Colleen Little, PT, DPT, OCS

One of the easiest ways to make your steps lighter is by measuring and increasing your Cadence, which is your step rate per minute. To do this, use a metronome or music with an average Cadence, increase it in small increments, and practice for five minutes at a time.
 
Transcript: "So the question is, how do I make my steps lighter? One of the easiest things that I have people start with is measuring their Cadence, sometimes the Cadence of your runs are a little bit too slow, which means that you're spending a bit more time on the ground than you need to. And it really easy way to get your steps to be. Lighter is just to increase your Cadence, which is your step rate per minute. So you can measure this by counting how many steps you take in a minute on one side and multiplying that by two. And that's your Cadence. And then when you're trying to increase your Cadence, if it is a little bit on the low end, you can start with just a five to ten percent increase in Cadence practice see what that feels like. And over time just slowly try to gradually increase in small increments Cadence's. That would be considered a little bit too slow would be in the 150s. 160s you know in the low one, 70s to Mid 1880s is a great goal to shoot for but again there's been like a lot of research to show that just a slight Improvement in what your own normal kid and Is can have big Improvement in lighter steps, injury rates, Etc. An easy way to do this is to use a metronome. You can do an app on your phone, you can set it to the Cadence and just try to match your your foot falls to the Cadence also Spotify. Different music apps have cadence songs that you can pick an average Cadence and then run to that music. And just try to get the feet to land with beat when you're first starting this. I recommend, just trying to do five minutes at a time. Then go back to your room will run and then check in. For another 5 minutes and see if that if you're on. And then again, towards the end of a run, when you start to feel fatigued, try to match that Cadence, again. Hopefully, this helps"

For corrective exercises, do them four days a week. For heavy lifting exercises like squats and deadlifts, do them at least twice a week.
 
Transcript: "The question is how often should strengthening exercises be done? Some of it depends on the type of strengthening exercises that you're doing. If you're doing more corrective exercises, more rehab-based light exercises such as bands, mobility work, I typically recommend to try to do those at least four days a week. For strengthening exercises such as heavy lifting exercises, leg lifts such as squats and deadlifts that are a bit more demanding on the body, try to get the stimulus at least two days a week. Some of that depends on training. There are some times with a running schedule where three times might be appropriate. But for the most part, if you get that stimulus twice a week, then you should be in a pretty good spot."

As an experienced ultrarunner moving into your 60s, it is important to focus on recovery and focus on training in the gym to maintain strength. Doing so will help you to successfully complete a 100-mile Ultra.
 
Transcript: "So the question is, as an experienced ultrarunner, moving into my 60s, how should my preparation change as I prepare for a 100-mile Ultra? So if you are an experienced ultrarunner, then I think that you want to keep your preparation mostly the same with, just some modifications, especially if you've had success with that in the past. As I, you know, as what happens to all of us as we get older and move into. Different generations and stages in our life. The one of the biggest things that changes as our ability to recover and then also our overall muscle mass and ability to maintain that. So I'd say big things is to really put a heavy focus into managing your recovery. And if that means making sure you're getting enough sleep eating properly or decreasing your mileage, a little bit over all being able to recover and hit the key sessions is going to be the most important versus the overall mileage. That you might be hitting each week and then really prioritize being in the gym. Maintaining that strength and in both are like muscle tissue and our tendons, and ligaments is going to be a vital key component to being able to get through this 200-mile race. So yeah, small modifications really focus on recovery and spend a lot of good quality time in the gym."

When recovering from shin splints, recommended physical activities include biking, swimming, aqua jogging, and weight lifting (upper body or lower body on stationary machines). These activities can help keep up cardiovascular fitness and strength without aggravating the injury.
 
Transcript: "I'm answering the question. What physical activity do you recommend while recovering? From shin splints? The easy? Quick answer is really any activity. That doesn't reproduce your symptoms either in the moment or within that like first 24 hours, after the activity, typically with shin splints you're going to need something that takes a little bit of load off the lower extremity so biking can sometimes be a good option but definitely get in the pool Aqua jogging or swimming is a great non-weight-bearing activity. That can help you keep up some of the cardiovascular fitness that you need and also don't be afraid to stay in the weight room. You know lifting weights upper body or even anything stationary. Lower body can be a good way to keep the strength that you need before you get back out on a run and will help your body stay prepared for the load and impact. That's going to have to manage when you get back outside."

A simple exercise for this issue is the side plank in variations. It helps stabilize the hip and bring in trunk control and strength, which can eliminate hip drop patterns in running and walking.
 
Transcript: "An exercise. I really like for this issue is a simple side plank in variations on how you're going to perform that side plank. Whether it's just a side plank, hold driving the top knee or side, dips up and down. But the side plank captures, a few different things in a simple exercise. It's a very high glute meet activity, which helps stabilize the hip as you're walking but also it brings in the trunk and oftentimes the Trendelenburg gait powder and we Forget to look up above and trunk control and trunk strength. I have found has been huge in helping to eliminate that hip drop pattern in running and walking. So keeping it simple with the side plank."

As a team PT, it was extremely rewarding to watch two of my athletes win Olympic silver medals. Knowing the amount of work and sacrifices that went into their success was an amazing feeling, and I also believe that being part of a team setting can help push athletes to achieve success.
 
Transcript: "My perspective is a little bit different in that I'm not directly treating with the athletes, but as their team PT and being with them at all of their hard training sessions, I'm very invested in the athletes that I work with and in Tokyo, I got to watch two of my athletes when Olympic silver medals and the feeling that came with that was just like a huge culmination of knowing and missing the amount of work that they put in day-to-day and knowing that all we had done to keep them healthy and consistent really paid off. And I get really witnessed firsthand the amount of sacrifices that these athletes make to get to that high of a level and the feeling of watching them accomplish their, their dream is just something that's very hard to describe. And I know as a past Collegiate Athlete on a team when your own teammate set records or Irwin Metals, it just pushes you to be better too. So that's the advantage of being in a team setting, or having group of people to push you and train with his that their success is going to breed your success. So that's what's really special about a team and it's fun to be a part of it, and in many different roles,"