Can pills, shots and surgery be the solution for back pain and dysfunction?

By Juan Ruiz-Tagle

Here is the problem…

1. There is an average of 60 % more pressure on the spinal discs when we are sitting than when we are standing.

2. Most people sit between 6 to 8 hours per day (driving, watching TV, using the computer, eating, reading,etc.)

3. Most people sit with poor posture.

4. Most people do not move often enough.

5. Most people lift with their backs and not with their hips and legs.

6. Most people exercise the trunk muscles “core” by doing some type of sit-ups and “supermans”, which puts between 1000 to 1200 pounds of pressure to the spinal discs (Stuart McGill PhD 2006).

7. Most people exercise with machines, isolating muscles and blocking their proprioceptors and most of their stabilizers.

And then, after all this, when people develop spinal problems, such as, bulging disc, herniated disc, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, etc., a common approach is to go from ibuprofen to pain killers and when that doesn’t work, to go from steroids to epidural injection and when that doesn’t work, to go from laminectomy (surgery) to spinal fusion (surgery) and when all that doesn’t work, they are told to get more surgeries and more addictive pills.

Here is a better approach to prevent this from happening:

1. Walk with arm swing at least 20 to 30 minutes everyday (dog walking is OK but it does not count as therapeutic walking).

2. Sit with your spine in neutral (not too slouched nor too arched) and change you posture within a neutral zone every 30 minutes.

3. When lifting, keep your spine in neutral, use your legs (bend your hips, knees and ankles joints) and keep the object close to your center of gravity, in other words your belly button.

4. Floss your sciatic nerves 10 reps 2-4 times per day every day (See post 60).

5. Build neuromuscular endurance by speed walking, opposites (bird dog) exercises, planks (don’ arch your back…keep it in neutral), squats, lunges and balance reach.

6. Avoid exercises that are harmful to the spinal discs such as: sit ups, prone leg raises, superman exercise (lying flat face down and raising both legs and arms up), knee to chest stretches, toe touch stretches and spine twisting stretches and don’t put your self in danger with dumb exercises such as standing on a exercise ball.

7. Eat often and eat a balance diet of protein, complex carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits and clean water.

8. Rest, restore and recover through good night sleep, active rest and therapeutic massage.

9. Be patient. Although you may progressively feel better, it may take six to twelve months before you see results and get better

Please check out more from www.OneMileRunner.com Consultant, Juan Ruiz-Tagle, on his blog at backtofunction.blogspot.com.

Speed Workout

This speed workout video was shot in June before we departed on our world tour. I was doing some 250 yard sprints on the track and some 6-10 second incline sprints up the Ringling Bridge.

Our three general points on speed at www.OneMileRunner.com

  1. Body stays erect for maximum knee lift and to allow the trunk to stabilize and brace
  2. Bent arms move from the shoulder, but without further flexion from the elbows
  3. Mid-foot strike – striking the ground with the heel first is like putting on the “brakes”.

This style of running promotes stiffness throughout your body. This is what enables you to be fast and diminish your time on the ground. Many running coaches talk about staying “relaxed.” I am not sure what this means for form. Relaxation in my form promotes more sinking of my heels, more flexion from my elbows, and a lack of bracing in my trunk. Stiffness in my trunk and mid-foot landing propels me down the mile course optimizing my efforts for speed.

See what it feels like to stiffen your entire trunk when sprinting. Try a mid-foot strike if you have not before. Experiment with your arm movement to give you the best rhythm, balance, and power possible. And most all, enjoy what your body feels like when going fast – one of the best feelings in the world.

Full Warm Up Program

This final warm-up video shows the full program with all three parts of the program: blood flow, mobilization, and power preparation. Why should you warm-up anyway before strenuous exercise? Warming up your muscles and joints will not only help you avoid injury, but also it will give your body a chance to peak perform. Instead of elongating your muscles, or stretching, before your next event, try to mobilize your muscles and joints. Squats, lunges, and balance reaches are the best combination to mobilize your lower body muscles and joints. The punching matrix is a great way to mobilize your upper body muscles and joints. You will know when you are adequately warmed-up when your skin is moist and you can run at top speed freely.

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Power Preparation – Advanced

Our warm-up series continues at www.OneMileRunner.com with the addition of this Advanced Power Preparation video. These are the final bounding exercises added to your beginner and intermediate programs. These plyometric drills, bounding exercises, are an integral part of your warm-up program. The exercises are not something you do once in a while, but before every speed activity. Enjoy the workout!

Power Preparation

We posted the first phase of the www.OneMileRunner.com warm-up program last week featuring how to mobilize your joints and muscles. This week we share another part of the warm-up: Power Preparation. The Power Preparation follows your mobilization and gets you ready for speed for any sport. The beginner version is in the video below and we will add the intermediate and advanced videos in the weeks to come.

Every injury I have had I have done to myself. When I get injured from an exercise, it is due to bad form or bad habits –  unknowingly. When my orthopedic doctor reviewed my MRI, he said that I did something to cause trauma to my left leg. I did not accidently fall or trip in any of my various workouts. So I was wondering how did I traumatize my leg? We felt if I remove the trauma – I would remove the source of my injury. So I searched in every workout I did. I did not come up with the answer until my return to the track this past week since I strained my left knee and right hip flexor in March. Whenever we begin our track practice we warm-up in the opposite direction of our speed training. Most athletes who use the track go counter clockwise with the left leg on the inside to practice their speed training as every race takes place in this direction. I decided to switch it up a bit this week as I was trying to find how I traumatized my body as seen in the MRI. And I found the answer. The trauma occurred on repetitive workouts with my left leg taking a pounding on every turn. I felt a huge difference when I practiced my speed in the opposite direction (clockwise) with my right leg on the inside – no pain.

After years of training my speed in only one direction. It was only a matter of time that my left leg would break down. It felt strange at first to run speed with my right leg on the inside, but my body loved it. I thought warming up in the opposite direction was enough, but it was not. Please learn from my experience and be mindful of your workouts in whatever sport you do. Repetitive habits must be good ones to build your body, form, power, and speed properly. The best way to train speed is straight ahead without any turns at all.

This is the ideal way to keep your body in balance.

Faklis Orthotics

Happy 2010!

I just was fitted for my new indoor race orthotics and I thought I would share what takes place at Faklis Orthotics (www.faklis.com). The process of finding the right pedorthist, getting evaluated properly, and learning the value of professional foot care is important step for every over-30 athlete.

I want to especially thank one of my consultants, Mike Forgrave, who is responsible for making my orthotics in 2009 and 2010. Vasile and Mike work together to make sure my biomechanics are optimal. Thanks to them I am injury free.

I am planning to participate in an indoor meet at the end of January to try out my new spikes and new indoor race orthotics. After indoor nationals in March, it will be back to the roads as I prepare for our 2010 event – Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes.

Proper Running Technique


Proper running technique has been discussed and debated for decades. After experiencing Achilles tendon pain and plantar fasciitis pain, I needed to take a closer look at my running style and technique. Thanks to the guidance of my trainer, Juan Ruiz Tagle, at http://backtofunction.blogspot.com/ I have altered my running technique to allow other parts of my body to help take the pounding of my mile running.





Please take a look at this running video as I discuss what I have changed for optimal protection and optimal performance:



I will post my next blog, “Running Exercises,” on Friday evening, just before I take the long drive to New England on Saturday morning the 27th of June.

Robotic Massage


I finally took the recommendation of a colleague of mine to visit Meilus Precision Therapy to help heal my plantar fasciitis and achilles tendon. Meilus Precision Therapy is a cutting edge method to treat injuries, relieve aches and pains, and improve athletic performance. The therapy actually lengthens muscles again.I know customers who actually avoided surgery because of this robotic massage. After two treatments, I really felt the difference.

The creator of Meilus Precison Therapy, Al Meilus, is based in the southwest Florida. There are centers that exclusively use the Meilus methods of recovery. Dave Wallwork is the Clinical Director for the Meilus Precison Therapy in our area. Dave worked as an athletic trainer in professional baseball for 16 years with the last six years as the rehab coordinator for the Chicago White Sox. Now Dave focuses all his energy on his Meilus business in southern Sarasota, please visit his website to learn about how this robotic massage therapy works at www.SarasotaMeilusTherapy.com.

To view this robot in action on my legs, please check out this short video:



Please check for the Meilus Precision Therapy center near you. It will get you back in your chosen sport…fast!
If you do go in for a visit, please write us at www.OneMileRunner.com and let us know about your experience with the robotic massage.

Customize Your Foot Strike


The fourth reason I was able to complete the 20/20/20<5@45 feat was due to custom orthotics and proper footwear. I first met Vasile Faklis, one of the Consultants and sponsors (Faklis Orthotics) of the www.OneMileRunner.com,  back in 2003 as I traveled up to Tarpon Springs to defend my 5K title from 2002. At that time I had plantar fasciitis in my right foot that I thought might be better, but after racing the first half of the race, my foot was screaming in pain. It was a point-to-point race, so since I was already 2 miles into the 3.1 race, I thought I might as well complete the race since the finish line was closer than going back to the start.

After the race, I met Vasile at the small expo. To get to the source of the pain is the key on injury prevention. The lack of a cushioned custom orthotic coupled with a new race shoe that was lower in the heel created my foot problems at that time. I cured my plantar fasciitis with a new shoe, new custom orthotics, the night splint, and rest. Since that time my custom orthotics have evolved over the years. At the moment, I am working with Vasile to adjust my custom orthotics. Since I have been back on the tennis court the past few months, my plantar fasciitis in my right foot has reappeared. I saw Dr. Tjamaloukas for an appointment and x-rays and he let me know that I have a very difficult foot structure. This is why custom orthotics are so important to me. How we hit the ground is personal and unique to each of us. If you can afford a custom cushioned orthotic, I cannot recommend it enough. I am fortunate to have Faklis Orthotics take great care of my foot needs and I excited to try my new orthotics on 1/3/09. My hope is that once again – Vasile will take away my foot pain with his new creation.

My shoe sponsor for 2008 was Brooks. The knowledgeable Florida rep, Gene Ulishney, was very helpful to me in finding the right shoe for my foot. We let the custom orthotics do the corrections – so I could then train and race in a neutral shoe. I did my heavy distance in the Brooks Glycerin, my trail/beach running in the Cascadia, and my mile road racing in the Brooks T5. The only problem that I had with Brooks was with one of my favorite racing shoes – the T5. With my new orthotics, I needed a 12.5 size shoe. The T5 stopped at size 12 and then had a size 13. No 12.5 in this shoe size. The Glycerin and the Cascadia fit very well in the 12.5 size, but the size 13 in the T5 felt like “clown shoes” as they were just too long. So Vasile put the size 12 T5 on a shoe stretcher and then sent the shoes to me on the road. Proper fitting shoes are key to training and racing. I am undecided on what shoe company I will be associated with in 2009, but I will be certain that the combination of the Faklis Orthotics, SmoothToe Energizing Socks (new sock sponsor for 2009), and the shoe fit together wonderfully for maximum protection, fit, and performance.

As my Dad told me when I was a kid – never compromise on footwear! As runners this is the main piece of equipment for our sport. I am very excited to welcome the SmoothToe compression sock to the team of sponsors in 2009. This energizing sock will help my  blood flow, recovery, and performance. It is the “Rolls Royce” of socks and I will let you know how you can try a pair in an upcoming blog entry.

So please take care of your feet this upcoming year. This is the foundation of your running. If your foot strike is good, then that will keep your ankles, knees, hips, and back in alignment. Give yourself a foot massage to begin the year and get ready to accelerate in 2009!

Why are comprehensive lower extremity biomechanical evaluations important to athletes over 30?

A comprehensive biomechanical examination/evaluation is very important for athlete over thirty as this will help identify any biomechanical “faults” that may lead to injury.  As we age, our bodies undergo several changes including such things as muscle tightness and inflexibility.  This is especially true if you haven’t been active for a while or are returning to activity after a lengthy layoff.  Understanding what your biomechanical challenges are, may help selecting the proper shoe or other type of equipment that you may need.  By indentifying these potential problems, steps can be taken to help with injury prevention, such as stretching the proper muscles, strengthening weak muscle groups or maybe orthotic intervention.  You should be evaluated by a professional who is trained in biomechanics.