FervourFervour

Guest post by Max Roger

Lower back pain can hit seemingly at random times, and take you out of training. In extreme situations you’ll struggle to sit at work, or never mind bend over to tie your running shoes up early in the morning!

This article will look at 2 things:

1. What causes it?
2. How to fix it.

Here we go:

1. What causes lower back pain?

Looking at the general reason for runners, it’s training, sitting, and stress.
Different running styles put differnt pressure through your back. Forefoot running decreases the load going through your lower back, but most people tend to be heel-strikers instead. Heel-striking puts more load through your lower back, which leads to it getting stiffer, and then triggering pain.

Sitting doesn’t help either. When you sit your hips tighten up over time. This pulls your pelvis out of position, tightening your lower back, which can trigger pain. I’m not saying don’t sit. What I’m saying is get up and move now and then when you have to sit for prolonged periods, and stretch your hips after you’ve sat for a long time.

Stress is the other big cause: when we are stressed we see this in our bodies with our neck, sometimes causing headaches, and in our lower backs. That’s where we ‘carry’ our stress.

2. How to fix your lower back pain.

With running, gradually becoming a forefoot runner will have multiple benefits – decreased lower back tightness being just one of them. This should be a gradual process to avoid injury – get in touch if you want to go through it.

Sitting? As mentioned, take movement breaks. As a minimum get up once per hour for 5 minutes. That could be as simple as boiling the kettle and making a coffee, and doing some movements like hip circles, squats or a hamstring stretch as you wait for it to boil. That’s a minimum though. Ideally you’d look for bigger changes, like finding ways to be on your feet more. Maybe you can stand up or walk when you take some of your calls?

The third thing to address is stress. Obviously, cutting down on the stress in your life is the real solution here. Although not necessarily easy. Let’s focus here on the symptom and how to manage that, as long-term fixes to your stress levels don’t help your immediate lower back pain. Try two things: get some genuine time to unwind each day, and do some breathwork.

Unwinding could look like anything that you enjoy. But it doesn’t happen by accident – schedule it into your calendar each day and protect that time. Even 10 minutes a day will work wonders, and I’m certain that you can spare that.

And breathwork? You could do this as part of those 10 minutes if you wanted, or even at lunch, or before you go to bed – whenever you can fit it in: sit or lie there and start breathing deeply into your belly. Count slowly out to 3, have a pause, count in to 3 as you fill your belly with air again, another pause… This box breathing will quickly relax you – just set a timer and get 2 minutes of it in. Focus on the breath. You’ll not only physically unwind, but mentally too.

If you want more help with your lower back pain then get in contact with Max.

Guest Post by Max Roger

A common issue with your long runs is your fuelling. This is not just with regard to the food that you ingest, but your hydration too. When I say longer runs, what I’m referring to is anything more than a half-marathon.

It starts a couple of days before it. You might limit your calorie intake during the week, and that’s ok. But in the two days in the lead-up to your longer run you need to start increasing your calorie intake. Specifically, increase your carbohydrates (carbs). This isn’t a huge increase, it’s just adding in a little
more. For example, instead of a small bowl of porridge have a large one, or instead of a lunch without bread make it into a sandwich. Small changes will add up.

What it’s adding up to is increasing your muscle glycogen levels. This means that your muscles are fuller of the fuel that they will require when you run. When this fuel runs out your body has to switch to burning fat and through some processes this leads to it working more anaerobically than aerobically – meaning that fatigue kicks in. What does this mean? You want to start with your
muscle glycogen levels full and make sure that you keep topping them up so that they don’t empty.

Think of it like your car’s fuel tank: on a long journey you want it to start as full as possible, and you want to top it up when you can – if it’s empty you’ve got a problem!

If you’ve done this well for the two days before your longer run then on the morning of it you just need a small amount of carbs to top up your levels, then you’re good to go (about an hour or so later). During it you want to have a mix of gels, electrolytes, water, and whatever else your stomach can handle to fuel you adequately. A lot of this will come down to trial and error, so it’s important to
note down what you did and how it made you feel so that you can learn from it for subsequent runs.

Note: if you are having gels during your run then make sure to sip on them. If you open one and have the whole thing quickly then it will hit your stomach and cause you some digestive issues.

And what about your hydration? Have a mix of electrolytes and water. I like having a bottle of each and then sipping on them as I feel the need. And if possible I’d take a little more fluid than you think that you’ll need. It’s better to have some left over rather than running out!

Start sipping early in your run, rather than waiting until you’re quite thirsty. As a guide, early on (first 10km), I make sure that I get a good gulp of water each km. After that the frequency increases.

Want to dig into this in more depth? Email me at max@max-performance.co.uk

Running in Winter is tough, but it’s where you can get the most satisfaction after a run rather than during it. In the Summer there can be great views, you soak up some rays, and you can have a really enjoyable run, getting lost in the moment as your feet find that lively rhythm and you churn the miles up.

But in the Winter it’s different.

In the Winter it’s usually cold, wet and dark. Your knees hurt after because of the cold, your splits are slower, and there’s no view apart from whatever appears in the light of your headtorch – namely your feet.

But after the runs it feels great: you’re back from your early morning run, you’re warm and dry again and you realise that you’ve just completed a run in tough conditions, when most people were still in bed. You’re one up on most of your colleagues. The feeling of satisfaction at having got through that run is great, as you have your first coffee of the day and a well-earned breakfast.

That’s the feeling that you need to remember. If you forget it, and just remember what it’s like during the runs, then you’ll start to skip them. Once you skip one it’s easier to skip the next – it’s the snowball effect.

But some days it really will be worth skipping – icy roads aren’t worth running on, or really heavy rain. If possible, switch that to a treadmill/bike session, or just do some yoga or strength work instead that morning. The key is getting something in, so that at least you’re still training. The weather will dictate some sessions, but don’t let it become an excuse.

Common excuse: “I’ll get wet.” But when have you ever not gotten dry again?

If the weather has dictated training, then take your opportunities when they arrive. You might have missed out on some training, then there’s two sunny days in a row. Your plan only has you down for one run, but why wait? Take advantage of that opportunity and run on the second day too. Is it optimal? No. Is it better than missing out on that opportunity? Yes. Ignore your splits on that second day and get that run in!

The aim throughout Winter is to get in what you can. Get your aerobic base developed, with lots of steady miles. That can be on the road, the bike, the rowing machine… it doesn’t matter. It’s about working your heart rate at that level where you can just keep going and going.

So, take your opportunities where they appear, and put the work in.

Max Roger