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Questions I get from regular people…

Hi there Jesse!

First off, thank you for the great resources that you have provided in your blog. It is almost exactly what I’ve been looking for. I have been wearing vibram five fingers as my daily shoe now for about 3 years. I prefer to wear nothing else really, but sometimes I’ll wear a regular shoe if I don’t have any clean Injinjis.

About a year ago, I was exercising pretty consistently and part of my exercise was about 20-40 minutes of running on a treadmill 4-5x per week. I’ve never felt better mentally than when I was running everyday like this but I ran into a problem. I was waking up every morning with sore achilles heel tendons to the point where it was almost debilitating. Because of this I backed off of the treadmill and started doing the elliptical. Then, on the elliptical one day, I pulled a muscle in my lower back fairly severely and it basically put me out of commission from all exercise. I got lazy and eventually put on about 30-40 pounds.

I am now back to weight-lifting 3x per week doing the Bill-Starr 5×5 workout. Immediately following the workout I do a 15-20 minute Yoga routine consisting of Sun Salutation and some relaxing neck and back stretches/twists. I also try to walk for about 30 minutes on my off days. I attempted to reintroduce jogging back into my routine but after the first day of jogging, I woke up the next morning with my achilles heel on fire so I began thinking that barefoot running just wasn’t an option for me.

This is when I ran into your blog and your 12 weeks to running program. I intend on starting the program next week during my non-weight lifting days. I do have several questions for you however, if you don’t mind answering them. First, do I need to start doing the exercises you recommend to strengthen my feet even though I’ve been in Vibrams for 3 years now? Second, will a 30-60 minute yoga routine be sufficient for your functional exercise? I would be focusing mostly upon stretching and balance poses and less on strengthening poses since I am weight lifting. Third, when walking, should my foot be landing on the ball/midfoot area of my foot or the heel? Currently, while walking I land on my heel, I have tried landing on the ball of my foot but it feels odd. While running I of course land on the ball of my foot. Lastly, do you think the 12 week program is the best place for me to start? I really miss that “high” I get from running and would like to get that feeling back as soon as I can!

Thank you so much for your time and effort!

My Response

First: Do I need to start doing the exercises you recommend to strengthen my feet even though I’ve been in Vibrams for 3 years now?

More than likely you have been wearing shoes for the majority of your life. With shoes placed on your feet as you took your first steps. If you were wearing shoes extensively while you were learning to walk, especially stiff, thick soles, it would have affected the development of your arches and entire posture. Add in a couple of decades of shoes and you more than likely have some significant postural dysfunction.

In the past three years, you have probably come a long way in improving your arch and postural health, but there is more you can do. There is always room to improve your postural strength and stability. And if you are starting at the beginning of a new program, why not start at the very beginning… training your body to move efficiently? Spending that extra time training with healthy, efficient movement is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of injury down the road.

The two serious injuries you are healing from (achilles pain, low back pain) are a sign that you have some significant postural dysfunction. I would also include the hips and shoulders into your corrective work. The feet are just the foundation to the entire postural system. The whole system deserves attention. So, yes I highly recommend working on your feet, hips, and shoulders to strengthen and stabilize your entire posture.

Second: Will a 30-60 minute yoga routine be sufficient for your functional exercise? I would be focusing mostly upon stretching and balance poses and less on strengthening poses since I am weight lifting.

No. Yoga is a great modality of functional exercise, but it does not include every movement at every speed your body is capable of performing. Functional movement is about using your body to its fullest capacity. To do this you must dabble in multiple healthy modalities of movement. Using Yoga as your only source of functional movement is like having a high performance sports car and only going slow around the corners. Your body is designed to push, pull, bend, twist, crawl, walk, run, sprint, swim, skip, jump, climb, throw, and so much more. Are you getting all of these movement patterns from your current routine?

Third: When walking, should my foot be landing on the ball/midfoot area of my foot or the heel? Currently, while walking I land on my heel, I have tried landing on the ball of my foot but it feels odd. While running I of course land on the ball of my foot.

This is an area of debate, and I’m not really sold on one solid answer. I walk both ways depending on the situation. I am currently 99% barefoot. When walking on sharp rocks, my body naturally lands forefoot first. It is too painful to land heel first. I don’t even have to think about it. My body makes the adjustment by itself. But other places, I find my body feels natural with more of a heel strike. I suggest spending as much time barefoot as possible, and let your body decide. Don’t think about it too much. The more you can get your mind out of the picture, the better your body will move in general.

Lastly, do you think the 12 week program is the best place for me to start?

No. I suggest beginning with this six week walking program first. You are coming off of two very significant injuries in your life and you have recently felt the achilles pain when you attempted to run. This tells me that the injuries are still very present in your body. NOW is the time to be mindful about doing too much too soon. It is more safe to err on the side of caution. Four to six months of building up slowly, getting your body stronger and without pain will lead to better outcomes than taking it to fast, getting injured again, and sitting for a few months on your behind.

Now is a great time to introduce foam roller therapy and to get some professional help for massage, personal training, and running form. Here is my guide to recovering from injuries.

Also, I suggest staying off of the elliptical. I don’t recommend any machine (cardio or strength) that tracks your body movement for you – with the exception of a bicycle.

I hope this helps. I look forward to hearing about your progress. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jesse James

Pain sucks. Like a leech.  It literally sucks your energy.  It will drain you. What were once simple and enjoyable tasks, become tedious and hard.  Pain will leave you unfulfilled with life.

Pain is a wrecking ball.  It wreaks havoc and leaves destruction in its wake. Pain will quickly, almost without fail, make itself the number one priority of your life, drowning out everything else. You lose your ability to focus and concentrate.  Productivity vanishes. You feel distant and alone, it puts strain upon your intimate relationships. It leaves you frustrated and helpless. Over time, as the pain becomes chronic, hopelessness and depression set in.

The story of pain is a story that sucks. It is a story that I lived out for a good chunk of my life. Thankfully, I learned that life didn’t have to be this way. There is another way to live. It is possible to remove pain from the drivers’ seat.   It is possible to love and honor my Self and my Health – not just in passing but as a major priority.  I can change my relationship with pain. By changing my relationship with pain I have profoundly changed my life, forever. I feel more deeply. I experience greater intimacy within myself and in my relationships with others. I have seen amazing, incredible growth in my personal and professional life. I no longer live as a victim to my pain. Instead, I live with inspiration.

What is pain?
Pain is not bad.  On the contrary, pain is beautiful.  It plays an incredibly necessary function within your body. Pain is one of the most powerful ways your body communicates to you.  It is the way your body protects itself, and it is there to prevent harmful movements and unhealthy behaviors.  Pain is the feedback that keeps you in touch with what’s going on within your body.  If you were to lose the ability to feel pain, you would be unable to manage yourself safely. Ultimately you would end up destroying yourself.

Pain vs. pain
Pain shows up in a number of ways.  There is pain when you push yourself to the extreme. There is the burn in your lungs and legs during a hard run. Or the two days of soreness from an intense strength-training workout.  This is pain, yes, but it is what we usually consider “good pain.” This is not what I am addressing in this post.  I’m writing about the kind of pain that speaks of something different. The kind of pain that says, “this isn’t working”. That if you continue on, you will get hurt.  That you will injure your body. This is the kind of pain that is so important to learn how to listen to.

Pain is a fact of life
Every body feels pain. Some cope with it better than others and some may hide it well. But ultimately, pain has an affect on all of us.  It is part of our humanity.  So if you feel pain, guess what?  You are not alone. Not even close.  Pain is something you share in common with every other person on the planet.

Pain is opportunity
The older I’ve grown and the deeper I’ve ventured into my practice, the more I’ve learned about pain.  This experience has taught me a few simple lessons.  First, pain does not happen without reason.  It is a signal of underlying issues.  There is always a root cause.  Second, silencing pain doesn’t make it go away.  It makes it worse.  When I ignore, cushion, push through, or drug the pain I feel, I merely make room for the pain to fester, multiply and grow.  Third, unless I deal with the pain that I feel – unless I search for and address the root of the problem, eventually my body will deal with the pain in its own fashion.  Eventually, I will be forced to deal with it.  There’s no getting around it. Unfortunately at this point the measures turn drastic, and I’m forced to deal with the pain by way of injury.  What’s the overall lesson here?  We cannot run away from our pain.

Pain is an important part of life. When pain is speaking to you it is providing you invaluable feedback. If you learn to listen and take part in the conversation you will be able to make immediate and vital adjustments in every aspect of your life.

You feel the way you live
How you feel is directly related to how you live.  Are you in pain?  Then you are living the kind of life that makes room for pain.  Pain is a reflection of how you live your life. It is the result of each and every choice you make: what you eat, how you move or don’t move, how much you sleep, and how you deal with stress and adversity. If you are in pain and you want to feel better, you must change how you move, and yes, you must change how you live. You will not get change by maintaining the status quo.  Pain is the product of a system that is set up to produce pain.  It is a result, a symptom.  If you hurt, and you don’t make any fundamental changes, you should have no reason to expect any change in how you feel.

Pain free?
This is not about getting rid of your pain.  I’m not writing to teach you how to treat your pain, or even how to manage it.  This is about changing your relationship with pain.  It is about profoundly changing your life. I have no interest in helping you get rid of your pain. That is an impossible feat.  It’s not what I do, it isn’t my job.  I want to help you change your life so that pain becomes a companion as opposed to an adversary.  I want to teach you to make body and movement choices so that you feel healthier, happier, and whole. I want you to take a good hard look at how you feel and ask yourself why? Then you will have the tool to make significant adjustments in how you live. In that moment, you will change your life.

When you approach it like this, the role of pain in your life will change.  It will no longer convey a message of frustration, helplessness, or hopelessness. Instead you’ll find in it a beautiful beacon of opportunity. You will learn to go straight to the root cause of your pain.  The sooner you learn to listen to your pain, the sooner you change you relationship with pain, the sooner true healing and recovery can begin.

P.S. Check out this sweet video: Change how you view and deal with pain in your life.  Our lifestyle, and every choice we make, affects how we feel.

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I want to return to the discussion of minimalist or barefoot walking and running to stress a point about transitioning to minimalist or barefoot shoes and the process of changing one’s walking and running form.

There are many runners who transition way too quickly. They quickly pick up their mileage so as not to lose any of their shod running conditioning. But this prevents them from adequately addressing the necessary changes that need to be made in their form. After six to twelve months of running either barefoot or in minimalist shoes they get a nasty injury. This is a shock to most of them, because they feel that they effectively made the transition safely. When in fact, they did Too Much Too Soon (TMTS). Unless you are injured in a collision, all injuries are TMTS injuries. Plain and simple. This is a very slow process. It only takes eight weeks for your muscles to adapt to a new training program. So you may feel ready to push your limits. But, it takes over two years for your fascia to adapt. Which means you will need to follow a well thought out, thorough, and patient transition program.

Have you decided to embrace a barefoot lifestyle? Congratulations, you are embracing a change that will be good for your body for the rest of your life.  That said: please, be patient with your body. Take your time. This not a good time to have a shoe burning ceremony and run off barefoot into the sunset.  Even if you ditch your shoes and hit the pavement unshod, your body will still be running as if you were shod.  Barefoot running is very very different.  If you are not patient, you will get hurt. Until you develop strength and stabilization in each foot and leg, even half a mile of barefoot running can cause a serious injury that can take months of recovery.

“The heel cushions and arch supports within modern shoes have made our feet weaker, the foot has so much support in these shoes that the muscles don’t need to work as much as they would otherwise and have grown weaker… If you transition to barefoot running slowly and run correctly, so you build up to it, you could decrease the risk of injury over the long term.” – Science News

WARNING: changing your walking/running mechanics will place new demands upon muscles, joints, and tendons that are weak and unstable due to under use. If you are a habitual barefoot runner or walker, then your body is more prepared to make the transition to full time. For everyone else, plan for the transition out of shod running/walking into minimalist or barefoot running/walking to be very slow.

What do I do? Good question.  It will take at least six months and up to three years to fully transition into barefoot/minimalist running/walking safely. This is for all runners. It doesn’t matter how many marathons or ultras you have run.  Barefoot, or even minimalist, is a whole new ballgame; especially if you have a history of running related injuries. A very small handful of runners out there can make the transition quicker, but they are taking a very big risk. Far too many people who attempt a quick transition end up injured. Spend the extra time now. It will pay off for the rest of your life.

Follow the program I lay out here and spend at least six weeks retraining your body to walk barefoot or minimalist.

Once you are capable of walking 30 minutes a day, six days out of seven, with no pain or soreness, you are ready to slowly add in running. Here is a twelve week running program to help you have a pain and injury free transition.

Buy a foam roller and begin a daily practice of self massage and flexibility. The foam roller is by far the best investment in your long term health.

Find a highly qualified and experienced fascial therapist to help your body through this process. A good therapist can break down adhesions and restrictions associated with poor gait mechanics. This will help speed up the process tremendously and make significant reductions in your risk for injury.

No Pain = Your Gain

My number one goal with my clients is pain-free movement. Pain is an indicator that there is a problem.  Pain is the body’s way of communicating to the mind that something is wrong. It is important to listen to this 911 call.  When pain calls, stop what you are doing.  Seek out and utilize the appropriate treatment for the issue before returning to the activity that brought on the pain.

Good indicators that you are doing too much too fast:

• extreme soreness in the calves, Achilles tendon(s), and/or arches
• Top of foot or metatarsal pain
• knee, hip pain, or low back pain
• Neck or shoulder pain

It is not just pain during or immediately after you run that you need to pay attention to. It is important to be aware of any new pains in your body during the week, day or night.

When you choose to ignore your pain you are placing yourself at an increased risk of significantly more pain and injury. I cannot stress this enough. I consistently see it each week with new clients. Ignoring your pain leads to even greater pain down the road.

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Some of the best inspiration that I get comes directly from my clients.  Since I started writing this blog six months ago, the amount of back and forth with my readers – you – has grown.  This communication has been incredibly useful and has helped me grow as a practitioner.  So to my readers, those who’ve been with me from the start and those recently joining the conversation, I say thank you.My clients often ask questions.  Lots of questions.  From time to time a question is asked loud enough, often enough, and by enough of you that it begs to be given a more formal answer.  This blog post is just that.  I’m answering a question that I get all the time.  As more questions like this arise, you can expect me to do the same.  But for now, read on and enjoy. The Question:
I have chronic pain and I live in __________. How do I find a deep tissue massage therapist?

My Answer:
Massage Therapy is a fast growing industry, and there are a ton of therapists working in the field. For the most part, the majority of them are great at what they do, but very few are specialized in treating chronic pain and injury. Some may say they treat back pain or sports injuries, but this does not mean they are specialized in treating chronic pain and injury. There are short courses that therapists can take on treating symptoms of back pain or sports related injuries. These are great for introducing a therapist who may want to specialize in treating pain and injury. But it takes thousands of hours of hands on, successful treatments before a therapist truly becomes specialized.

Massage therapists are similar to other health professionals, such as doctors and physical therapists. The majority of them work in the generalized field, while only 5%-10% pursue a specialty.  It’s the difference between a general practitioner and an orthopedic surgeon. This makes finding a therapist who is specialized in treating your specific condition kind of like finding a needle in a hay stack. Challenging but not impossible. It will take some work and time on your part, but it is well worth the effort – even if it takes more than a week.

Finding a Therapist.  Five Steps.

1. What does your body need?
What are you feeling? How do you want to feel? Have you seen a doctor or physical therapist with little to no results? Have you been told your only options are pain medications, injections or surgery?

Deep tissue massage therapy can help with many common chronic pain ailments:
Pain in the neck, shoulder, back, hips, knees, and feet
Sciatic pain
Plantar Fasciitis
Carpal Tunnel
Tennis Elbow
Runner’s Knee
Piriformis Syndrome
Scar tissue removal
And many many more…

2. Who are you looking for?
What kind of specialist?  Who can help you get where you’re going? There are many specialties within the field of massage. All of them work for somebody and none of them work for everybody.

I specialize in deep tissue massage with a focus on improving posture by working on the fascial system. I have had success with the majority of my clients. Yet from time to time there are the occasional few for whom my work does not seem to benefit.

3. Who is available in your area?
Google this, yelp this, ask friends, family and co-workers for recommendations, etc.

Post a request for recommendations through social media sites. Join professional groups for massage therapists via Facebook, Linkedin or Google and ask for recommendations there. Great therapists discuss, support and learn from each other through these groups making them a great resource for referrals.

Be willing to drive a little out of the way. I have multiple clients who regularly drive 45-60 minutes for a session.

4. Pick the top  3 – 5 and research them.
Proactively vet your top five.  Before you settle on a therapist, I suggest interviewing them either in person, over the phone or through email. I love it when I am interviewed. I have noticed a greater trust relationship develop between me and the client’s who go through an extensive interview process. Trust is important, you will not find the level of successful treatment without it. If you interview them via email, be patient. Most therapists spend more time in session than on the computer. If they don’t respond within a day or two… call them instead.

Ask them if they have experience successfully treating clients with issues similar to yours. Ask them for references and don’t be afraid to call. Check out their website. Do they write a blog? What type of information do they post? Does it relate to what you are dealing with? Do they have reviews on Yelp or Google? Do any of the reviewers talk about having similar issues treated successfully?

5. Spend at least four to eight sessions with your favorite.
Once you’ve done this and you notice that it doesn’t fit or feel right, spend a few sessions with another. I generally tell my clients to commit to at least four, and even better, eight sessions. By the fourth session, most can feel whether or not the work we are doing is beneficial for them.  Best case scenario: you develop a relationship with a therapist for the long-term and you share a journey together.  You get to know them, they get to know you, and your process is hyper personal, geared exactly for you.

My 6th and special bonus tip.
When you find that great therapist and they help you move and feel better, pay it forward by telling the world. Tell your friends and family. Post your experience in detail on social media sites. Write them a review on both Yelp and Google – again be detailed about your experience. Offer to be a reference for potential clients. Your therapist relies heavily on word of mouth to survive and thrive as a business and so does the next person in pain who is seeking help.

Note: I wrote this list to help you best find a deep tissue massage therapist for your needs. This is the same advice I regularly give clients when seeking a family or specialty doctor, physical therapist, personal trainer or any other health care provider. Taking the extra time to build and develop a relationship of trust with your health care provider will pay dividends in your long term health and vitality.

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Last week I posted a six week program to help you slowly transition towards minimalist/barefoot walking and, ultimately, running. This weeks post is a 12 week program to slowly transition you into minimalist/barefoot running in a way that minimizes pain and injury, not just in the short term, but for the rest of your life.

If you are new to minimalist/barefoot walking or running or have not run in over six months, It is very important that, at minimum, you complete the six week walking program and follow the corrective exercises shown in the postural series here, here, and here, before you progress into the 12 week running program. It is extremely important to spend the extra time developing the postural musculature needed to run efficiently before you go for your first run. This is an important step that is missing in most running programs.

As I discussed in Free Your Feet:

“Your feet are the foundation to your posture.  A strong foot creates the base support structure for a strong healthy body. A weak foot creates an unstable foundation affecting the posture from head to toe. You cannot build a strong stable structure over an unstable foundation. It would be like attempting to build a house on top of sand. Sooner than later the entire structure will collapse. ”

A lifetime of wearing shoes has weakened your foundation. A weak foundation means you do not have the muscle strength or endurance to maintain proper form… You have kinks in your mechanics, or, with a different name: Gait Dysfunction. You cannot run your way to good form. What you practice is what you re-enforce. Running with gait dysfunction only strengthens gait dysfunction. It would be like you are running full speed with your head down… straight into a wall. I know this from personal experience.  I often see this with my clients. I have run head on into the wall many times. Each time, I wound up taking weeks or months off. Then I would do too much too fast and run right into the wall again. Does this cycle sound familiar to you? You will not quit this cycle until you start at the beginning by strengthening your postural foundation. To ignore this advice will ultimately lead you to pain and injury again and again.

A couple of great ways to work the kinks out of your gait is to hire a highly qualified and experienced fascial therapist and running coach. The guidance that follows in this article will help. But nothing beats hiring a professional. And yes you do need professional guidance to insure great form. Nature is a great coach, if you were fortunate enough to have nature’s guidance from your very first steps.

Unfortunately you more than likely have had shoes placed on your feet from the age of two, the very years you begin to stand upright and develop your arches. After decades of wearing shoes, you have developed dysfunctional gait patterns. At this point, nature, by itself, will not help you find your perfect gait. Hire a professional and save yourself the pain and injury over the long run. Look at it like an investment in yourself. What you spend now in preventative will save you a bundle in health care costs down the road.

Functional Movement
Your body is designed to move with a ridiculously large range of movement and at a variety of speeds. It is important to use every angle of motion at the varying speeds your body is capable of reaching on a regular basis as long as it is pain free.

Running is a linear movement – a straight line. In fact, running is very similar to another movement pattern that most of us do all day… sitting on our butt. Sitting is hip flexion (bending at the hips). Sitting for long hours causes the hip flexors (muscles attached to the upper leg bone, pelvis and lumbar spine) to shorten and tighten pulling on the lower back. This is a primary cause of low back pain. The act of running is repetitive hip flexion. If you run 5-6 days per week; sit for 8-10 hours a day; and you neglect all other angles of motion your body needs – YOU WILL run directly into pain and injury. I do not recommend running more than 2-3 days per week, even if you are training for endurance races. You can train for any distance of a race with 2-3 days per week of running, by incorporating adequate functional movement into your training. Something I tell many injured runners, “you will become a better runner by running less. Train smarter, not harder.

How to run

The goal of this program is to train you to run 30 minutes in a steady state, pain and injury free.

• No Pain! If it hurts… Stop what you are doing. The goal is pain free movement. Get on the foam roller and try to work it out. Take a day or two off from the activity that is causing pain. If it continues to persist, schedule a session with me. If you don’t live in the Austin area, find a highly qualified therapeutic professional with experience treating pain and injury.
• Spend 10-15 minutes of self massage using a foam roller prior to workout.
• A quiet foot fall. Your foot should touch the ground like a feather. No slapping.
• Your forefoot or mid foot should strike the ground first, heel comes down after that. Do make sure your heel touches the ground. Otherwise, your calves will get very angry at you.
• Quick cadence. Use a metronome to keep 180 steps per minute no matter how fast or slow you run.
• Short stride with your feet landing directly beneath your hips, not in front of your body. This is true no matter what speed (slow jog, quick paced run or sprint).
• Comfortable arm swing with shoulders relaxed downward. Don’t hold your arms rigid. Your right arm should move in tandem with your left leg and vice versa.
• Your running gait stays the same no matter what your speed.  Jogging and sprinting should look virtually identical to each other. Avoid stretching your legs out in front of your body when you try to run faster. Watch video of Usain Bolt above. Note that at full speed his foot fall is directly beneath his hips, not in out in front of his body. And he is freakin’ bookin’ it.
• Spend 30 minutes of self massage using a foam roller after your workout.

Week 1
Day 1: Walk 5 minutes: Run 1 minute: repeat 5 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 5 minutes: Run 1 minute: repeat 6 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 5 minutes: Run 1 minute: repeat 7 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 2
Day 1: Walk 5 minutes: Run 2 minutes: Repeat 3 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 5 minutes: Run 2 minutes: Repeat 4 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 5 minutes: Run 2 minutes: Repeat 5 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 3
Day 1: Walk 5 minutes: Run 3 minutes: Repeat 4 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 5 minutes: Run 3 minutes: Repeat 4-5 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 5 minutes: Run 3 minutes: Repeat 4-5 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 4
Day 1: Walk 5 minutes: Run 4 minutes: Repeat 3 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 5 minutes: Run 4 minutes: Repeat 4 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 5 minutes: Run 4 minutes: Repeat 5 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 5
Day 1: Walk 5 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 3 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 5 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 3-4 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 5 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 4-5 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 6
Day 1: Walk 4 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 3 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 4 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 4 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 4 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 5 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 7
Day 1: Walk 3 minutes: Run 5 minutes:  Repeat 3-4 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 3 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 4 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 3 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 5-6 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 8
Day 1: Walk 2 minutes: Run 5 minutes:  Repeat 4-5 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 2 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 5-6 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 2 minutes: Run 5 minutes: Repeat 6-7 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 9
Day 1: Walk 2 minutes: Run 6 minutes: Repeat 4 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 2 minutes: Run 6 minutes: Repeat 5 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 2 minutes: Run 6 minutes: Repeat 6-7 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 10
Day 1: Walk 2 minutes: Run 7 minutes: Repeat 3 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 2 minutes: Run 7 minutes: Repeat 4 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 2 minutes: Run 7 minutes: Repeat 5-6 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 11
Day 1: Walk 2 minutes: Run 8 minutes: Repeat 3 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 2 minutes: Run 8 minutes: Repeat 4 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 2 minutes: Run 8 minutes: Repeat 5-6 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 12
Day 1: Walk 1 minutes: Run 8 minutes: Repeat 3-4 times: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 2: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 3: Walk 1 minutes: Run 8 minutes: Repeat 4-5 times
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Walk 1 minutes: Run 8 minutes: Repeat 5-6 times.
Day 6: 30-60 minute functional exercise
Day 7: Rest

Week 13
Take the walking out. You are now ready to run at least 30 minutes non-stop without pain.

Every journey begins with a single step. The goal of this program is injury prevention so you can run pain free for the rest of your life. If you’re like me, that means another 40-50 years of running. Keep it in perspective. What is a 3-4 months training your body to move more efficiently if it means you significantly reduce the amount of time you are lame with chronic pain and injuries over the rest of your life?

It takes eight weeks for your muscles to adapt to a new conditioning program. It takes years for your fascia to adapt. By incorporating self massage using a foam roller, deep tissue massage therapy, flexibility training, corrective exercises andfunctional movement into your training program, you can significantly speed up this process, while decreasing the amount of time dealing with chronic pain and injury.

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 I got a phone call from a friend last week asking me about minimalist running. This is what she said: 

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Another Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone and what was once a beautifully roasted turkey has become the base for this week’s sandwiches. And yes, Christmas shopping season has officially begun.

If you’re anything like me, the availability of ridiculous amounts of sugary treats has been the reason to let your belt out a couple more notches and you feel the need to burn off more than a few extra calories and redouble your focus on your physical health and well-being. With that in mind I would like to take this opportunity to offer my top health and fitness related gifts. These are the items that I consistently recommend to my clients year round and that I personally cannot do without. So to help you avoid the risk of pepper spray to the face over a $2 waffle iron, here are my top gift picks for health and fitness products for that special someone, or maybe even yourself.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am an affiliate for most of these products. This means that if you purchase one after clicking one of these links, I will get a small commission. That said, the only reason I am an affiliate for these products is because I believe in them 100%.

1. Foam Roller

I was introduced to foam roller therapy in 2003 and was an instant convert. Over the past eight years, the foam roller has helped me and my clients treat and prevent chronic pain, injury, and surgery. Including foam roller therapy into your daily or weekly health and wellness lifestyle will reduce the amount of chronic pain and injury in your life.  This will have enormous effects on your long term well-being and health care costs. A good foam roller is the best investment you can make for your long term fitness, health, and wellness.

The Grid by Trigger Point Therapy
The Grid is currently my favorite foam roller. It is much more firm than other foam rollers.  It is great for travel as it fits inside most carry-on suit cases. The center is hollow and you can pack clothing or other items inside of it, making it a great space saver.

The Grid 2.0 is a new, longer version of the grid. The extra length is nice if you have the floor space to maneuver and it is useful for doing the corrective exercises I describe in the article, The Scapula: The Mast and Sails.

To learn more about foam roller therapy, benefits and use, check out Foam Roller Therapy For Beginners and How to Treat and Prevent Injury.

2. TRX Straps

I love my TRX straps. There is no other piece of equipment that has as much versatility. With a pair of straps you can work on full body flexibility and full body functional strength training.

They weigh about a pound and fit in a small bag – they are great for travel. They mount easily to a door, wall, ceiling, tree, or outdoor jungle gym. I have a few clients with very busy travel schedules. They struggle to get to a gym while on the road. With a set of straps they can workout in their hotel room and are less likely to miss important workout sessions.

Regardless of your current conditioning or ability, you can use the TRX. The workout is suspension training, which means your own body weight provides the resistance.  The beauty about the TRX is that adjusting the level of resistance is simple: all you have to do is move your feet back or forward. You can make exercises super easy, super hard, or somewhere in between. Every exercise engages your core from your fingers to your toes in ways that are unmatched by traditional strength training equipment. The TRX is the number one piece of workout equipment that I recommend and I suggest it to every one of my clients.

(2.5) Rip Trainer
The Rip Trainer is a new piece of workout equipment from the TRX company. It has quickly become one of my favorites as well. The Rip Trainer is great for adding multi-plane rotation and anti-rotation training into your workout. If you are creating the perfect home workout studio, I would suggest taking a look at the Rip Trainer, right after you buy the TRX straps.

3. Barefoot/Minimalist Shoes

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know by now that I am a huge advocate of a barefoot/minimalist lifestyle. As a deep tissue massage therapist, I specialize in the treatment and prevention of chronic pain and injury. I find that most injuries stem, in large part, from postural dysfunction. The majority of postural dysfunction that I treat is rooted in the feet, and it began with the very first shoes you put on.

I made my transition into barefoot/minimalist footwear about four years ago when I came across the Vibram Five Finger shoes at Whole Earth Provision Company, a local outdoor living store in Austin, Texas. At the time there were only a handful of barefoot/minimalist shoes on the market. Today there are over 64 and growing. Here are my favorites:

Merrell Trail Glove

In the times that I actually wear shoes, these are currently my favorites. They are stylish, light, fit snugly, have a ton of toe room and a nice protective plate underneath the forefoot that protects my feet from the sharp Texas trail rocks.

Vibram Five Fingers

They may look a little funny, but they are great shoes. What I love most about these shoes is they are a great conversation starter. Over the years, I have helped convert dozens of people into a barefoot/minimalist lifestyle just by having these on my feet.

Soft Star Shoes makes some simple yet super comfortable shoes. I have a pair of the Ramblers, basically a moccasin. They are warm and dry in the winter, and cool and dry in the summer.

To read more about the benefits of a barefoot/minimalist lifestyle you can read Free Your Feet, Not Just Any Movement, You Need Functional Movement and Heel Strike Compared to Forefoot Strike Gait Pattern and How it Relates to Pain.

Jesse James Retherford is a licensed massage therapist, certified personal trainer and barefoot movement coach. He specializes in the treatment and prevention of chronic pain and injury.

Jesse writes a weekly blog with insights on the treatment and prevention of chronic pain and injury.  lt is also a great way to stay up to date with his availability and the best way to have access to occasional specials, offers, and announcements. You can sign up here.