ASK 220
INJURY REHAB Q
I suffered a grade-3 shoulder separation in July and am currently going down the non-surgical route. Any advice on rehab/warm-up exercises? Craig Norval
A
Separation injuries account for around 9% of all injuries of the shoulder. Once pain is managed, immediate rehabilitation is required to prevent continued pain and inflammation, with particular focus on scapula stabilisation.
A great exercise is the ‘Scapula Wall Clock’, which helps strengthen the shoulder girdle muscles and restore normal scapula motion. Stand facing a wall, with both arms straight and hands firmly placed on the wall. Keep one arm in a fixed position and slowly move the other up the wall in a 12 o’clock direction. Ensure the moving arm doesn’t bend throughout the movement and the supporting arm maintains muscular tension. Work your way through the clock face, returning each time to the starting point. Change arms. Repeat 3 times. To add difficulty, place both hands through a looped thera-band.
Warm-up exercises should be dynamic and engage the shoulder joint and scapula, e.g. shoulder shrugs, and banded shoulder pull-aparts and blade squeezes.
It’s imperative that during any rehab/ warm-up exercises you never push through any pain. Aim to feel pain free through the full range of movement and stop the exercise immediately if not. Nick Beer
STRAIGHT SWIMMING Q
I really struggle to swim straight. Any help very much appreciated! James Allen, email
A
A few things could be out of kilter here, but don’t worry, you’re not alone!
Firstly, work on keeping your spine, torso and legs all in line. Think about lengthening your spine, pulling your ears away from your shoulders and drawing your belly button up toward your spine. Doing these three things will help maintain body tension and also lift your hips up toward the surface. This means that any rotation from your body will be around a single axis rather than more of a pendulum motion.
The second thing to look at is where your arms stretch to. Many people believe that longer strokes are better – which is great, except that by trying to stretch as far as they can, athletes end up reaching across their body, which causes twists and changes to direction. To correct this, reach out directly in front of your shoulders, form a straight line from your hip to your shoulder and then on to your hand.
Between these two cues, you should be able to straighten up your body and, as a result, your swim direction. John Wood
TRI BIKE FITTING Q
What will be measured in a good tri bike fitting service? Simon Maddox
a
Before any changes are made, your current set-up will be measured. E.g. seat height, saddle to bars, aerobars to the floor, etc. And then it should follow these three stages of measurement:
One foot is placed horizontal while the pedal is at the bottom dead centre and the upper body is in the aero position. Your leg can’t be dead straight behind the knee and your hips mustn’t roll over and downwards, so as to allow the foot to maintain flat. Aim: A solid riding style that allows the foot to push down without excessive toe pointing.
When pedalling in the aero position your knee should come within 4-7cm of the back of the elbow. Though some riders reach much further forward this can adversely affect handling, engage too much core muscle and prevent a low, safe head position. Aim: The upper arm to be between vertical and 10-20° off vertical. This keeps the elbow close enough to the shoulder to aid handling and comfort.
On the aerobars you should be able to look ahead without straining your neck. Ensure your saddle is at or very close to horizontal – you don’t want to fall onto the handlebars. Also check the forearm cups aren’t too low. Aim: Your torso silhouette to be slightly upward from the hip to upper chest area, this gives space for the knees to pedal without hitting the stomach and also helps digestion and breathing. Joe Beer
OVERSPEED RUNNING Q
What is overspeed run training, why is it beneficial and how do you do it? Stuart Opprey
a
I hadn’t had much to do with this type of training until one of my athletes was tested at a lab. Part of the testing included some overspeed work – running quickly down a slight decline – and… the results were good! Of course, sprinters have known this for decades, using a variety of bungee ropes and even mopeds to propel them down the track at pace. But as a triathlete, it’s probably best to use a slope to get those legs turning over at speed.
Use a slope so flat that on the bike it’s one of those you don’t really know you’re going down, but you sure notice it going up! Too steep and you’ll find yourself braking rather than letting your legs turn over naturally at a high speed. When we did this kind of training, it was a once-amonth type workout, which is probably going to work best for most endurance athletes. Run to the slope, do 12 x downhill sprints over 100-150m, a light jog cool-down and that should do it! Paul Larkins