Heel pain sucks. 

I first started having excruciating pain in my left foot at the mere age of 18.  I was training for the heptathlon at the University of Tennessee and can clearly remember the morning I got out of bed and couldn’t walk.  Track athletes are used to all kinds of aches and pains but this was different.   I’d had shin splints, pulled muscles, Achilles tendonitis, and a few other bumps and bruises.  But my heel really HURT! 

One of my teammates who I was training with also came down with it (misery loves company).  Before I knew it, I had the pain in the other foot!  We spent hours in the training room with our feet in buckets of ice.  If you’ve never tried this before, let me warn you that it feels like your feet are getting smashed with hammers while simultaneously being stabbed by thousands of needles.  We also performed exercises to strengthen and stretch our feet, got special tape jobs, and more.  We tried orthotics, ultrasound treatments, and more ice.  I later tried cortisone injections that worked for only very brief periods of time. 

Did I mention that heel pain sucks?

My feet got so bad I had to stop running track and playing all other sports.  It was just awful.  I was depressed about it for a long time until I came to the realization that the pain in my feet would go away if I simply stopped playing sports.  Boy, was I wrong.

Twenty-two years later, guess who still had heel pain?  Yours truly.  I had a very common condition called plantar fascitiis .  It’s caused by inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a thick band of fibrous tissue that attaches to your heel bone (calcaneous) and extends up towards your toes.  It sounds like it’s no big deal until you get it and then it makes everything from simply walking around to getting up in the morning a painful experience.  If you’ve never had it, count yourself lucky since approximately 1 in 10 people suffer from it.

At 46 years old, I am happy to finally report that I am almost pain-free and have been that way for 6 years now.  I say almost because it’s always “ there” but as soon as I feel a twinge of pain, I start my own treatment.  Happily (though not 100%) I consider myself cured. 

There are a zillion theories on how to treat plantar fascitis, but I’m only going to tell you what finally worked for me.  Over the years, I had done a lot of these things independently, but it wasn’t until I put them all together (the 4^th tip is critical), that my foot pain finally went away. 

1. Dig deep into where it hurts the most—and not just your affected foot.  Over the years, I had always massaged my foot or gone to massage therapists or physical therapists for treatment.  A massage therapist in Chalfont, PA finally pointed out to me that I had been attacking the pain the wrong way. By only addressing the foot, we missed that the real reason why my plantar fascia was so tight—my calves!  We treated these huge, painful adhesions in my calves with two treatment of deep tissue massage followed by self treatment.  I simply let the weight of my leg break up the adhesions with a foam roller.  It’s painful but it’s so worth it.  To treat the foot, I use a golf ball to massage the fascia.  It breaks up adhesion and loosens up the foot.  I keep a golf ball in every room of my house.  I even keep one in the passenger seat of our car so I can work on my feet every time we go somewhere.
2. Ice.  I know I told you how bad it is, but you can do it.  The good news is that you only have to do this when it gets really inflamed.   If it’s too painful, use a bowl (instead of a bucket) and stick as much of your foot in as you can tolerate.  Just fill it with ice and add a little water.  Keep your foot in the water for 20 minutes.  Ice baths are WAY more effective than ice packs.
3. Constantly stretch your calves and feet.  Every day.
4. Buy these shoe inserts.  I had been doing A LOT of the above (massage, ice and stretching) but the pain didn’t dramatically diminish until I bought these inserts.  They’re cheap enough to put in a few pairs of your shoes and, to me, were nothing short of a miracle.   They have a patented and proven heel bar technology that constantly stretches out the fascia.  What was most interesting was how fast they worked for me.  Within a matter of a week or two, I had substantially less pain.  I haven’t been anywhere without them in 6 years.  Their website is http://www.heel-that-pain.com/.  They also have some great exercise and stretching videos for people with plantar fascitis.

If you or anyone you know suffers or has suffered from heel pain, please send them this article.   It will drastically improve their pain.  You never know, it just may get rid of it for good.

Stay Loose and Pain-Free,

Molly

I’m going to give you 2 good reasons why you should get your shoulders as strong as possible.  First of all, you DON’T ever want to have shoulder surgery.  Of all the post-surgical patients we treated at our physical therapy centers, shoulders were amongst the toughest to treat.  The pain is tremendous and the rehab is no fun.  Secondly, having strong shoulders makes you look better.  Your posture will improve by helping you get rid of those rounded shoulders and guess what?  You’ll even look thinner!  Bigger shoulders make your waist look smaller (remember wearing shoulder pads in the 80’s?)

I asked Christie Matkozich PT, CSCS, Director of Personal Training at the Gainesville Health & Fitness Center, to show us her favorite shoulder sculpting exercises.  Christie oversees over 40 Personal Trainers and is responsible for over 700 training sessions per week.  To top that off, Christie is also a licensed physical therapist.  In other words, she REALLY knows her stuff.

Do the following exercises 2-3 times per week over the next month.  If you do, I promise you’ll definitely notice a significant increase in strength!  If any of the exercises are painful, try a lighter weight.  If that still hurts, stop and contact a local physical therapist.  He or she will be able to create a plan best suited for you.

1. Arnold press

Stand with two dumbbells positioned in front of your shoulders, palms facing body and elbows under your wrists.

Begin the movement by bringing elbows out to your sides. Continue to raise elbows outward while pressing dumbbells overhead until arms are straight. Lower to the front of shoulders. Repeat 10-12 times.

2. Deltoid Matrix

Grasp dumbbells in both hands. Position dumbbells in front of thighs with your elbows straight or slightly bent.

Raise dumbbells forward and upward until upper arms are horizontal.  Slowly move arms out to the side (form a T) from that position.  Lower dumbbells and repeat.

3. Single Arm Rear Delt

Lie on your side–either on a bench or raised platform.  If you’re doing this at home, your bed would work great.  Separate your legs for support. Grasp dumbbell in front of your chest with arm extended.

Raise dumbbell from starting point until arm is vertical. Maintain fixed elbow position (10° to 30° angle) throughout exercise.  Lower and repeat.   To protect your neck, keep your shoulder down—try not to hike it up to your ear.

So get started today!  Who doesn’t want sleek and sexy shoulders this summer?  Let me know how you like the results.

Get Strong and Smile,

Molly

If you want the ABsolute best woman to teach you how to get great abs, here she is—my old (and dear) friend Debbie Lee.  Debbie is the Director of Marketing at the Gainesville Health & Fitness Center (which has been ranked many times as one of the top health clubs in the world).  Debbie is also a  Group Exercise Instructor in Gainesville and has the best abs in town to prove it.  At 48 years old she even puts some college students at the University of Florida to shame!

When I asked Debbie to come up with three of her favorite AB exercises for my blog, she chose these because they can be performed at both a beginner and an advanced level.  These exercises call for a variety of different movements that allow you to strengthen your entire abdominal region.    And, since they’re a little different from the traditional crunches that you probably have been doing, these exercises will help keep you from getting bored.

If you have back pain or any other orthopedic problem, you may need to modify these exercises by bending your knees.  If you feel any pain while doing these exercises, stop immediately and consult your local exercise specialist or physician. 

1. KILLER CROSS CRUNCH:  This move requires a tremendous amount of control.  Do this exercise (and the other ones) very slowly to optimize your results.  Lie on your back with your legs straight and wide.  Put your left arm over your head and keep it “glued” to your ear until you reach for your foot.  Curl straight up without bending your knees or moving your legs.  Rotate your torso and reach for your opposite foot. Slowly lower your torso with your arm positioned by your ear again.  Repeat on the same side for 10-12 repetitions.  Repeat on the opposite side. 

Advanced Option:  The exercise is exactly the same, except you cross your feet at the ankles with your knees wide (like sitting Indian Style).

2.      SIDE PLANK:  Lie on your right side with legs extended and right forearm on the ground, with your elbow positioned under your shoulder.  Extend your left arm to the ceiling.  Raise your left hip towards the ceiling as high as you can then slowly lower back to the starting position.   Do 10-12 reps on each side.  If this is too difficult for you, modify the move by bending your knees.   

Advanced Option:  Get in your starting position.  Raise your top leg, then slowly tap your foot on the floor to the front and to the back while keeping your hips stationary.  

3.      CAN CAN:  This is called the CAN CAN because you CAN DO THIS!!  It’s not called the CAN’T CAN’T so try this even though it looks hard.  Sit on the ground with your knees bent and lean back placing forearms and hands flat on the ground.  Keeping legs together let your knees drop down to the right, towards the ground.  While in this rotated position, straighten your legs, pause, bend your knees then rotate back to center.  Alternate between your left and right sides for 8 reps.   

Advanced Option:  You CAN straighten your arms with your fingers pointing back to make this a lot harder.  But we really don’t feel the advanced option is necessary.

Take this Challenge:  Do these exercises with me every other day for 2 weeks.   Post a comment to let me know how much stronger you feel! 

Get Strong and Smile,

Molly