Don’t Let an Achilles Injury Stop You in Your Tracks

Don’t Let an Achilles Injury Stop You in Your Tracks

By James Gucciardi

Myth has it that the mother of Achilles dipped the infant in the River Styx, which supposedly offered powers of invulnerability. Holding him by his heel his whole body was submerged in the magical water making him invincible. That is, his whole body except for his heel where his mother held him.

Achilles tendinitis is one of the most frequent injuries suffered by runners. If you run long enough, there is a good chance you’ll suffer from Achilles pain at some point. There can be many reasons for this, but one clearly stands out the most among the rest and that is over-use. Let’s take a look into greater detail of the anatomy of the Achilles, how it breaks down, and what you can do to have more resilient ankles. Read more

Should Runners Stretch?

By James Gucciardi, D.C.

What we really should be asking is, what are your goals and would stretching be effective at helping you achieve them?  If you’re trying to prevent injury before activity, the research doesn’t support it.  As far as running is concerned, it isn’t an activity that requires your joints to go through a great range of motion anyway so you really aren’t in jeopardy of acutely tearing anything.  But if you’re a mixed martial artist that isn’t very flexible and someone starts cranking on your joints, you’re in trouble. So it would behoove you to stretch often to have and maintain appropriate flexibility. But you’re a runner, not a mixed martial artist, so the question begs… Read more