Training for the London Marathon 2019.
Training for an event such as the London Marathon can be such a unique and special experience especially if it’s the first time you will be running it and weren’t really a runner in the first place! Before we get into this article, I presume you have probably stumbled across it due to the fact you are training for the London Marathon so I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and wish you all the best in the weeks and months leading up to such a prestigious race event!
Even if you’re not running the London Marathon, continue reading to find out exactly what damage and stresses you could be causing to underlying muscles with repetitive training/ movements and how visiting a Soft Tissue Therapist could play a vital and necessary role in your training.
➡️Click Here To Take advantage of our London Marathon 2019 Offer⬅️
Putting the London Marathon to the side for a minute, even as part of everyday life our muscles sustain micro-traumas from our posture, activities and lifestyle habits. While often these areas of muscle damage are asymptomatic (don’t hurt) and resolve independently (however underlying tension will be present), when training for an event such as the London marathon, we put our bodies through repetitive movements over and over again; We often do not allow sufficient time for rest for muscles to repair! The need to follow a strict training programme to achieve the goal (such as running the London Marathon) puts a damaged area under repeated strain and tension, meaning that it is unable to repair and so leading to excess collagen being laid down. Collagen is thicker than the nice elastic muscle fibres therefore this creates dysfunction, increases tension, limitations in muscle length in adjacent areas as the body tries to adapt to protect itself and results in altered biomechanics which leads to stress and pain in seemingly distant parts of the body! – Don’t worry its not all doom and gloom!
Even within a hectic training schedule there are so many benefits visiting a Soft Tissue therapist.
➡️Click Here To Take advantage of our London Marathon 2019 Offer⬅️
Regular sports massage and other techniques used in a soft tissue therapy session can help identify and address these areas of micro-trauma before they impact on the rest of the body and the training performance. A skilled therapist will use massage, stretch and pressure techniques to locate areas, often deep within the muscle and treat to promote healing and normal biomechanics.
This is achieved through:
- Increasing blood flow – the action of manual therapies promotes blood flow to improve healing and nutrition to the area and to the muscle as a whole
- Removing waste products of healing – the increase in blood and lymph flow will help remove the waste products of healing that can otherwise become cause discomfort and affect performance
- Break down excess collagen – repetitive injuries mean that the body cannot heal but continuously attempts to by laying down collagen over and over again. This results in a bulk of disorganised collagen called adhesions. If untreated these will harden into scar tissue within the muscle, which is tougher and more uncomfortable to treat. Soft tissue therapy can break down adhesions and realign collagen deposits allowing the muscle to operate effectively and efficiently.
So, what is the benefit I hear you ask?
📈 Improved performance through a much healthier and efficient recovery and prevention of injury.
🏃 By working together, the therapist and athlete can hope to achieve the best result possible by maintaining a healthy musculo-skeletal system. So even if you don’t think you have an injury, if you have been increasing your training programme (not limited to marathon training)! it is more than likely that you have areas of micro trauma that would benefit from the attention of a skilled soft tissue therapist.
🥇 A more supple, freer and pain free YOU!
As the London Marathon approaches, Faye Pattison Physiotherapy is offering blocks of treatment sessions to help you be the best you can. These can be used flexibly before and after the London Marathon on 28th April 2019 so you can benefit from both pre and post event therapy. And if you’re not doing the Marathon you can still take advantage of the offer which will run until 17th May 2019.
