Not only should you get enough sleep, but enough REST is equally important. I’ve had two severe injuries in the past two years, and both left me sidelined for quite a while. I can look back at both and see a direct correlation to the amount of training I was doing – once training for a half marathon and once trying to lose extra weight in time for a vacation.

I’m not advocating that you slack on the exercise – just be sure you are getting enough good quality rest in between your runs. Be sure that you get to bed in good time, leaving the books and the television and even the bills for another night. Turn off the lights, turn on the fan, and crawl under the covers. You’ll reap the benefits on the training field!

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Quality Sleep Offers Injury Prevention

In August I had surgery to repair a labreal tear in my hip joint from a 2006 injury. (Yes, I learned to run with that injury.) I told the surgeon and physical therapist that teaching dance is part of my income and I was going to run the mini again. Running had become an important escape for me. I probably started teaching dance before I should have and my recovery slowed. It was nearly Spring before I was allowed to start trying to run, and my training wasn’t very consistent.

Two weeks before the race I got ill, which terminated my training entirely. When I was still sick with a week to go, I told my best friend I would walk with her this year. A few days later, she had to have an appendectomy, so she’s been confined to the couch. It had been raining all week; everyone was hoping for clear skies on Saturday morning, but I had to admit that I should not walk 13.1 miles in the rain with an occasionally uncontrollable cough.

Two days before the Mini, I found another fab friend who blogs about Indy to take friend 1’s place and walk with me barring rain. As I was preparing for bed, I realized I had absolutely zero clean socks for the race, so I started laundry; I have no clue what time I got to bed, but it wasn’t early. Friend 2 was to pick me up because I had the bibs and timing devices, but she wasn’t responding by text or phone (she’d fallen back asleep), so despite everything, at ten minutes until corral call, I started walking to corral J (I live downtown and parking is ridiculous on race day). By the time I got to the starting line, I had probably already walked 5k.

If I was without anyone to talk to and starting in my earned corral, I wanted to run at least some of it. Since I was intending on running, I had not taken the time to really stretch out. My plan was to just do what I could and be satisfied, realizing that I basically had not trained at all. It did not take long for me to get into the race mindset and want to push myself. One of the first things I realized was that I was being passed more often this year than I was last year, but I reminded myself that last year I’d started at the back of the pack and this year I’d started in the middle. Last year, I used it as a challenge and let very few people pass me.

Trying to be kind to my body, I tried not to be as competitive this year. I was pleased with each mile completed and wanted more. I knew my physical therapist was not going to be pleased with me (although probably not surprised), but I wanted to push to my limit. As I approached the Indianapolis Motor Speedway right before mile 6, I determined that I would not walk on the track. As I left the track, a security guard informed us that we had 4.5 miles left and I started walking. I walked until half mile to go when a friend caught up to me. I matched her pace and challenged her to sprint the last .1 with me.

All things considered (recovery, illness, late night, weather), it was probably a little crazy for me to get out there. 13.1 miles is an accomplishment (I bow to all you full marathoners). The Mini is a fun, important event in Indianapolis. Every year registration is filled several months prior to the race. I did it. My legs ache, my hips are tight, I’m tired, and I have events scheduled ALL day. I would absolutely do it again and I plan to next year (with more training this time)!

*Although I am a therapist, licensed to diagnose, the term “insane” is only used in self-deprecating humor. It would not be good practice to self-diagnose nor do I think I would fit a diagnosis. I do however strongly advise against anyone following in my footsteps.

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Inside the Insane Mind of an Indy Mini Participant

There’s an interesting New York Times article on the widespread injuries inflicted upon Wii enthusiasts. The author even reports a pop in his left shoulder after playing Wii tennis.

If you’re not familiar with the Wii phenomenon, gamers use a handheld, wireless remote where you mimic the motion of the activity in the video game. This could include tennis, boxing, bowling, among others.

“It’s great in the concept that it gets people active and involved,” said Dr. Brian Halpern, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. “It’s not great in that you get lost in that and are overloading areas that you haven’t worked out in a long time, if ever.”

Dr. Halpern says he’s treated two types of injuries: traumatic injuries like twisted knees and sprained ankles from playing Wii in confined spaces, and repetitive stress from lengthy play.

If you’re interested in purchasing a Wii Fit system, or currently own one and have been fortunate enough not to fall victim to an injury, here’s some handy advice: you don’t need to exactly mimic the real-life motion. You don’t need to make a full swing when a flick of the wrist is usually enough.

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Is Wii a Medical Liability?

A breakthrough study involving one man and one woman over the course of six days found that the more time they spent in the gym, the more their bones were achy, the more irritable they were, and the more likely they were to pout. Stretching before the workout only made it worse.

“We decided it’s just not worth it. We’d rather be fat and happy,” said Ken, who represents 50 percent of the test group.

The good news, especially for those who love the gym or those just getting excited about exercising, is that we’ve totally made-up this story. So, happy April Fool’s Day from DietsInReview.com!

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Don’t Exercise, it’s Bad for Joints and Morale

Treatment for neck pain is somewhat simple and can be done by yourself. A few options are: rest, medication, therapeutic massage, alternating between a heating pad and ice, gentle stretching, and neck exercises. If neck pain persists, contact a physician for more treatment options.

Here are a few assisted stretches you can do to help hinder the pain. I also added a cable shrug to strengthen the neck region (traps).

See Matt’s series on simple ways to alleviate common muscular pain and fitness injuries.

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Simple Ways to Alleviate Neck Pain at Home

Many activities and occupations can lead to this injury: tennis, raquetball, throwing, weight lifting, plumbing, painting, and even raking. There are many treatments that can help reduce the pain such as wearing an elbow brace, rest and ice, stretching, anti-inflammatory medication, and physical therapy. If you have chronic pain in your elbow, please see a physician because it will continue to get worse if not properly treated.

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Fitness Injury Prevention: Tennis Elbow

This pain is common among runners and athletes and is caused by a sudden increase in distance or intensity of a workout schedule. There are several things you can do to treat this problem and one of which is half of the RICE technique. Rest and ice are two of the main treatments for this issue. Other ways to help prevent shin splints are to properly stretch before and after activity, wear proper footwear, swim, anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen), exercise on soft terrain, and gradually increase distance or intensity.

Below are a few few stretches you and your partner can do:

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Fitness Injury Prevention: Shin Splints

Today, however, I am going to talk about one of the main methods to treat an acute injury (strain or pull). This method is known as the R.I.C.E method, which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.

Rest will prevent further injury and allow the healing process to take action.

Icing the injury will stop the swelling and limits the bleeding in the injured area by constricting injured blood vessels. I recommend icing the injury for 20 minutes once every three hours or so. Remember to wrap the ice, direct contact is harmful to the body.

Compression supports the injured joint and helps control the swelling as well.

Elevation reduces blood flow to injured area by using gravity, which in turn reduces swelling.

Please feel free to leave a comment or email if you have any questions. Again, more injury prevent is yet to come.

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Fitness Injury Prevention 101 and the RICE Method