Fitness Friday
Remember the Tootsie Pop commercial with the boy asking the owl, ‘how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?” and the final answer was, “the world may never know.”
That’s the same answer to my question,
what caused a stress reaction?
As much as I would have liked a definitive answer there just isn’t one. After I was diagnosed with a stress reaction in my left fibula, I was fully expecting a conversation about orthotic inserts and/or needing more supportive shoes, but, to my surprise, that conversation never happened. Instead we talked about how padding and overly supportive shoes, inserts and form were the biggest problems related to running injuries. Keep talking. I’m listening! Instead we talked about gait, form, cross training and muscle imbalance as possible causes of injury. We ruled out gait, form and training as much as realistically possible leaving muscle imbalance as a possible cause.
After several conversations with my doctor and physical therapist, my basic understanding is when your muscles become imbalanced, the stronger muscles overcompensate for the weaker ones. Because the weak muscles can’t match the strength and endurance of the stronger ones, they fatigue more easily and force the stronger muscles to work harder. Over time, the muscles begin to break down under the strain and injuries can occur. Unfortunately, a muscle imbalance is most often not identified until after an injury has occurred.
After a series of range of motion and strength tests with a physical therapist it was determined that a possible contributing factor of having a stress reaction was my left hip being noticeably tighter and less range of motion than my right hip. It seems like that has always been the case and it has been even more noticeable over the past year but I never really gave it much thought. Interestingly, an article published in the journal Sports Medicine showed that
an athlete is 2.6 times more likely to suffer an injury if an imbalance in hip flexibility of 15 percent or more existed.
What now? No, a muscle imbalance is not a definitive cause but it’s a good place to start. The way I see it, it can’t hurt to strengthen my hips right? I’ve added exercises and stretches to my weekly workouts that target hip strength and flexibility.
For more information on muscle imbalance:
http://philmaffetone.com/muscle-imbal
The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing by Dr. Philip Maffetone
Speaking of strength and flexibility. Tomorrow my daughter and I are joining Lululemon in The Great American Ball Park for #runomcincy! Can’t wait!
Do you remember the Tootsie Pop commercial? Have you ever had a running related injury? Have you ever practiced yoga in a ball stadium?
“Instead we talked about how padding and overly supportive shoes, inserts and form were the biggest problems related to running injuries.”
Boy I couldn’t agree more on that topic.
I think you are definitely doing the right thing by working on your leg and hip strength. As I have written before, running is good at utilizing many muscles and areas (like your glutes, obliques, rear delts, rhomboids etc.) but not very good at strengthening them. This strengthening has to be done outside of running. Many runners think running itself strengthens all of the muscles needed to stay a healthy runner, but for most all of us that just isn’t the case.
I’m glad it was just a reaction and not a fracture, and perhaps by going through this (and injuries are always hard to take) you will emerge a more powerful and more injury resistant athlete! Here is hoping : )
Chris
http://www.mavrocatstrength.com
Glad you are at least getting more possible answers. I have a chronic muscle imbalance in my legs that I am always working on!
#runomcincy sounds like so much fun! can’t wait to hear all about it!
Yes! I had a lot of issues with muscle imbalance and that is likely the cause of my hamstring injury. Working on strength to correct this has been a huge part of my rehab. Good luck Jill 🙂
Interesting…I haven’t heard of this before. It makes sense, though. I know my hips are weak. I feel them getting sore while running, and are very tight and sore after long runs, I’d be interested to hear what exercises/stretches you’re doing. Hope you continue to see recovery!
Hi Jill – it’s been a little while since I’ve stopped by your blog – I’m sorry to hear about your stress reaction! It sounds like you’ve found a good doctor who’s helping you get to the root of it, which is great. I hope things get better for you soon.
Most of my running injuries have been IT related – that is definitely my problem area. Right now I’m having a lot of shin pain and I’m hoping that maybe it’s appearing to be a bigger deal than it actually is because I’m two weeks out from Chicago and just panicking a bit. We shall see!
I’ve had one major running injury. It took me 4 months to fully recover from a hamstring injury!
I just went for a intense deep tissue massage yesterday…we worked on my calf muscles (Soleus (right leg) and Gastrocs (left leg)) . It was a painful but good! Did my calves lots of good!
Years ago, I had plantar fasciitis and I gave up on running. Lately, I’ve added running and walking on a treadmill but I’m taking no further than that. I don’t want that condition to come back.
The hips don’t lie! It’s amazing how many injuries, especially for female athletes, stem from the hips. I ended up with a nasty IT band injury several years ago, and it was so interesting to learn that it all came from my hips. One thing I love about swimming as a cross-training activity is the way it strengthens my hips for running.
Isn’t it frustrating how hard it can be to narrow down the causes? Muscle imbalance is huge… I am confident it was behind my knee pain many years ago- after adding in more quad strength exercises, the pain disappeared. Hope you can continue pain free running now!
Same thing I had (stress reaction in my left femoral neck) and my PT says it’s because my glute med is so weak. It’s all a learning process! Stay patient and compliant <3 My best!!!
My poor kid (14 years old) broke his foot … and when it FINALLY healed (very slow, over four months for the Jones Fracture) he broke his OTHER foot. The doctor really recommended working on balance (not muscle balance per say), saying that often better balance will prevent the foot from twisting, thus saving a possible break.
Basketball season has just started up … I watch his games with bated breath!
Have fun tomorrow! Sounds fun:)
Absolutely yes. I think that my recent slew of injuries have definitely been caused by muscle imbalances specifically with regard to my hips. That’s what my PT and I worked a lot on after knee surgery and I also know that I have imbalances in my feet/ankles that are causing my current pain. Thanks for the reminder that I need to continue to focus on this because I know that I have slacked off on my PT exercises lately. And yoga in a ball stadium? How fun! have a great time!
Are you from Cincy? That’s so close to me! I’m not use to coming across bloggers in my area!
When I had problems with my IT band, my physical therapist actually told me is was probably because I had weak glute muscles. His description was that because the glutes are such a big muscle, if they are weak you will not notice but other smaller muscles and ligaments around that glute overcompensate for the weakness of the it. Never thought about it like that but since then I started incorporating more squats and lunges into my gym routine.
Great doctor! Most of my clients have doctors who would rather give them the inserts.
I definitely would agree in my case. I never received rehab after spraining my ankle in January (which makes a sprain more likely to happen again). I think my right ankle ended up injured because it was compensating for the weaker left ankle.
Thank God for physical therapy! I still have a ways to go to get my full strength back, but I’m doing a much better job of taking care of everything. I also learned how to shorten my stride which was too long. I feel much better when I run now.
This is really interesting. I am having IT band problems, and I wonder all the time what in the world I did to cause it. It sounds like your doctor and PT have given you a better experience than I have had. I can definitely see what you’re saying about weaker muscles trying to compensate for stronger ones, because when I first got injured, I was still running at full capacity, and it felt like everything ELSE hurt (especially my achilles) because I was using those muscles double time to take some of the pressure off of my knee.
Moral of the story is I hate injuries.
Amy, I saw your commend and while I am not saying this is case, check my comment below. When I had IT band problems one of the things my PT pointed out was that I had weak glute muscles. His description was that because the glutes are such a big muscle, if they are weak you will not notice but other smaller muscles and ligaments around that glute overcompensate for the weakness of the it. Never thought about it like that but since then I started incorporating more squats and lunges into my gym routine.
I’m a believer! My injury stems from my weak hip…I got the proof yesterday during a video biomechanics analysis. Definitely could see my muscle imbalances then!
Oh I absolutely believe that imbalances lead to injuries. I am pretty certain that along with the way I run are the reasons I’ve been battling plantar fasciitis and piriformis probs for 2 years. now. I just added that book to my amazon wish list yesterday. Maybe i need to move it up higher in my order of “to buy.” My husband started moving to the less padding, lower heel drop shoes after a lot of reading about all the padding and stabilizers actually helping to decrease strength b/c your feet don’t have to work as hard. I will say I believe that as well based on 20+ years of ballet where my feet could open jars LOL. I never had any issues before. Now? Not so much.
I really believe that weak muscles have contributed to my injury too! I wish I was still in Cincy and could join you at GABP! Can’t wait to read your write up!! Have fun Jill 😉