3 minute read
HOW BALANCED ARE YOU?
from The Ridge 137
GETTING TO THE CORE OF AN INJURY MAY BE AS SIMPLE AS LOOKING AT YOUR ALIGNMENT, SAYS NELFRIE KEMP
When walking and running, your body was designed to follow a certain pattern. It is often referred to as the kinetic chain which is an engineered concept used to describe human movement. All the structures in the body – be it bones, muscles, organs, etc – are interconnected, and if one part is not functioning properly it will cause the other parts to work harder or differently to what it was designed to do. Our body is a dynamic system that adapts, compensates and changes as it goes along, but it can’t always accommodate imbalances – and that is usually when injury occurs.
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When one faces an injury it’s important to not only focus on the structure involved, for instance achilles tendon, plantar fascia or ITB. The structure forms part of an integral system, and each structure has been designed to function in a certain way, which usually becomes symptomatic when not functioning correctly. This is why it’s important to establish the cause of the injury, which may entail looking beyond your run, perhaps at your everyday activity, posture and shoe choice.
From experience, I have found that if an injury is only one-sided (left or right) it usually has to do with your alignment and mechanics. The aim with treatment should always be to restore function of the structure and alignment of the body so that the kinetic chain can activate properly when walking. An holistic approach should always be followed when treating a niggle or injury, and daily activity and shoewear should also be addressed. ARE YOU BALANCED?
Aligning your body is very similar to your car’s wheel alignment. You align your wheels for longer-lasting tyres. Here are 10 questions to determine if your body is aligned or not. 1. Do you always develop niggles only on the one side of your body? 2. Compare your left and right wear pattern on the soles of your everyday and sport shoes – is it different? 3. Do you always lean on to the one leg/side when standing? 4. Do you find you always carry your bag over a specific shoulder? 5. Do you find that your one bra strap always slips off? Are they equally tightened? 6. If you develop callouses on your feet, are they in the same spots on both feet or in different spots? 7. When you cross your legs when sitting, is it always the same leg that goes over the other? 8. Do you always get a hole on the upper of the one shoe and not the other? 9. Does your one shoe wear out more or differently than the other at the back of your heel? 10. Do you walk “off” your slops when wearing them, or do they wear out unevenly? *
FOR MORE INFO Nelfrie Kemp: www.nelfriekemp.co.za; @nelfriekemp W @nelfriekemp
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