The Gait Guys make some good points in this post re: short term improvements in ROM. Bottom line is that you can easily create short term improvement but there can be a price for it if you haven’t added in the ability to safely use the movement. Which is to say we have the ability to go to end range without the risk of hurting ourselves which you may not have with the ROM that you gain through some of the quick fixes you can use. If you have range of movement issues it is likely to be a more complex issue and simply “flossing” to gain the movement is not the solution. This is not to say the bands are useless more that you need to think more about the why so that how you get there is more effective and long lasting.
Control ain’t the goal
When we injure ourselves we will see a reduction in our movement capacity in the area until things are back to normal. Hopefully with good rehab this will be a short period of restricted movement as we rebuild the capacity of the injured area to move. During the initial period we do see more control over the area as we do not want to re-injure it but long term this isn’t a valid option, what we require is more movement or a greater capacity/range of movement that we can move through without injuring ourselves. We need to practice as rich and varied range of movement as we can in order to fully recover from injuries and aid in helping avoid them in the future. Yes we require stability but we also need movement a graded approach to this can help ensure that we overcome the fear of movement and allow us to build our movement capacity. Our DMS rehab and the Dynamic Movement Skills work itself are both great tools to help with this.
This article by Joanne Elphinston is a nice read covering the subject.
Forefoot or rearfoot? Where should my foot land?
There is and has been for sometime a big discussion on which part of the foot you should strike the ground with first when we are running. The rearfoot strike has been said to be the worst way possible to run and you should strike first with the fore to midfoot in order to reduce injuries, increase running economy and perhaps even bring about world peace.
This article by Tom Goom at Running Physio looks at whether or not you should switch to a more forefoot running pattern or not.
Over training/reaching in endurance athletes
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Injury prevention and management
This is a good article, with lots of references so you can do some further reading if you wish, on Injury prevention and management.
Two take away points were;
In summary
· SS(static stretching) does not appear to reduce injury risk and any effect on earlier return to sport is of marginal clinical significance.
· In contrast, a graduated strength training program appears to significantly reduce injury risk and significantly reduce the time to return to sport after injury.
Injury prevention and management among athletic populations