Do you do the “little things” that keep you healthy? If you’re the average runner, you don’t – and you’re probably injured.

Preventing overuse injuries is more about what you do when you’re not running. The crucial time right before and after your run are key times to take care of your body. But most runners ignore this time and only run.
They’re missing a HUGE opportunity to stay healthy, run more, and reach more of their goals. Consistency is the key to success in running, so injury prevention and consistent training should be a focus of your training.
I used to skip these two crucial windows…
Ten or so years ago – the “dark days” of my running when I was always hurt – I would come back from work, change into my running gear, and I would go for an evening run. Whether it was a workout or easy run, I had the same routine. Work, run, and then eat dinner.
When the run was over, I’d change into dry clothes, get some water, and start cooking. After an hour I was ready to eat and sat in the living room around the coffee table. After too much TV, I went to bed and averaged about 6.5 – 7 hours per night.
And that was it. Do you see the problems with this routine?
If not, let me present eight simple “little things” that you can do before or after your run to keep you healthy.
But first, what’s a running overuse injury?
Overuse Injuries are Trauma
Running injuries are too common among most runners. A few studies have put the annual injury rate as high as 75% – meaning three out of every four runners will get hurt every year and need to take significant time off to heal.
That’s just crazy.
Running injuries are quite simply the result of cumulative trauma to your muscles, tendons, ligaments, or joints. Running puts a lot of stress on your body! Especially if your technique is poor. Take a look at our events on our facebook page to see when our next running club meeting is, here we learn technique through skills and drills to prefect the best running pose
Injuries happen when the cumulative trauma you’re inflicting on your legs exceeds the rate at which you can recover from that damage. So prioritizing recovery is crucial to not only get faster (your body “absorbs” the training when you rest), but to prevent injuries.
The stress-adaptation graph below illustrates how your body reacts to training. There’s an initial training stimulus (like a workout), a dip in fitness when you feel fatigued and sore, but after you rest enough your body rebounds and BOOM! You’re in better shape than when you started.

We see here that stress is a good thing. Don’t be afraid of the words “cumulative trauma” because it’s why we train!
Alex Hutchinson recently wrote in a great column in Outside Magazine:
In our obsession with minimizing exercise damage, we may have lost sight of the reason we exercise in the first place: to force our bodies to adapt and get stronger.
Once we know that some exercise damage is a good thing, running becomes the careful management of that damage. Run long and hard enough to force as much adaptation as possible while recovering as much as you need to stay healthy.
Fortunately, there are specific ways to not only help you get faster, but manage the damage from running. Say goodbye to running overuse injuries.
Self-massage: learn to love it
Muscle soreness and tightness after a long run or workout are common (and of course, desirable). Sometimes it can be helpful for some self-massage – or a professional massage if you can afford one – to help speed the recovery process.
The fancy term is “myofascial release” and it simply means massage. It can help loosen tight muscles, promote healing blood circulation, and break up scar tissue and soft tissue adhesions. If you have any trigger points in your legs (especially tight and tender to the touch), massage can help release that tight spot.
You can perform self-massage on yourself before you run as part of your warm-up. Just make sure you keep the pressure lighter than usual so you don’t make yourself sore. After you run, you can be a little more aggressive.
Get flexible (but not by stretching)
I don’t support static stretching before or after running – it’s just not effective. Sure, some static stretching after you run doesn’t hurt, but recent studies show that it does nothing for injury prevention. And if you think static stretching before or after your run will prevent muscle soreness – think again.
A better way to promote more functional flexibility is with dynamic stretches. These are simple movements you can do both before and after you run to prepare your body for running, improve your range of motion, warm-up, or increase flexibility.
Not sure where to start? Then call us on 01202 671783 or like our facebook page at www.facebook.com/rebornpt and we’ll ping you our dynamic warmup sheets.
Fuel up after you run
After a long run or hard workout your body craves nutrients and fuel. There’s a window of about 30 minutes when your body is very receptive to the carbs, protein, and nutrients in your post-workout meal. Make sure you either plan ahead and have something ready to eat or have easily prepared, like energy bars, protein supplements, or a shake.
My favorite post-run fuel is a banana and a protein shake. I’ll eat this immediately after I finish my workout and then have a full meal about an hour later. If you’re pressed for time, make the protein shake in advance and you can take this recovery meal with you.
During marathon or other hard training, it’s crucial to give your body what it needs after those tough long runs and lengthy workouts. I’m a proponent of eating a significant amount of protein as a distance runner – that’s what helps repair muscle damage.
Get strong in your living room
Many runners think they need a fancy home gym or an expensive monthly membership to get the benefits of strength workouts. That can’t be further from the truth. You can get strong in your living room with a relatively quick workout.
Focus on the basic exercises and you’ll see real results:
- Planks
- Side planks
- Push ups
- Pull ups
- Chin ups
- Bridges
- Lunges
Chill out!
Sometimes you just need some quick recovery. That’s where an ice bath or a targeted ice massage (with an ice cup) comes in. Cooling your muscles helps fight inflammation and can speed recovery by reducing how sore you feel. But as we learned earlier, being sore is a good thing so only use ice baths when you’re really sore.
Some of the research on icing is contradictory and doesn’t show a conclusive physiological advantage. Even so, it’s still a common practice among elite runners and I’m a supporter of icing as an effective way to recover from hard workouts through my own personal experiences.
The best way to schedule your ice baths is to use them after an easy run to focus on complete recovery. You can also ice after a particularly hard workout or long run. While you may inhibit some adaptations gained through the workout itself, if you think you ran too much or too hard then it’s worth it.
For the most part, only elite athletes should worry about the tiny percent of fitness they’re losing from an ice bath. Icing has more benefits than drawbacks for “normal” runners like you and me.
Compress your pain away
I’m a massive believer in the technology, even though it does make me look a little silly!!! Compression socks claim to enhance recovery by increasing blood flow to your feet and lower legs. While you’re running this is a non-starter – your legs are getting as much blood as they possibly can anyways. But at rest, they can help a lot.
Recent research has shown that compression socks increase lactic-acid and heart rate recovery after high-intensity running. Coupled with my personal experience that they work very well (wear them to bed!), then I’m comfortable recommending them to other runners.
The best times to use compression gear is after a tough workout or race when you know you’ll need extra help recovering. They can help boost your lower leg blood flow when normally the blood might pool in your extremities – like during periods of prolonged sitting at work or travel.
The other great time to use compression garments is right before a race. They can help your legs feel better after a day of wearing compression socks so you’re ready to race at your best.
Eat a good diet
Whether you’re a paleo runner, vegetarian marathoner, or a proud “regular diet” omnivore like myself, a good eating plan can be hugely beneficial to your recovery and performance. Put a focus on real food like vegetables, fruit, high-quality meat, fish, nuts, and a small amount of whole grains (don’t go crazy with the whole grains, I’ll be covering carb loading soon, and whether you should or shouldnt).
I have a very simple philosophy when it comes to the perfect runner’s diet and it aligns almost perfectly with Michael Pollan’s famous quote from In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto: eat food, mostly plants, not too much. Keep it simple and don’t worry so much about your food choices. As long as you’re eating real food you’ll be fine.
Get more sleep
Sleep is a runner’s best friend – prioritize it! Have you ever went to bed hours later than you originally intended because you watched a movie you’ve already seen six times? We’ve all done it and then regretted it the next morning when our alarm goes off.
Your body repairs itself when you sleep. It rebuilds your muscles, builds more mitochondria in response to all the training you’ve been doing, and adapts to your running workload. If you don’t rest then you don’t adapt.
And if you don’t adapt, you don’t become a better runner. Do yourself a favor and get the 8+ hours that your body craves.
June 12, 2012 | Categories: exercise, fitness, personal trainer poole, running, Uncategorized | Tags: injury prevention, performance, personal trainer poole, rebornpt, running club poole | Leave A Comment »

If you want to change the way you look, feel and perform then health is your first priority.
Following these detailed but simple steps will change you for the rest of your life. Don’t leave it to late!
“This is not just living better…This is a “Power Living” regime that will both transform your health, looks AND make your life so much more exciting and energizing.”
Andy: RE:Born client, Bournemouth
6 steps to success!!
1) Detoxify and Alkalize
2) Get your nutrition right
3) Supplement to combat the toxic environment
4) Get a training plan from a Personal trainer, who you trust and has the knowledge to help you achieve, then start to FEEL results.
5) Change the program constantly with your trainer and KEEP training so that you start to SEE results.
6) MAINTAIN all that hard work and live a much healthy, energized and exciting life!!!
Step 1
Detoxify and alkalize:
First please let us understand that the ENERGY which is creating by the body is dependent upon the complex system of cellular respiration that is dependent on oxygen availability. If we understand this then it makes perfect sense to increase the body’s cellular oxygenation?
Therefore in turn we will be able to automatically increase our energy levels, and as a by-product of this your body will become more energized and burn more Kcals!!
If you can detoxify and alkalize effectively, your body will be able to absorb more oxygen!!
“An alkaline body can absorb up to 20 times more oxygen than an acidic body.” says Dr Otto Warburg, Nobel Prize Winner. He also found that diseased bodies are acidic bodies, which repel oxygen and attract the overgrowth of microorganisms.
As your body becomes acidic, your body’s oxygen levels begin to drop, leaving you tired and fatigued. This is what allows fungus, mould, parasites, bad bacteria and viral infections to flourish and gain a hold throughout the body.
The biggest causes of acidity in the human organism are as follows:
•
Negative thinking
• Relationship and financial stress
• Tap water, tea, coffee and alcohol
• High animal protein diet
• Dairy foods (including those rubbish whey and casein drinks!)
• Processed sugar (especially carbonated drinks)
• Processed foods
• Cooked food
• Pharmaceutical drugs
• anaerobic exercise
This pretty much covers 99 % of people’s diets. To increase alkalinity in the body, you need the following:
• Positive thinking
• Happy relationship
• Drink alkalized water
• Adopt a 80% raw food diet
• Adopt a 80% alkaline diet e.g. vegetables, fruits
• Get the right dose of sunshine
• Aerobic exercise
At a pH slightly above 7.4 cancer cells become dormant and at pH 8.5 cancer cells will die while healthy cells will live.
Oxygen cannot stick to blood cells if the pH of the blood is too acidic. You can breathe pure oxygen, but if the blood pH is acidic, the oxygen will not be able to be picked up by the blood cells. It is chemically impossible.
Therefore in summary if we understand this then doesn’t it make perfect sense to detoxify and become more alkaline??
Step 2
Balance your Nutritional intake: start building better blood and cells.
“It all starts with what goes in your mouth!
Nutrition is the foundation in changing the way your body moves, feels, performs and looks. With bad nutrition you will create poor biological cells and poor performing hormones therefore giving you little chance of achieving your goals. Keep your intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.” James Rufus
Eat like our ancestors taught us to, not as the supermarkets direct us to. Try to eat a variety of foods, keeping as close to nature as possible. Stay away from anything packaged, canned, starchy (potatoes, pasta, rice etc unless you want your blood sugar levels going through the roof, making you produce more insulin and store fat) or freezed dried…etc
Making the change is a conscious effort, and only you can make for yourself.
Follow a diet that is balanced and based around a 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat. (but make sure you get your carbohydrates from vegetables and fruit).
or make it simple to the eye, 1/3 of your plate protein, 2/3 of your plate carbs and a dash of good fats (see below). this will allow you to control your insulin (storage hormone) from your carbs and the Glucagon (release hormone) from your proteins which stimulates the liver to release stored carbohydrates from its glycogen stores.
Barbara Cox, CEO and Nutritionalist for NUTRICHEF gives us these amazing top 10 tips!
1: Variety is the Spice of Life
Eating a wide variety of healthy food is essential for good health, so it’s no coincidence that the Japanese (who have the longest life expectancy) eat as many as 100 different foods per week compared to only around 30 for people in the UK. Why is variety so important? The answer is simple: we are complex creatures that have count-less processes going on inside us each and every day, and each of these processes requires a variety of different raw materials, which has to come from our food. Hence the saying, ‘You are what you eat’.
2: Love Your Fruit & Veg.
Fruit and vegetables are not only a great weight loss food and provider of fibre, they are easily the most important kind of food because they provide us with the greatest variety of nutrients.
3: Fish for Nutrients
They’re a great low-fat alternative to red meat and they’re a great source of essential fatty acids (EFA’s), especially omega-3, which are necessary for good brain health, for your cardiovascular system and for fighting illness. Oily fish such as mackerel, salmon, tuna and sardines are particularly good for providing EFA’s and also as a source of vitamin D, a very important disease-fighting antioxidant. Fish is also a good source of calcium.
4: Lose the Wheat and Starch
The problem with wheat is that its constituent protein – gluten – is difficult to digest, which can cause people considerable digestive problems and is also linked to depression.
5: Lose the Dairy
Did you grow up with the marketing slogan ‘Drink a pint of milk a day’? It really worked because millions of us took it as gospel that we couldn’t live a healthy life without dairy. What about calcium? Where do we get it if we don’t consume dairy products? By eating green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, asparagus and peas. Also by eating fish, nuts and seeds. Try dairy-free ‘milk’ made with oats, quinoa or rice.
6: Take Pride in Your Protein
Good quality protein is essential for growth and repair of cells. So we steer clear of fatty protein, choosing to use fish, lean cuts of lamb and chicken, nuts, seeds and beans.
7: Avoid Artificial Additives & Preservatives!
We believe strongly that
manufacturers who use artificial colours or sweeteners such as aspartame are risking the health of their customers by expecting their bodies to process chemicals that are not naturally found in food. By and large if you don’t recognize it by name then don’t eat it!
8: Not All Fats are Bad
Good fats like omega-3 and omega-6. These are known as essential fatty acids (EFA’s) because we need them in our diet due to the fact that our bodies can’t actually make them. Omega-3 fatty acids in the oils from cold water fish such as mackerel, tuna, salmon, herring and sardines. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in cooking oils such as olive oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil.
9: Mind Your Salt & Sugar
The problem with salt is that it raises blood pressure, increasing the likelihood of stroke and heart disease. Sugar acts differently because it is loaded with calories, which, if they aren’t burned off during the day, have to be stored away into fat cells, resulting in weight gain.
10: Seasonal, Local, Organic
Although not always possible in practice, strive to use locally produced, organic ingredients that are in season. Seasonal ingredients are considered best because they are bound to be fresher and, therefore, their nutrient content will be at their maximum levels.
Step 3
Supplement your life to combat the toxic environment we live in.
We live in a toxic world, where our food, water and environment are all polluted by toxic chemicals such as: PCBs, Parabens, Fertilisers, heavy metals (such as lead and arsenic), Pesticides, Nitrates/Nitrites, Fluoride, Oestrogen / Hormones, Cryptosporidium, Chlorine,, Sulphates, Aspartame / Neotame in most diet drinks, Other Artificial Sweeteners Olestra / Olean, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG, hydrolyzed proteins) found in take away chinese etc, Preservatives / Additives, Genetically-Engineered Foods (Many Non-Organic Foods), Non-Organic Foods (Pesticides, Contaminated Sewage Sludge, Hormones), Dairy Foods / rBGH, Alcoholic Beverages (beer, wine), Allergy-Producing Foods, Microwave Oven Cooking, mercury, palladium, Cigarette Smoking / Second-Hand Smoke, household cleaners, personal care products etc, the list goes on and we can’t get away from it all.
Ideally we need to move anyway from the products in the list above, go organic and drink water from a reverse osmosis, mineralising water filter. However for some of us this is not going to happen.
Therefore we must consider supplementing our diets to make sure we combat these toxins. There are a few essential supplements we suggest you look at very seriously:
(Before starting on a supplement plan, we suggest that you book in for a full health appraisal prior to ascertain what areas your body is lacking)
(More detailed blogs will come soon regarding the profound positive effects of the list below)
Alkalizing Salts: Disease thrives in acidity. Health thrives in alkalinity. Neutralise the toxic acidity in your body and re-oxygenate the body up to 20% more.
Vitamin C: Gives your heart and arteries the essential nutrients they need to support repair and regeneration and to fight degenerative disease.
Omega 3s and especially: Heart / Brain Oil: (see omega 3, blog)
Iodine and selenium and Tyrosine; these are powerful thyroid boosters that help maintain a healthy thyroid, boost the metabolism and raising energy levels.
A Probiotic: helping to support healthy digestive and immune systems particularly those affected by their hectic lifestyle.
A Green drink: Get one now!! Choose wisely, you want a powerhouse of natural greens: watercress, spinach, broccoli and kale. This is a phenomenal blend of health-promoting green vegetables for long-term health, energy and vitality.
An Antioxidant drink: A super fruit blend of juicy acai berries, blueberries and blackberries, would be great so its bursting with essential antioxidants to give your body a great defence against damaging free radicals.
A Growth hormone precursor:
A Mix of L – Arginine, L – Glutamine, L – Glycine, Potassium Ascorbate, B6, B12 & Folic acid and Niacin.
Why you ask? Well the good news is that your body must always product some minimal level of HGH or you would not be able to function. The bad news is that as you get past about 20 years old, your body produces less and less HGH each year. By age 60 you will probably have lost 75% of the HGH that your body produced.
If you are a numbers person, here are some average HGH secretion levels:
- At 20 years old we average 500 micrograms/day
- At 40 years old we average 200 micrograms/day
- At 80 years old we average 25 micrograms/day
Human growth hormone and IGF-1 have been shown to play a significant role in:
- Conversion of body fat to muscle mass
- Growth of all tissues
- Energy level
- Tissue repair
- Whole body healing
- Cell replacement
- Bone strength
- Brain function
- Sexual function
- Organ health and integrity
- Enzyme production
- Integrity of hair, nails, skin and vital organs
Basically, anything that goes on in your body is in some way tied to HGH. This is why HGH is often called the “fountain of youth”. Elevated HGH levels are what make you feel young again.
You may see this list as overkill, and state that you can get these essential nutrient from your diet, which I would agree with, IF and it’s a big IF you were eating organic, fresh and varied nutrients everyday, without using household cleaners, personal care products and drinking tap water etc. Unfortunately very few of us can actually achieve this!!
So supplementing should be seriously considered.
Steps 4,5 and 6:
Exercising and de-stressing:
Although the next 3 stages are all similar I hope you’ll read through and understand why I have broken them down into 3 separate stages.
A quick note beforehand we start to talk about the stages is that we must try to rid ourselves of stresses before we take on any exercise.
When you are mentally stressed and you keep trying to push your body physically during workouts (which is therefore applying more stress to your body), the straw that can break the camel’s back will eventually happen (please read drop a dress size re. Cortisol levels).
“Don’t train unless you can gain.”
This means that unless you can give 100% to your training session, you are wasting your time.
Remember this: you either get better or worse, you never stay the same. If this session is not going to make you better, then you need more rest and you should go for a massage, swim or walk along the beach, get fresh air and sunlight. I do anything to de-stress. Then when you arrive at your next session, you can then truly give it 100% and stimulate a result.
If you are going to be able to give 100% to the training session and get the results you deserve for your efforts, you must make sure you work at reducing stress in your life and improve your health.
In regards to the exercising, your plan should consist of the following elements:
(please make sure you book in with a qualified trainer and get signed off by your GP before entering any exercise regime)
Cardiovascular: Bike, run, swim, row, etc,
Make sure it’s done at a high intensity and do it for short periods of time, but do that multiple times. This will cause your body to adapt and change, making you fitter and leaner. NO more running for hours on that treadmill. Hooray I hear you say.
Resistance work: yes weights!!
Adding weights to your session will increase your metabolism, burn more calories, tone or build your muscles and make you look great. Make sure your weights work includes big lifts, such as squats, deadlifts, clean & jerks and bench presses to name just a few. Make sure you have a trainer to help you here.
Gymnastics: no not running round in a leotard,
But using your bodyweight as resistance, like press-ups, pulls ups, sit ups and maybe even a handstand. Making sure your body can move, lift and hold its own weight will make your daily life much easier.
To sum it up, get a personalized exercise programme from a personal trainer, it should be done 3 – 4 days per week, it needs to be constantly varied, and done at a high intensity including some functional exercises (exercises that mimic what you do in your daily life), cardiovascular work and gymnastic elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow.
This variety of exercise will not only sculpt the body that you desire, but make you ready for anything that life throws at you.
Remember routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.
Step 4
Getting through the first few days of pain, with little change in body shape.
The first 1-30 Days, starting to FEEL different!
During the first 30 days you will notice your cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance & strength rapidly increase as your body adapts from an untrained state. This is especially the case if you haven’t exercised regularly in a while.
If improving flexibility was one of your primary goals and you have been working on it, expect it to slowly improve. While you will feel like you have more energy and are getting in shape, your body composition is likely not to significantly change in the first month of training because your body adapts neurologically first.
Step 5
Staying focused and motivated, with the help of others and a great plan.
The next 30-60 Days, starting to SEE change!
During the second month of training you will continue to make improvements in your cardiovascular endurance as well as muscular strength and endurance gains. Although the gains won’t be as rapid as the first month, your personal trainer should be adjusting your program to avoid plateau and keep making progress.
During the second month of training you can expect your body composition to slowly begin to improve provided you have been eating correctly and doing the prescribed exercise during the training sessions and on your own time. Your flexibility will slowly improve as long as you keep working on it by stretching the specific muscles you want to become more flexible.
Step 6
Maintaining the workload and achieving your desired result.
90+ Days onwards, change is here, now to MAINTAIN!
If you maintain your regular exercise with a personal trainer and exercise on your own time you can expect your body composition to continually improve.
From 90 days and beyond improving your fitness assessment results for muscular strength & endurance as well as cardiovascular endurance will gradually become more difficult as you are in a trained state.
If you have been working on flexibility you will start making noticeable progress. Your muscles will feel less tense and you will increase your range of motion about your joints.
The Most Important Thing to Consider: Persistence Pays Off
Achieving results in a fitness program will never be an overnight process. If you are exercising with a personal trainer, putting in exercise on your own time and attempting to eat right, results will come in time.

Basic Results Timeline
- In the first 30 days of training you will FEEL the difference.
- In the 2nd 30 Days of training you will be able to SEE the difference.
- For 60 days and beyond of training your colleagues, family & friends will see the difference. A good time to call up a friend who you haven’t seen in a while!! See what they say about you!
So there we are people, 6 steps to achieving the body, life and performance you desire.
1) Detoxify and Alkalize
2) Get your nutrition right
3) Supplement to combat the toxic environment
4) Get a training plan from a Personal trainer and start to FEEL results.
5) Change your program with your trainer and KEEP training and start to SEE results.
6) MAINTAIN all that hard work and live a much healthy, energized and exciting life!!!
Please feel free to contact RE:Born Wellness on info@rebornpt.co.uk or call 01202 671783 for more information or to book in for our full health appraisal and programming.
October 31, 2011 | Categories: acupressure, alkalise, burn fat, cortisol, destress, diet, exercise, fitness, growth hormone, health, HGH, hormones, life, look better, massage, mens health, metabolism, nutrition, paleolithic, performance, ph level, testosterone, Uncategorized, weight loss | Tags: 6 pack, abdominals, beach body, bh13, bh15, brain power, canford cliffs, cortisol, depression, destress, dorset, drop a dress size, fat, fitness, health, heart attack, hormones, look 10 years younger, metabolism, nutrition, performance, personal trainer, poole, rebornpt, rebornpt.co.uk, supplements, tone up, wellness | 10 Comments »