Today's Lianhe Zaobao

Featured in today's Lianhe Zaobao, (Gino) riding his bike to work rain or shine. It's in the zbnow section, cover page and page 5. I took photos of the papers.

Aized
camera-Lumix GF1

Running Talk/ Workshop @TTSH For SPA

Sports Solutions did an evidenced-based review on barefoot running versus running with shoes for the Singapore Physiotherapy Association at TTSH today followed by a running practical.

Here are some pictures from the talk and the practical.

Getting ready

Physiotherapists all ears

y'all ready to run?

Try this

Group picture

ST 071211 Safety Tips For Runners

After yesterday's newspaper article, Sports Solutions quoted again in today's Straits Times on page B10 under the Sports section. Have a look.

Wrong To Equate Exercise With Danger ST 061211

Sports Solutions is quoted in today's Straits Times article under the Sports section on page B8 on whether running marathons are dangerous. Go take a look.

Oakley Fast Jacket

Polarized lenses

Lenses for my rainy days ride

Well, I received my Christmas present early from Oakley this year, the Oakley Fast Jacket. And my first impressions?
You know it's been raining a lot in Singapore the past few days but I've been riding still and here are my first thoughts on the Fast Jackets.

The Fast Jacket has the same SwitchLock lens change system which was first used in the Jawbone & Split Jacket so changing lenses are a changing lenses are a breeze.

One observation is that if you tend go down on your drops (or aerobars) on your bike, the Fast Jacket's frame (on top) tends to reduce your line of sight a little. It also feels slightly heavier than my current favourite model which is of course the Jawbone.

What is good is that the Fast Jacket does not have a rim at the lenses's lower border which means your lower field of vision is unobstructed and the peripheral vision is great (and extremely useful when you turn around to check traffic while riding).

Ride safe, y'all.

Kinesio Taping Course KT1 & 2 on 12-13 Nov 2011

Most recent KT 1 and 2 course taught by Gino at Progress Healthcare the past 2 days.
Contact us for more details if you wish to do the next course.

Yesterday's Straits Times (ST 051111) Article On Sports Massage

If you read yesterday's article in the Straits Times on page C22 under the Sports section (Rubbing The Right Way), you would have read the author's personal opinion on Sports Massage on various conditions like  DOMs (or delayed onset on muscle soreness).

We have written on DOMs before. There are actually mixed results on published evidence that sports massage helps with DOMs. For every paper you find that says it helps, there will be a few more that says that the results are not significant.

With regards to blood circulation, there is actually very poor evidence that sports massage increases blood circulation (Wiltshire et al, 2010). This has been confirmed in many other studies as well.

Most beneficial effects seemed to be increased perceptions of recovery and increase in psychological well being.

Reference

Hertbert RD and De Noronha M (2007). Stretching To Prevent Or Reduce Muscle Soreness After Exercise. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Issue 4. The Cochrane Collection.

Szymanski, D (2003). Recommendations For The Avoidance Of Delayed-onset Muscle Soreness. Strength and Conditioning Journal 23(4): 7-13.

Wiltshire EV, Poitras V et al (2010). Massage Impairs Postexercise Muscle Blood Flow And "Lactic Acid" Removal. Med Sci Sports Exer Jun 42(6): 1062-71.

Zainuddin Z et al (2005). Effects Of Massage On Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness, Swelling And Recovery Of Muscle Function. Journal of Athletic Training. Jul-Sep 40(3): 174-80.

*Picture from Flickr

Kinesio Taping For Horses

Dr Kase Started taping race horses in 2005

Gudron demonstrating her taping

Yes, you read correctly, Kinesio taping can be done on horses as seen from the pictures..

Ever since Harvey Makortoff, a physical therapist from USA started taping his dog, Dr Kase has also taped race horses since 2005. In fact, Dr Kase mentioned that animals seem to respond even better to Kinesio taping than humans.

Dr Gudron Collins treats race horses in the UK and she did a very interesting presentation at the recertification in Albuquerque. In fact, Kinesio Taping Association is in the midst of preparing a Kinesio Taping course to train vets to be able to use Kinesio tape to treat the animals they see.

Kinesio Taping Instructor (CKTI) Recertification In Albuquerque

Many, many interesting updates for Kinesio taping. Gino is currently attending his Kinesio Taping Instructor recertification course in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States from 14-16 October.

Some pictures of his visit there. Will write on the updates on later posts.

Dr Kenso Kase himself

New World Record In Berlin Marathon 2011

Patrick Makau has broken the Emperor Haile Gebrselassie's world record in Berlin this year by 21 seconds after running 2:03:38 hrs.

 Makau made a big surge at around 27km and Geb stepped off the road briefly. To make things worse after he resume running, he soon lost touch and dropped out and lost his world record as well.

The big news is Geb DNF again, his second in two races after New York which he "retired" and came back and now more questions will be asked if he will return.


Paula Radcliffe in her comeback race after two years out finished 3rd in 2:23:46 and qualified for the London Olympics next year.

Here are the splits for the men's race.

5km-14:36 (2:03:13 pace)
10km-29:17 (2:03:34)
15km-43:51 (2:03:21)
20km-58:30 (2:03:25)
Half-marathon -61:43 (2:03:26)
35km-1:42:16 (2:03:17)
40km-1:57:15 (2:03:41)
Finish-2:03:38

*Photo by Getty Images

Remembering 9/11

Lest we forget.... Our hearts go out to those who lost their loved ones.

*Pictures from NY Times

Women's 200m Final in Daegu 2011

VCB, Carmelita Jeter & Allyson Felix 

A picture with VCB when she was in Singapore in 2009

Yes Usain Bolt ran a fantastic race in the 200m to redeem himself but most entralling race for the day for me was watching Veronica Campbell-Brown (VCB) outrun Camelita Jeter and my current favorite female sprinter Allyson Felix in the women's 200m race.

Not many people had expected VCB to win, certainly not me, as she had lost the 100m to Carmelita Jeter. In fact Jeter did try to haul VCB back in the closing stages of the race but VCB managed to hold her off with a storming finish after her brilliant start.

3-time 200m defending champion Allyson Felix rounded off the medals after placing 2nd in the 400m earlier. Felix tried to do the 200m & 400m double here and I guess that foiled her chances.

*Picture from Tracktownphoto.com
*Also see this.

Saving Lives By Sharing Bikes

Cycling is cleaner for the environment & much cheaper than driving cars (especially so here in Singapore). Now there may be more reason to do ride your bikes to work.

In a paper published by Spanish investigators in the British Medical Journal early this month, they found that bike sharing (in 181 982 participants) can actually help save lives in urban environments.

After accounting for air pollution and traffic mortality, the authors found that bike sharing prevented the deaths of at least 12 people each year as a result of the exercise.  Annual carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by about 9 062 344 kg.

Reference
Rojas-Rueda D, de Nazelle A et al (2011). The Health Risks And Benefits Of Cycling In Urban Environments Compared With Car Use: Health Impact Assessment Study.  BMJ 343: d452.

* Picture from Flickr by Steve Caddy.

News On Running On Grass & The Paleolithic Diet

Two articles in today's Straits Times (300711) were discussed in our blog previously. The first article is whether running on grass can prevent injuries. This article is in page C18 under the Sports section. We've discussed this before, have a look here..

The other article is under the Review section on page A39 and it talks about why eating "rabbit food" (or plant based whole foods) may not help decrease heart diseases and cancer.

The writer did mention that the Paleolithic diet (based on published studies) can lower risks for heart disease. Here are the links for our article on the  Paleolithic diet here and here.

Battle In The Alps

Galibier
photo by Roberto Bettini

Cadal Evans pulling
photo by Sirotti

Andy attacks!
photo by Roberto Bettini

If you enjoyed yesterday's stage to the top of the Galibier, expect more fireworks on tonight's stage to the Alpe d'Huez.

Andy Schleck rode to a big win last night on Stage 18 of the Tour De France, attacking on the next to last climb of the day with 60 km still to ride and then hung on for the win. Cadel Evans did most of the work in the last 10km pulling along with him Ivan Basso, Thomas Voeckler, Frank Schleck etc. Alberto Contador who showed much aggression (and descended like a demon) in the last two days was dropped in the last kilometer.

Voeckler battled hard hung to to the yellow jersey by a scant 15 seconds at the top of the Galibier, (reminiscent of way back in 2004 when as a newcomer, he rode to the yellow jersey, held it for ten stages and held a 22 second lead over Lance Armstrong before losing on the top of the Alpe d'Huez). Tonight, he will face yet another big battle to hang on the the malliot jaune.

Andy Schlek is now second overall, with his brother Frank third, 1:08 min behind Vockler, with Evans fourth 1:12 back. Frank had a relatively easy day yesterday and we may see him ride well tonight to gain time as Evans will probably the best amongst them against the clock in the long time trial still to come tomorrow in the penultimate stage.

Will we see Contador explode tonight? He is currently 4:44 down, back in seventh and tonight will be his last chance to regain some time bearing in mind he is normally a much better time triallist than all of the other riders including Evans.

All will be made clearer after tonight's climb to the top of cycling's most famous climb- Alpe d'Huez.

Straits Times Article on Athletic Myths ST 090711

Myth No. 1 in today's article in the Straits Times under the Sports section on page C20 looks at whether static stretching before exercise is ideal for your pre-race (exercise) warm-up.

We've written on this many times before in both our clinics' blogs, have a look.

Stretching and performance

How necessary is stretching?,

Just one stretch can slow you down

More on stretching

My Patient Made It To The Top Of Mount Everest

My patient Rob first came to see in to see me January this year needing help with his neck and knee pain as he was preparing to summit Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world after missing the summit in his first attempt last year. 

Rob has reached the top of each of the highest mountains in six other continents and just "needed" Everest to complete his 7 summits collection. He made it on May 13 this year. He came to see me today and shared his photos. 

You da man, Rob.

Route to Everest

Ladder crossing

View of Lhotse- 8500m

South Summit

Top of the world

What Does Lady Gaga Have In Common With Tennis In Wimbledon?

What does Lady Gaga have to do with tennis at Wimbledon? Well, Bethanie Mattek-Sands is ranked just behind Venus Williams, but she seems to have surpass Venus in terms of outrageous outfits at last Thursday's night Wimbledon players' party. Her dress is designed by Lady Gaga's designer Alex Noble.

Venus showed up for her 1st round match in a tiny play-suit with golden hot pants and proceeded to quickly dismiss her her opponent Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanuradova 6-3, 6-1.

Well, I'll be following the results more than the fashion.

Nicolas Mahut and John Isner are drawn to meet each other in the first round again for a second straight after last year's incredible first round duel that spanned 3 days and finished 70-68 in the fifth set breaking multiple records with Isner prevailing.

*Pictures from Getty Images, EPA & Reuters

New Running Shoes For Our Defence Forces

In today's Straits Times (180611 on page B1), it is reported that our soldiers, navy and air force serviceman will all be getting new Asics running shoes. It has been reported that Asics was chosen because of its lighter weight, durability and better shock absorbing qualities than the previous Brooks and New Balance models. Selection was done  after trials done by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and its fitness and medical sections.

The podiatrist interviewed in the article was also quoted as saying that the models provided will be "customising the shoes to the individual's feet, forestalling tendonitis and heel pain".

As written in a previous post, there is almost no correlation between wearing proper running shoes and avoiding injuries. Read more here.

If you have been reading our blog, you woulkd have read that Sports Solutions has written on this since 2009 when researchers concluded in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that sports medicine specialists should stop recommending shoe's based on a person's foot type as there is no evidence supporting it. 

Despite no credible evidence by researchers mentioned in their paper, Sports Medicine Australia (SMA), the New Zealand Society of Podiatrists (PNZ) and the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) all endorse shoes by Asics. In fact, all the reccommendations made SMA, PNZ and the FIMS are because of sponsorship arrangements (Richards et al, 2009).  Is our SAF going the same way?

I have nothing against Asics, in fact I wore them when I started running a long time ago (my first coach recommended them). I sincerely hope that our SAF servicemen's injury rate will be reduced, let's see what happens. If only they know pain free running.

I have all 3 articles, email me if you want a copy.

*Picture from Mindef

References

Knapik JJ, Trone DW, Swedler DI et al (2010). Injury Reduction Effectiveness Of Assigning Running Shoes Based On Plantar Shape In Marine Corps Basic Training. AJSM published online before print June 24, 2010.

Richards CE, Magnin, PJ and Callister R (2009). Is Your Prescription Of Distance Running Shoes Evidenced Based. BJSM. 43(3) : 159-162.

Ryan MB, Valiant GA, McDonald K et al (2010). The Effect Of Footwear Stability Levels On Pain Outcomes In Women Runners: A Randomised Control Trial. BJSM published online before print June 27, 2010.

Sole Therapy?

Also known as zone therapy, reflexology was "founded" by a Connecticut based ENT (ear, nose & throat) doctor William H Fitzgerald (1872-1942) so writes the author in yesterday's Straits Times (Solely Therapeutic, June 11 page A37).

His "work" was further expanded upon by an American physiotherapist Eunice D Ingham (1899-1974) who came up with the sole maps you will now see posted on the walls of reflexology shops. (I never knew this!)

The theory behind reflexology is that good health supposedly depends on good energy flow in the body. During illness, energy flow to a particular zone is disrupted and hence alters the proper functioning of organs in that zone. This shows up as tender spots on the the sole where affected organs are mapped. One can then "treat" virtually any organ since they are found easily on one's sole.

There seems to be no evidence behind reflexology though, as randomized controlled trials done on headaches, asthma, dementia, diabetes, foot swelling in pregnant women, headaches, post surgical pain, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple sclerosis, menopausal symptoms and the common low back pain were all found to be ineffective.

Reference

Ernst E (2009). Is Reflexology An Effective Intervention? A Systematic Review Of Randomised Controlled Trials. MJA 191(5): 263-266.

Kinesio Tape in Today's Straits Times (080611)

Those of you who attended the Kinesio Taping Level 1 & 2 course over the weekend will recognize the Kinesio Taping on the athlete (Straits Times page B15 under the Sports section), and how the taping can be improved.

Well, I treated the athlete and corrected his taping, he will definitely be well to swim in the SEA Games trials next week.

All the best for your trials.

* Picture from RN

Today Paper Article Quoted In Runner's World Website

Yesterday I saw the article in the "Voices" section  in page 20 of the "Today" newspaper and didn't think that much of it until I saw the same article quoted this morning in the Runners World website.

A cyclist (not a local Singaporean but an expatriate who formerly lived in Holland) was riding home from work on the bike section along Bedok canal was punched in the face by a jogger running in the designated cycling section. The cyclist was writing in to share his experience after a previous writer wrote in about another "road rage" incident regarding a cyclist.

Personally, I get fairly upset when any cyclist coming up behind me rings the bell when I'm walking along any pedestrian walkway. Pedestrians have the right of way in any pedestrian walkway. I usually don't give way unless the cyclist ask politely.

Now while I ride to work daily, I am always riding on the road and I never go on to any pedestrian foot paths. If I have to ride on any pedestrian walkway for whatever reason, I always give way to the pedestrians, but that's me.


Have a look at the Runner's world article here http://rwdaily.runnersworld.com/2011/06/note-to-self-avoid-the-bedok-canal-bike-path-wherever-that-is.html.

*Picture from Runner's World

Kinesio Taping Level 1 & 2 Course

Gino Spent the last 2 days over the weekend teaching Kinesio Taping Level 1 and 2 at Progress Healthcare Pte Ltd (the Kinesio tape distributor).

The next course will be KT 3 in October this year while and the KT 1 &2 will probably be in November. Stay tuned for more details.

To Eat Organic Food Or Not

There is increasing published evidence that the “ halo effect” in food may influence what and how much we eat. For example, research has shown that people tend  to eat more at fast-food restaurants claiming to serve “healthier” foods compared to regular burger and fries joint. This may be due to people letting their guard down when something is perceived to be healthy.

Food carrying an "organic" label may influence people to think that the food is more nutritious compared to "normal" food.

Organic food has been actively debated as whether they are in fact more nutritious.

In the study referenced below, the researchers conducted a double-blind, controlled trial in which 144 subjects at their local mall compared what they thought were "normal" or "organically" produced chocolate sandwich cookies, plain yogurt, and potato chips. All of the products were actually of the organic variety – they were just labeled as being “regular” or “organic.”

The subjects unanimously preferred the "organic" food samples across all group. Perhaps they believed "organic" means more nutritious and/ or tastier. This may mean that eating organic creates some sort of a placebo effect and that they are eating healthier or lower in calories.


Reference

Lee  JWC, Shimizu M and Wansink B (2011). The Health Halo Effect: Don’t Judge A Food By Its Organic Label. Paper Presented at the 2011 Experimental Biology Conference.

2:03:02 Hours In 2011 Boston Marathon

A super fast time in the 2011 Boston marathon of 2:03:02 hrs by Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya. This is by far the fastest time ever ran in the marathon, faster than the 2:03:59 hrs by Halle Gebreselassie in Berlin. But it will not be recognized as the world record because it is a point-to-point course (IAAF does not certify Boston as a record quality course) and course is mainly downhill in the latter stages.

The first 10k was covered in an amazing 29:06 min, projecting 2:02:47, but they slowed a little in the middle.

The 10km stretch between 30-40 km was covered in 28:25 min.....

Have a look at the splits below

Distance    Time   Interval    Interval           Projected 
                                         Time          Pace                    Time
 
     5            14:29            14:29            2:54                    2:02:23
    10           29:08            14:37           2:55                    2:02:47
    15           43:45            14:39            2:56                    2:03:04
    20           58:43            14:58            3:00                    2:03:53

Halfway    1:01:57                                                         2:03:54

  25             1:13:16          14:33          2:55                    2:03:40
  30             1:28:23          15:07         3:01                    2:04:19
  35             1:42:35          14:12          2:50                    2:03:40
  40             1:56:48          14:13          2:51                    2:03:13

Finish        2:03:02

*Picture from Runners World

Bike Lanes War

The picture above shows a battle being waged on the roads in New York City over its bike lanes.

On one side are those who want bike lanes in order to have a healthy lifestyle while being able to share the road equally.

Those against the bike lanes want their cars to own the road. They probably want to use as little energy as possible to get from one place to another. And I guess they just don't wanna support a city designed to help its inhabitants exercise while commuting.

Well, at least NYC has bike lanes. When do we get ours in Singapore?

I've been riding to school, training and work etc since I was sixteen. Dunno if we'll ever get bike lanes here.


*Picture and article from here.

De Quervain's Syndrome

Here's what a patient diagnosed with with De Quervain's I treated recently wrote on her very popular blog.

Thank you for your very nice comments Andrea, appreciate it.

Go take a look.

*Picture from Flickr.com - Christian Oliver Cruz.

Strength Drawn From An Arduous Test ST 130311

Please go and read today's (130311) Sunday Times papers and you will see that two of our staff being mentioned by Dr (Prof) Lee Wei Ling during her stay in the hospital and her subsequent period of rehabilitation.

Have a look under the "Think" section on page 39.

A Podiatrist's View On Running Shoe Selection

Ever wondered what an evidence-based Sports Podiatrist's views are on choosing your next running shoes? This is what Ian Griffins on Ransacker.com wrote.

Mr Griffins did an excellent job on saying what many current heath professionals are still doing now with regards to running shoe selection is flawed. He also discusses how the method of assessing your foot type by your wet foot print came about (and why the wet foot test is "nonsense" to quote him), why controlling pronation  is a poor way of choosing a shoe, why aligning runners to the same neutral position makes no sense.

Please have a look if you want to read his post.

I've written on running shoes before, have a look here and here.

* Photo Ian Griffins's webpage

Acupuncture For Chronic Low Back Pain

Acupuncture is astrological in origin and not evidence-based so writes the author in a review article in yesterday's Straits Times (page A32, 120211). How is it linked to astrology?  There is "qi" flowing in the human body's loop of meridians interlinking 361 points on the skin. Since the qi flows in a closed loop, you can insert needles at any point away from the painful site to relieve pain if done well.

Why 361 points? The earth takes just three minutes under 24 hours to rotate 360 degrees on its axis while the sun appears to revolve 361 degrees every 24 hours. Hence the link to astrology.

Previously I have read both articles from the Spine Journal and New England Journal of Medicine quoted by the author in which acupuncture was researched to see its efficacy on low back pain. The conclusion from the systematic review (the highest level in research) was that both real and sham acupuncture were more effective than no treatment.  It added that acupuncture may be used as a supplement to other forms of conventional therapy for low back pain.

So here's the deal, real acupuncture does no better than sham acupuncture. It probably is the placebo effect working when patients feel better.

References

Berman BM, Langevin HM et al. (2010). Acupuncture For Chronic Low Back Pain. N Eng J Med. 363: 454-461.

Yuan J, Purepong N et al (2008). Effectiveness Of Acupuncture For Low Back Pain : A Systematic Review. Spine. 33: E887-E900.

Shape Magazine - Aqua Based Rehabilitation

Sports Solutions featured in this month's (January)  Shape magazine for our Aqua Based Rehabilitation (Deep Water Running) on pages 102-105. Go take a look.

Please also see this and this.

Loopz Training @ SS with Wong Li Lin

Staff from both Physio & Sports Solutions gathered at SS today for a Loopz training session with founder Wong Li Lin. It can be used for both rehab and strengthening. Contact us if you are keen on finding out more.

A big thank you to Li Lin for her time.