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Run Performance: Muscle Oxygen Monitoring, Injury Prevention, Coaching

Kim Nedeau

Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist, Injury prevention, Running Coach

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5-1-5 Clinic Dates!

(Update! This clinic is full.) Hi everyone! By popular demand, I have added another weekend 5-1-5 clinic on Sunday November 3. Appointment times are 9 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 2 PM and 3:30 PM. Send me a message if you would like one of the appointments: kim@kimnedeau.com. What is a 5-1-5? I am monitoring…

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You guys know that breathing is a hot topic for me. As part of my run assessment testing, I have new equipment that looks at the strength of a single breath. This is a good indication of diaphragm strength. I’ve been working on my diaphragm strength every day with a breathing tool that adds resistance to breathing. It’s a simple and quick routine that increases performance potential. Take a look at how my numbers have increased in a short period of time. . . . #powerbreathe #breatheright #runnershigh #runsmart #runnersofinstagram #runner #athlete #diaphragm #strengthforrunners

Near-infrared light spectroscopy (Moxy Sensors!) aren’t only useful during a 5-1-5. For fun, I’m looking at blood flow restriction vs standard exercise to see which exercises produce the biggest response in the hamstring. First up is the physioball double leg glute bridge exercise. I used a blood flow restriction strap on the right. I won’t over-analyze but the green bars represent 30 seconds of exercise, followed by 30 seconds of rest with a little monitoring before and after. Notice that the overall blood volume (red line) was reduced during exercise and had a really nice increase when I removed the strap after the last interval. The second graph is the leg with no strap. Blood volume stays the same before and after. Also interesting, the muscle oxygen saturation lows reach 0-2% on every load on the compression side and I never dip below 81% on the other side. Why might someone use blood flow restriction? Two populations benefit: older population and injured individuals. Studies show muscle growth with very light loads of exercise when using compression that compares well with lifting heavy. The difference is that compression with light loads is safe for almost everyone. This data helps me think about which exercises are best for particular injuries. What exercise should I test next? Deadlift? Any requests? . . . #injuredrunner #runnersofinstagram #nirs #sportsrehab #sportsrehabilitation

This is Amy and she just finished the New York City Marathon! She never ran more than a 16 mile long run. Instead we focused on time on feet, we focused on volume not miles. Amy’s “long run” was three hours but a good chunk of that time was spent on the side of the road performing strength circuits, then back to marathon miles, back to strength circuits. She embraced this wacky training method and said this after her negative split race, “the last 10k I was just giddy with how f-ing awesome I felt. I hurt but could push. Last year I felt so awful.... It is just the freaking best race.... strength work was what got me through those last 10k feeling so strong.” You are such a running rockstar Amy! @abrausen . . . . #marathontraining #marathon #trainsmart #womenrunning #motherrunner #raceday #runlikeagirl #runandlift #runnerswholift #runlong #running #nycmarathon

Spotted! Ghostface enjoying a ride on ElliptiWEEN! @elliptigo_usa . . . #happyhalloween #cycle #ride #halloweencostume #halloween #runneronwheels #run #traineveryday #outside

Almost two hours on my ElliptiGO with average heart rate 137. I cannot run right now because of nerve pain but this gives me that same runner’s high, the same post-long run fatigue, the same physiological adaptations! I know it’s just a possession but it’s one that makes my life infinitely better. 🛴 🛴 🛴 Also, that’s my favorite emoji. . . . . #elliptigo #cycle #outside #outsideisfree #runandride #crosstrain #trainsmart #runnergirl #runlife #injuredrunner #backpain #runner

Something exciting has happened! I now have one athlete who trains with a single Moxy Sensor. When she came here to the gym at the end of July, her 5-1-5 results showed that she had a coordination issue (trends on the left and right were significantly different -- also interesting because it matched her injury history) and she failed to utilize oxygen. We've spent the last couple of months working on teaching her body to utilize the oxygen available in her muscles. I think it's a really fun limitation because it's so trainable and represents great potential for improvement. Fast forward to October and she now has a Moxy Sensor! In July, she could not desaturate below 67% despite a very high intensity interval. Let's take a look at her workout today. There are a few blips that we will ignore -- it's just noise. To start, a training session will always look like this: she starts at 75% saturated (this is a high starting point!) and then dips. It dips because her body has not yet responded to the demand and uses available oxygen in the muscles. Then you see over the next 10 minutes, she builds to near 90%. This is wonderful saturation and is a perfect starting point for a race or workout. She is someone who saturates easily whereas for others, it takes more work -- they might need a handful of sprints with walking in between to reach their max. Now at 6:22:00 she starts a mile time trial. She has a downward trend in saturation, which is exactly what I would expect to see at this high intensity. She desaturates all the way down to 43%. Remember that just over two months ago, she was stuck at 67%! My goal for her will be to desaturate below 20%. Now you see some up and down peaks. These are jump squats and rest. The low points are the end of the set and the peaks are her rest. I find that jump squats are a perfect exercise to teach the body to desaturate -- she has performed many of these over the past couple of months. I told her to stop the jumps when her oxygen saturation levels off from the downward trend. I did not give her a set number or duration -- this way we keep the exercise aerobic vs anaerobic and she will recovery more quickly. See comments....

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