Although I’ve been lucky enough to get through my running career (well… life, really) without a serious injury, I’ve never been one to be without some kind of nagging pain. Of course, my “nagging pain” is someone else’s full-on overuse injury. Most recently, I’ve had a nag in my lower back that was referring up to my shoulder blade and down my leg that, while not the worst pain I’ve ever had, has been going on long enough that it was time to look into it.
Enter Tariq Karim at Expert Physio! Tariq isn’t only a Masters level Physiotherapist, but also an avid runner so he really understands the needs of the runner’s body and where we often falter. It didn’t take him long into our assessment to get to the bottom of my pain: weak glutes & hamstrings. This, of course, comes as no surprise to me, but this is the first time I’m feeling pain associated with the weakness.
A challenge I know many of us have faced this year is that the gyms have been closed or you just can’t get in because of pre-registration constraints. Of course we don’t need a gym to get a good strength workout in - there are a ton of home workout options that can keep our gains up at home. For me, home is where my motivation goes to die so my strength training took a nose dive, but Tariq set me up with a few exercises to rebuild some strength that are easily completed post-run so I’ve been getting them done as soon as I walk in the door.
An awesome benefit of working with Tariq/Expert Physio is that they use an application called Physitrack. Not only does it allow the therapist to send the exercises to the patient, but by engaging with the app it shares the patient’s progress with the therapist on a daily basis. There is also a weekly questionnaire for the patient to complete to further monitor progress. I love this addition to the weekly visits since it definitely keeps me more engaged with the program as well as accountable to Tariq that I’m actually doing what’s prescribed.
If something is feeling a little off in your body, don’t wait until it’s blown up into unmanageable pain to have it looked at. Something as simple as some weak or imbalanced muscles can become so much worse if you don’t address it sooner than later. And you’ll be in amazing at Expert!