Monday, December 27, 2010
Running Barefoot ST 271210
We have written on this before and there is definitely evidence that running shoes may not prevent injuries http://weloverunning.blogspot.com/2010/08/do-your-running-shoes-prevent-injuries.html and
http://weloverunning.blogspot.com/2009/03/do-high-tech-running-shoes-work.html.
We are not saying you need to be barefoot while running but as written before, please do so progressively if you're giving it a try. Better still, come run with us during our running club and we'll show you how to run pain free.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
More On Running Barefoot
Well, no point running in VFF's if you still land on your heels as that is what causes most running injuries. Most if not all of us have spent years wearing shoes that have caused our legs and feet to be supported by the presence of a heel so most runners now land on their heels.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against anyone wearing the VFF. Like I written before in a previous post it's not the shoes you wear to run, its how you run more that is more important. That means if you master the technique, you can literally run in any shoes you want.
We had many calls and emails asking about running barefoot after yesterday's article even though Sports Solutions was not quoted in the article. I even had a student contact me on my views regarding running barefoot running for her research project.
I firmly believe that what is currently suggested by most health care professionals on the basis of pronation control and cushioning is flawed.
This is what I feel regarding choosing your running shoes. Most people can run in just about any shoe (if they run correctly) as long as they take things slowly and listen to their OWN body. Problems arise when they attempt to do too much too soon in a new pair of (minimalist) shoes.
As for running barefoot, don't go and try more than 2km or else everything may hurt since you are now loading your muscles and joints (that have been so used to shoes) much more. Gradually build up your distance and it should be fine.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Running Barefoot ST 201210
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Legs Alert
Well, not quite if you look at a paper published by a multinational group of physiotherapists and physicians working on the ATP World Tour. The paper showed that the main areas for concern (at least among the world's elite tennis players) are the lower limbs.
Leg injuries accounted for 39-65% of injuries sustained, followed by arm/ shoulder at 24-46% while head/ trunk accounted for 8-22% of injuries.
This is not surprising as tennis involves many multi directional movements requiring players to accelerate, decelerate, twisting and cutting etc.
The researchers suggested making the player's hips more stable to reduce ankle and thigh injuries. Come see us or talk to us at Sports Solutions regarding conditioning for your tennis both to prevent injuries and to enhance your performance.
Reference
Ellenbecker TS, Pluim B et al (2009). Common Injuries In Tennis Players: Exercises To Address Muscular Imbalances And Reduce Injury Risk. Strength & Conditioning Journal.31(4) : pp 50-58.
Photo of Gael Monfils by Associated Press
Saturday, December 4, 2010
ST 041210 Recovery Time
It was decided that the column will run today instead of next Monday since you are doing the race tomorrow.
So all the best to all our patient's taking part in tomorrow's races, the Stan Chart Marathon, the 70.3 triathlon in Phuket and the Ironman in Busselton, Perth.
Monday, November 29, 2010
ST 291110 Your Pre-Race Preparations
But that's others, having your own is best. Do what suits you and what will best achieve your goals.
Also have a look at this and this.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sports Solutions 1st Anniversary Lunch
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Reference For Article On Tapering
Reference
Bosquet L, Monpetit J et al (2007). Effects Of Tapering On Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise. 39(8): pp 1358-1365.
Email me if you want a copy of the article.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Your Marathon Taper ST 151110
Slightly less than 3 weeks to go before your race day so hopefully you've done your last long run. Nearly there now, hang in there.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Team Singapore Asian Games Athlete Has Compartment Syndrome? No Way
*Picture shows treatment of my patient before coming to see me
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Mind Over Matter ST 081110
Go take a look here and here.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Drinking Too Much Water Leads To Hyponatremia ST 011110
Friday, October 29, 2010
Do You Need That Cortisone (Steroid) Injection?
A major new review article published in the Lancet just last week raised major doubts on the efficacy (or wisdom) of using cortisone on tendon problems. Yes, the authors found plenty of evidence (in over 4 dozen high quality randomized controlled trials) that corticosteroid injections reduced patients' pain in the short term, but the effects were not great in the intermediate and long term. In fact patients receiving the injections had a much lower rate of recovery than those who did nothing or received physiotherapy (at 6 and 12 months). This was especially true for patients with tennis elbow pain, rotator cuff (swimmer's shoulder) pain and Achilles tendon pain.
There are more evidenced-based treatment for tendinopathy other than cortisone injections, ultrasound, massage, interferential currents etc. We at Physio and Sports Solutions practice evidenced-based physiotherapy (neural stretching, Mulligan MWM's, eccentric muscles strengthening exercises and Maitland joint mobilizations etc) to treat you. Come let us help you with your tendon injuries.
Reference
Coombes BK, Bisset L, Vicenzino B (2010). Efficacy And Safety Of Corticosteroid Injections And Other Injections For Management of Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials. The Lancet. Epub on 22 October 2010.
*Picture by Ballyscanion/Getty Images.
Monday, October 25, 2010
ST 251010 Knowing Your Pain Part II
It's just under 6 weeks to your race day, not a good time to get injured. If you do, please come and see us quickly.
TNP on 241010
The recovery process applies to all sports, not just to cycling. It's in page 26 and 27 in yesterday's (241010) paper, go take a look.
Both our clinics are open on weekends and public holidays, please call to make your appointment.
Monday, October 18, 2010
ST Article On Knowing Your Pain 181010
This is what we at Physio and Sports Solutions are good at, treating the root cause of your problems instead of just treating your pain to allow you to run pain free. Our many patients can testify to that.
Go take a look.
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Underpants Run In Hawaii
For those of you who are into triathlons, well, tomorrow (or 091010 in Hawaii) will be the holy grail and grand daddy of all triathlons. The Ford Ironman World Championships, held on the big island Kona in Hawaii on every full moon in October.
Why full moon every year you may wonder? You get 17 hours to make the finish line, to be an Ironman, and the full moon will offer some light to those out on the course battling to make the time cut.
Above is a picture I found in the pre race festivities, the underpants run.
All the best to all our patients taking part.
*Picture from Ironman.com
Saturday, September 25, 2010
More on Glucosamine ST 250910
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sony Walkman NWZ W252
Quite a few of my friends and even runners I don't know have come up to me and asked me about it when they see me using it, so here it is.
Weighing just 43g and wireless, it's light and not cumbersome at all. I always inevitably catch the wires of my earphones of my 1st generation iPod shuffle while running previously so having no wires dangling is really a nice change. The ear pieces are fairly comfortable and the bass is pretty good, much better than my current earphones in fact. Control of the headset is done by 3 buttons on the right, which is easily accessed. You can increase or decrease volume and switch your songs here. One complaint though is you can't rewind or fast forward within a song.
Another thing I wasn't fond of was the "Zappin" mode which plays 4 or 15 seconds bits of each song. I guess this is to allow you to scroll through your playlist until you find the song you wanna run to. Me, I just fill the entire 2G capacity with all my favorite running songs and put it on shuffle mode.
One other favorite feature of mine Sony W252 is you can get 90 mins of play time on a quick 3 minutes charge. So those of you who like me wanna squeeze in a run when your baby is sleeping and find that there is no battery will really appreciate this. Those who run longer than 90 minutes, well, you gotta make sure the battery is not flat then.
Once again, a big thank you to the 2 Hill & Knowlton staff for this great MP3 player.
*Pictures from Sony
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuning In ST 200910
But we did write on this topic before last year on July 28.
Go take a look here.
Friday, September 17, 2010
What's The Best Way To Do An Interval Workout
As you've read in this week's Sweet 16 Marathon training plans, wanting to run faster almost always mean having to do interval training. And all of the research published on interval training have pointed to increased fitness and running faster running times.
That doesn't mean you can run intervals 4 to 5 times a week though coz' that will be like taking an express train to over training and injury occurring. So here's the catch with interval training, it looks like it's purely a science - do the work and improvement follows correct? Well, it's actually just as much an art according to this research paper from Australian researchers I chanced upon recently.
Instead of following a fixed formula like waiting until your heart rate (HR) drops to a certain number before your next interval or resting as long as the time taken for your previous interval ran, the researchers suggested that listening to your body might be the best way after all. They coined the termed "teleoanticipation" or what they say is perceived readiness to run your next interval.
Here's what the researchers asked a group of competitive runners do during a standard interval session of 5 x 1 km at 90% of their tested all out 1 km time. For recovery, the runners A) waited for their HR to return to 130 beats; B) rest as long as their interval time - about 3:18 min; C) rest until they "felt" they can run at 90% effort.
When they followed their HR, the runners did not recover enough, and they slowed dramatically on the last three repeats. Methods B and C had similar outcomes with one highly interesting difference - when the runners were recovering by "feel", the runners chose shorter recoveries than those assigned by method B. That is, they were able to maintain their times in the 1km repeats, but in less total workout time. This probably means that the C workouts were more efficient (or productive) than the B workouts. As you see, interval training can be more of an art than a science.
The researchers suggested that this way of running intervals should not replace all other training principles that you have used previously but to keep this in mind while considering the whole training process.
Personally I guess this is a good and practical way of training as it may mean you do not need to shell out extra money to get a HR monitor. This also gives athletes a systematic approach to train at their own pace (especially in a group setting) given that they will need to rely on their own pacing during a race so this makes good sense to practice pacing in training as well.
Reference
Edwards AM, Bentley MB et al (2010). Self-pacing In Interval Training: A Teleoanticipatory Approach. Psychophysiology. 28 June Epub. DOI: 1111/j. 1469-8986.2020.01034.x
* Picture by RS
Monday, September 13, 2010
12 Weeks To Your Race ST 130910
Have a look at the Sports section page B11 and you see Sports Solutions quoted.
In our weekly running club sessions, we teach you how to run pain free with good running form, just ask other regular runners who come. Give us a ring to let us know you are coming.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Nike City 10k
What's unique about this particular race? Besides the physical race, runners from Singapore will be competing against fellow runners from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to see who can clock more mileage from now til October 31st. And here's the deal, the winning city gets USD$30,000 donated to a charity of their choice, for Singapore it will be the Singapore Children's Society.
In order for you to do your bit for charity, runners who sign up for the race will get 50% off the purchase of a Nike+ SportBand so you can log your mileage and play your part by participating in the online challenge versus KL.
Staff from Physio and Sports Solutions will be taking part in the race to do our bit for the Singapore Children's Society.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Correct Way To Warm Up ST 300810
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday Times 290810
Monday, August 23, 2010
ST 230810
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Runners Toes Not Harmed By Running
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Oakley Split Jacket
Here's a nice surprise from Oakley (thanks to Joey) today, I was given their latest Split Jacket sunglasses. It looks like the Jawbone, has the same features, just a little smaller which I guess will suit those with smaller faces well.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Today's Straits Times 160810 - We Are Built To Run
The quoted article in the papers by Lieberman and Bramble (2007) points out that we humans have an exceptional cooling system, can adapt really well to hot weather and we also have spring like ligaments and tendons in our legs and feet as well as very good balance. These traits were definitely all needed by our caveman ancestors as they had to hunt and look for food.
Please also have a look at this.
Email me if you want a copy of the article.
Reference
Lieberman DE and Bramble DM (2007). The Evolution Of Marathon Running Capabilities In Humans. Sports Med 37(4-5) : 288-290.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Today's Straits Times
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Do Your Running Shoes Prevent Injuries?

![]() |
One of my often copied shoe lis |
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
My New Sony Walkman

A big thank you to the 2 staff from Hill & Knowlton for selecting me to be a part of their Sony Walkman Runners Program. As a result, I've been given a brand new water resistant MP3 player by Sony - NWZ W252 to run with.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Should You Run On Grass Or On The Road?

Thursday, July 1, 2010
The Tour De France Beckons

Despite all the sporting attention & focus on the World Cup going on in South Africa currently this year's Tour De France starts in Rotterdam, Holland this coming Saturday for the prologue before making its way around France for the next 3 weeks.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Perfect Taper

Have you trained really hard for your important race but ran or raced poorly because of mucking up your taper.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Running For Your Life

Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Atacama Crossing





Thank you for the physiotherapy sessions in taking away the pain that was centred on my right knee, especially with those exercises. While the Atacama Crossing (Chile) entailed pain (and monster blisters), you helped sort me out before the race and my knee problems so i could withstand the other elements! Thanks again.
Melanie Wee
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Today's Running Club @ SS
Sunday, May 9, 2010
American Record By A "Fat" White Runner

This has been the most discussed topic for the past 2 weeks in most of the running forums I've read. American Chris Solinsky became the first white and heaviest runner so far, at 73 kg to dip under the 27 minutes barrier for 10000 m on the track.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Rugby Injuries

Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Rinse And Spit

Here's an interesting bit of information that may surprise you if you taking part in the OSIM triathlon this weekend. Sure did surprise me. 2 different studies support this.
Rollo I, Williams C et al (2008). The Influence Of Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse On Self-selected Speeds During A 30-minute Treadmill Run. Int J Sp Nutr Ex Metab. 18(6): 585-600.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sports Solutions & Kinesio Taping In Today's Straits Times



![]() |
Team OCBC rider Ang Kee Meng |
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Triathlon Training And Injuries
![]() |
*Picture of Aviva Singapore Ironman 70.3 by RS |
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Kinesio Taping Course At SS
Kinesio Taping Level 1 (KT1) and 2 (KT2) was taught at Sports Solutions yesterday and today by our certified Kinesio Taping Instructor Gino in conjunction with Progress Healthcare Pte Ltd (the distributor for the Kinesio Tapes).
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Protein Protection
If you've been racing hard in the OCBC bike race today or trained really hard earlier in the day (in anticipation of other races later in the season) read on for some simple dietary intervention that can help maintain your immune function (prevent you from getting sick).
There is much research to show that combining carbohydrate (CHO) and protein after heavy exercise can aid in replenishing your glycogen stores and tissue repair.
There is also growing research evidence that protein may aid immune recovery and also lower the risk of respiratory tract infections. Not any protein but protein in the form of branch chain amino acids and glutamine.
Researchers in the study below studied a group of competitive runners after a 2 hour run. The control group was given water immediately after and 1 hour post exercise. The "immediate feeding" group were given a CHO-protein solution straight after exercise plus water 1 hour later while the "delayed feeding" group received water straight after the run and the CHO-protein solution an hour later.
Results showed that consuming the CHO-protein mix straight after the exercise had a significant effect on neutrophil degranulation. On what you said. This is the marker used in tracking susceptibility to infection. It is very common to find a drop in neutrophil degranulation after tough bouts of exercise which means you are more likely to fall sick. This means that you can avoid that by some quick and smart refueling.
Here's the suggested mix from the research, consume 1.2 grams of CHO per kg of body mass while adding 0.4 grams protein per kg body mass. For a 65kg athlete, that means you will need 78 grams of CHO & 26 grams of protein.
Reference
Costa RJS, Oliver SJ et al (2009). Influence of Timing of Post-exercise Carbohydrate-Protein Ingestion on Selected Immune Indices. International J of Sport Nutrition & Ex Metabolism. 19(4) : 366-384.
*Picture from Flickr
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Cycling And Knee Pain
With the OCBC bike race this weekend, both our clinics have been seeing quite a few cyclists this past week and so I thought I'll do a write up on the combination of cycling specific factors that can cause ailments/ grief to your knees.