Running does lots of fabulous things for me including keeping me in shape and keeping me strong but it does tend to stiffen my legs & buttocks if I don’t stretch daily.  Before I started Pilates I used to suffer from a little sciatica – nothing serious but it could have developed into something much worse.  There is one stretch in particular that stopped it in it’s tracks..

You’ll need somewhere comfy to lie down and a belt or scarf.  Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor.  Hook the belt or scarf around the back of your right thigh and hold with both hands.  Cross your left ankle over your right knee and gently raise your right leg as far as comfortable steadying it with the scarf.  You should feel a stretch in your left buttock.  Hold the stretch for a count of 15 and lower your right leg down for a count of 5 and repeat 5 times on each leg.

This is a lovely stretch for people without sciatica too as it loosens the hard to get to buttock muscles.  Enjoy daily!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve now moved into the ‘recovery from injury’ phase!  I pulled my adductor muscles just over two weeks ago and I’ve progressed from barely walking to running again…

I thought I might be out for ages with pulled adductor muscles which was very frustrating because I need to be as fit as possible before we go to France.  I’d started to ramp up the training which caused my adductor muscles in the inner thigh to pull.  Read my blog of the episode here.

Since being laid up I’ve added some excellent stretches into my morning Pilates routine.  I now add an inner thigh stretch, hip stretches and pelvic circles to the existing routine. I didn’t realise my hips/inner thighs and pelvis were so tight until I’ve started to release them – it’s a lovely satisfying feeling.

I started to walk every lunchtime for at least 45 mins – slowly at first because it hurt my adductors but have just about got up to full speed again.  Then last Sunday I tried running.  It was a test run – one of my twitter buddies recommended walking/running for 20 – 30 mins.  He told me to treat it as a test run and even if I felt fine to limit it to 30 mins and rest/ice up afterwards.  Check his Twitter feed here.  I took his advice and to my relief after a few tentative steps realised that it wasn’t hurting.  I had 2 days rest and went running today.  This time I walked for 10 mins, stretched out and then ran slowly for 20 mins.  I intend to rest again until Sunday and then go for another 30 min run.  Provided I get no pain I will run Tuesday and Thursday next week too.

I’m so relieved but it just goes to show that if you listen to good advice and listen to your body that you can recover sensibly and get back to running quickly.

As many of you already know I’ve suffered from a re-occurring back problem for the last 9 years or so.  I’ve been told that it’s ‘non-specific back pain’ and no-one can tell me why I get it – not very helpful.  During this time I’ve tried lots of things to stop the back pain from prickle balls and fit balls to physiotherapy and massage.  I still suffer and am still searching for the cause so I can eliminate  it – I refuse to give up.  Following on from some research I’m wondering if my  back problem might stem from flat feet and tight hamstring muscles and maybe I need to revamp my Pilates routine…

As Yogi Marlon says in ‘Yoga – for a healthy back’ try to get your toes level with your nose – I’m lucky to get my toes level with my hips some days and would dearly love to be able to get my toes level with my nose!

I swapped from Yoga to Pilates two years ago now believing that strengthening my core muscles would solve the problem – it’s certainly improved but not stopped my problems.  During my Pilates practice and with the help of an inspirational teacher I’ve started to realise that everything is connected.  Maybe my flat feet cause my tight hamstrings and my tight hamstrings cause my back problems.  Certainly when I bend forward I feel a tightness in my lower back and if I continue to bend forward it will pull a muscle which takes me weeks to get back to where I started.  Consequently, I don’t bend forward much which is not good considering how active I like to be.

I have been performing foot exercises for about 6 months now and wear Sole insoles in my running and walking shoes.  This combination stopped a mild case of plantar fasciitis in it’s tracks so it must be doing something good.  So that’s the flat feet sorted and now I’m concentrating on the tight hamstrings.  I’m getting frustrated because can’t seem to get my legs past a 90 degree angle in the classic hamstring stretch (lying on the floor, wrapping an exercise band around your foot and straightening your leg) despite 2 years of pilates exercises.

So I’ve done some research which suggests I should stretch the different parts of my body in a specific order.  Starting with stretching the back, moving onto the legs, then the stomach and upper body.  So I’ve jiggled my morning pilates session around to stretch in that order.  I also read that other muscles can stop the target muscle from stretching if they are also tight.  When I do my hamstring stretches I always feel a pulling behind my knee before I can get to stretch the hamstring muscle itself.  So I’ve adding in a calf stretch in before I move onto the hamstrings.

According to the research I should reach full flexibility within one month of daily stretching.  I’ve been doing the new stretching for about a week now and initial signs are good – although I still can’t stretch past 90 degrees there is less pulling behind the knee.  So watch this space and I’ll let you know if I achieve my goal of getting my toes level with my nose in the classic ‘Hamstring stretch’.

I have been to classes and now practice Pilates everyday on my own.  I used to practice Yoga but I found that this was too harsh for my back and didn’t address the weak core muscles that I believe to be at the root of my back problems.  So in France last year, I started to practice Pilates for 20 mins every morning and feel so much better for it.

If you’re thinking of taking up Pilates then I recommend attending a small class to start with.  This is because the instructor can tell if you’re doing it right and as a novice it’s hard to tell the difference between perfect and completely wrong!  I attended a 6 week course at the physiotherapy section of my local hospital – a class designed for people with all sort of physical problems but limited to 6 people.  Once you have been shown how to practice Pilates correctly, then I suggest buying a good Pilates book which will give you all the exercises that you need.  I personally love and own ‘The Official Body Control Pilates Manual’ by Lynne Robinson.

My morning routine is purposefully gentle – perfect for when you’ve just got out of bed.  For those that are familiar with Pilates already, this is my current morning routine…

• Adductor Stretch whilst rotating my ankles
• Hamstring Stretch holding for a count of 100 with an exercise band
• Spine Curls
• Curl Ups with Arm Action
• Arm Openings
• Side-lying Quadriceps & Hip Flexor Stretch
• Working the Arches
• Plus some back exercises (McKenzie Method)

To build on this morning routine I am adding in an evening session.  I would like this session to take no longer than 45 mins and need it to work on my strength as well as flexibility.  My plan is to do the following;

• Knee Drops
• Turning out the leg
• Single Leg Stretch
• Double Leg Stretch
• Pillow Squeezes
• Hip Rolls
• Cherry Picking
• Spine Curls with Pillow
• Pelvic Clocks
• Side Rolls
• Side Reaches
• Shoulder Drops
• Wide Leg Wall Stretch
• Sliding Down the Wall
• Roll Downs
• Spine Stretch
• Tricep Stretch
• The Dart
• The Star
• Threading the Needle
• Rest Position

As I am a runner and a mountain biker I need my routine to cover the potential injury spots that these sports can create.  My back problems have been diagnosed due to a problem with 2 stiff vertebrae at the base of my spine but I also have flat feet!  I’m convinced that a combination of weak core muscles, tight hamstrings and flat feet cause my back problems and am hoping that this extra session of Pilates will reduce the amount of down time I suffer when my back is in spasm (currently once or twice a year).  Maybe, just maybe this will mark the end of my back problems!

Any comments or suggestions gratefully received!  Watch my twitter account for my progress.

Update:

Went through my new routine last night and have a few amendments to make (see the new plan below).  I found that it took a bit too long to complete but then I was checking the moves in my book first so I guess that I will get quicker.  I’ve moved the routine around so that all the exercises performed on my back are together and that I work each muscle group in order – better for my back that way too.  I found that the Hip Rolls really worked my back hard – only did 3 but liked it and will build up to 10.

• Knee Drops
• Turning out the leg
• Pillow Squeezes
• Hip Rolls
• Cherry Picking
• Spine Curls with Pillow
• Single Leg Stretch
• Pelvic Clocks
• Side Reaches
• Shoulder Drops
• Sliding Down the Wall
• Roll Downs
• Tricep Stretch
• The Dart
• The Star
• Threading the Needle
• Rest Position

For an instant pick-me-up, lie on the floor and put your legs up against a wall. Make sure your legs are completely straight against the wall and just remain there and relax. When you right yourself again, your legs should feel light.