We have written a fair few articles about the barefoot running movement, exploring the debate for and against the merits of ditching the traditional running shoe.

Recent article: Running Confusion - Shoes vs Orthotics vs Barefoot Movement

The very first version of the five-fingered running shoe (a flat, rubber soled slip on style shoe with glove like inserts for each toe) was made by a company called Vibram. Since this first design a lot of other manufacturers have produced a diverse range of flatter style shoes to meet the growing demand for the more ‘natural’ running with less supporting cushion under your feet, AKA barefoot running.

Arguments over the merits of barefoot running have been intense with questionable claims supporting for and against it. The company Vibram has just recently settled a claim of nearly $4million for deceptive marketing about the health benefits of the five-fingered. It seems an estimated 70 million Vibram customers might be getting a payout to some extent.

Read about the Vibram lawsuit here…- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/10/_n_5302213.html

The first time I felt the sharp and stabbing front of left knee pain was a few months ago while enjoying my usual afternoon run with my dog. It was unlike the more familiar muscle aches and pains and there was no swelling present. I remember worrying this could be a potentially serious issue because this was a knee pain I had not felt before.

I was experiencing for the first time a condition which has since been diagnosed by my Chartered Physiotherapist as patellar tendinosis. After discussing my condition with my physiotherapist he directed me to various evidence-based online information resources as well as sending on relevant journal articles to help me understand the condition better. What follows is an account of a knee problem from a patients point of view.

This condition can become a more serious and chronic issue requiring many months of rest and rehabilitation if not appropriately cared for in the early stages. My knee pain started with repeated deep squat movements in the gym with a heavily weighted bar across my shoulders. Oddly the pain did not last more than a second during the exercise and almost no pain followed in the days after. Naturally I did not give it much more thought at the time until many weeks later when the pain returned, much more intensely and persistently, during a less than demanding run.

I now find myself in a delicate situation having to manage my knee pain very carefully indeed with fear of my condition becoming a much more difficult one to cure if I don’t give it the right attention.

Physiotherapists regularly prescribe exercise as a fundamental part of the rehabilitation process, following a muscle or joint injury for example. Running is a very common form of exercise to which many patients will want to progress, when enough function has returned, in order to build up their fitness again. But is running the best exercise for improving fitness?

The short answer is no, in my opinion.

However, possibly a more appropriate answer would likely be that it depends on what your fitness goals are and how you want to define fitness.

Let’s take a look at a local event to help describe what I mean. The Great Ireland Run 10km recently passed earlier in April with the winners achieving some impressive results; men’s first place came in under 30 minutes and the women’s first achieved a 33 minutes and 39 seconds. How do we think the top running athletes prepare for such an event? They will do a lot of running training no doubt but I am certain this is not all they do. Athletes performing at this level need to be in peak physical fitness to sustain the demands they are placing on their bodies and to keep their risk of injury as low as possible.

You may be wondering what do top performing athletes have in common with patient rehabilitation and recreational running. Well, my point is that we can learn from the best in their field and adopt some of the principles used in their training. Naturally our training won’t be nearly as intense or demanding as that of elite athletes so what can we learn from them?

Have you been caught up in the wave of polarised generalisations relating to health and fitness? Debates such as whether we should be running in our structured shoes or going barefoot, whether villainous sugar is the ultimate cause of rising obesity levels or is the low-carb and high-fat diet the universal solution?

Bold claims and prophet-like exclamations may be more effective at catching our attention but most of the time these are only half-truths.

For example; weight-resistance training is very effective for shifting excess fat and the many miles covered on the treadmill may indeed be doing you more harm than good. However, we shouldn't leap to broad generalisations and label either of these activities as right or wrong for everyone. Simplicity might be easier to sell but in reality we are individually complex with unique preferences.

Modern life seems to be getting busier for most of us and it seems the quest for ultimate efficiency is running away with itself. It's no surprise why sleep-time would be the obvious area to skimp on because sleeping does not seem to be a very productive activity for go-getters.

Notable persons in history have proclaimed their disdain for sleep

Thomas Edison described sleep

as a criminal waste

while Margaret Thatcher said

sleep is for wimps

In this article I offer some insight about nutrition and what to eat during pregnancy to complement Lorraine's recent article - 10 Top Tips for Coping With Back & Pelvic Pain During Pregnancy.

Lorraine provided some insightful advice, some based on her own experience in dealing with the physical demands of pregnancy and also offered some realistic self-managing techniques.

Firstly, I feel compelled to point out that our food choices are personal and we all need to discover what works best for our own bodies which is not necessarily the easiest of tasks. Personally, my own journey of discovery is constantly aided, sometimes challenged, by picking up ideas and insights from other people. It is for this reason I 'follow' a number of health related websites, blogs, journals, etc. I recently came across two articles over on the primaldocs website related to the choices you can make about what to eat during pregnancy. These articles, referenced below, served as my inspiration for this blog post. I hope to inspire your curiosity on a topic that perhaps you may not have given important consideration to in preparation for your pregnancy.

Having gone through two pregnancies myself in the past three years I've had first hand and recent experience in dealing with the physical demands of pregnancy. Combining my own experience of back and pelvic pain with my knowledge and insights from my Physiotherapy practise I am able to offer you these ten top tips to help you cope.

1. POSTURE:

Your posture will change during pregnancy especially as your pregnancy progresses and as your baby grows. Your centre of gravity changes and moves more forwards, as such you tend to lean backwards to compensate for this and to avoid falling over. This can pinch the lower back region and make your back muscles work very hard which can lead to back pain during pregnancy.

When standing remember these tips:

• Head up straight & tuck your chin in slightly
• Shoulders back & your chest forward
• Knees straight but not locked
• Weight balanced evenly on both feet
• Lower tummy gently tightened which helps support your bump and flattens the lower back slightly
• Avoid standing in the same position for too long
• Alternate resting one foot at a time on an small elevated surface for short periods
• Take regular breaks from prolonged standing

Related article - Pregnancy Posture

Are you planning on making any New Year Resolutions for 2014? If you are then consider why it is necessary to spend more time considering how to keep your New Year Resolutions rather than what they are.

It is estimated that about half the population will commit to new year changes but maybe it is not so surprising to learn that most good intentions don't ever result in long lasting, positive change.

So why do we bother making such resolutions when we have such a high chance of being disappointed with ourselves when we break them? In fact, this raises a very important point about the habits we create in our lives. New Year Resolutions are usually about reforming old habits or achieving new goals. However, if we loosely create a whole bunch of unachievable or half-hearted resolutions that we fail to achieve then we are in fact creating a habit of failure. What started out as positive intentions for the new year actually end up causing longer term issues with feelings of self-doubt and lack of self-motivation.