Gill Westwater Sports Massage & Rehabilitation

Just a reminder of my treatments! Hot stones are increasingly popular - frequently used as part of a sports massage - so you get the relaxing warmth of the hot stones but the focussed attention of advanced sports therapy techniques - possibly a match made in heaven! You get the deep sleep associated with a relaxation massage together with a body that feels so much less sore and achy. DM/call to book in.

Another lovely review. My client had come over from America to compete in a number of highland games - including the Braemar Gathering! I was thrilled that I could help his legs recover in between his races. DM if you're currently ramping up the miles and want to help keep your legs feeling bouncy!

DM to treat yourself to a recovery massage this week - or tag a friend you know has been training hard!

𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

Or maybe you just want an hour to relax and unwind - why not treat yourself - and I can get the hot stones warmed up for you before you arrive.

That's my flyers made up for the Kirrie 10k goody bags! Good luck to all those running and it's not too late to book in for a pre-race leg loosener! DM today and I'll do my best to fit you in. Happy to be offering a 10% discount to entrants. Not sure which of my clients are in - Donna Michelle? AAbbie Ttaylor?

It's great to wake up to a lovely message from a client, and amazing how quickly improvements can be felt. DM if you're fed up feeling sore. I've some availability next week - Tuesday, Thursday and also over the weekend for anyone who's weekdays are too crazy!

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.

But here's the thing - an overuse injury often starts as a little niggle. That niggle might go away as you warm up, but if you don't change your training that whisper of pain can become louder until it becomes a proper tendinopathy that might take months to resolve.

I ran Lakeland 50 last month. No pain, no issue.

𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟏 Took a full week off... felt great.

𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐: Jumped pretty much back into training, in fact - was feeling so good I ran 6 days instead of 5. Yippee.

𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟑: Speed work? Why not! Second run of the week... OUCH! My achilles let me know it wasn't happy. The whole way round, it didn't really improve - but was only a 2/10. Didn't do my planned long run and I took a couple of days off running, used my ultrasound, got some massage, and taped the area. Tendons love appropriate load - so I started doing some bent leg heel lifts. Couldn't hop. Jumped a bit. Avoided my zero drop shoes as they put more load through the achilles and added a heel lift to my other shoes to avoid further irritation.

𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟒: Pain still just 1 or 2/10. Fairly normal week training - monitored pain, tried some speed work - no escalation either that day or the following morning. Risked a very long and hilly 20 mile run in the Lake District. Was pretty achy (2/10) by the end, so I took the next day off instead of the planned second run. Kept going to the gym. Weighted heel drops now.

𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟓:. I'm still a bit achy but it's not getting any worse despite the speed work. Tried my zero drop shoes - no flare. Did hill sprints - but only 6 reps instead of 10 and was no worse the next day. I can hop now and am increasing the weights for my heel drops.

It can take a full 12 months for a tendon to get stronger so I'll carry on doing the exercises even once the pain has gone, adding increasingly heavier weights and more plyometrics as time passes.

If you've got a niggle that you've been ignoring, get in touch and let's work out how you can keep training without it developing into an injury.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞? 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

10% of the 227 runners in my survey experienced a bone stress injury during the menopause transition, and this is exactly why we need to be more proactive in protecting our bone health as we age.

While running can be good for bone health, more running doesn't mean more bone-building. Bone responds to loading, but the response quickly reaches a plateau. Instead of relying on running to protect our bones, we need to progressively introduce the correct stimulus, and also make sure we build in enough recovery time - something that a lot of us can find difficult!

So what can we actually do?

LOAD — strength training and progressive impact: think small bunny hops, skipping, hopping and changes of direction.

FUEL — enough energy, protein, calcium and vitamin D to support bone and muscle health.

RECOVER — training provides the stimulus but sufficient recovery time allows our bones to recover and adapt.

PROGRESS GRADUALLY - to give our bones time to adapt when increasing mileage, hills, speed or impact.

KNOW YOUR RISK — previous bone stress injury, RED-S/low energy availability, low BMI, inadequate calcium intake, family history of osteoporosis or early menopause all warrant extra attention to bone health.

It's never too late to start thinking about bone health. It doesn't take hours of exercise - if we add just a few minutes of the right kind of loading and make sure we do it consistently, we can start to build and maintain stronger bones.

𝗕𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀? 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀? 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿? 𝗡𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁!

Peri- or post- menopausal? Larger scale studies have shown gluteal tendinopathy to be the most common cause of lateral hip pain in menopausal women. Affecting women more than men in a ratio of as much as 4:1.

Previously pain in the lateral hip was often attributed to trochanteric bursitis - inflammation of the the fluid filled sac that sits between the tendons and the bone, helping to reduce friction. But we now know that although the bursa can be irritated, the primary cause of the pain is more likely to be gluteal tendinopathy. As our oestrogen levels fall, our tendons may become less able to tolerate load and more likely to become irritated, even if our activity levels haven't changed.

The good news is that it's not something we just have to push through or ignore. Massage can help manage the pain while a targeted programme of simple exercises that can be done at home and progress as you get stronger can help resolve the issue.

The goal is not just to get rid of the pain. It's to allow you to get back to doing those things you love - and keep doing them.

𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽.