our day job to the road for an end of day run and boom. Perhaps in some way our day didn’t fulfill some, perhaps vague, deeper need. Our run has transformed us and we go into evening feeling refreshed, relaxed, renewed, cohered, and unified. The simple act of running has delivered a gift. It wasn’t mental, it wasn’t practical, it wasn’t expected, it just was. We deferred to our body, which in its primary motions has a unity of purpose and action. Even when our bodies have been held in questionable, static, and unnatural positions for a number of hours, it bounces back. We feel looser, lighter, more fluid, all of which have a vitalizing and rejuvenating effect on our spirit.Continue Reading »

What to do if you hear your Glutes quoting Shakespeare…..”To be or ….?”. Well, don’t freak out!

It is well documented that the Gluteus Maximus (Glutes) play a huge role in running. They couple with the Lats in the posterior chain to drive propulsion. They couple with the hamstrings in terminal swing to decelerate the leg and bring it down powerfully to an underbody ground contact. They help stabilize the pelvis in side to side movement. In theory they developed to their modern size and power so that early forms of “us” could run long distances. “The Gluteus Maximus, whose increased size is among the most distinctive of all human features, is strongly recruited in running at all speeds…..”[1] They also look good, right?Continue Reading »