In this episode, Dr. Sandy Baird shares her personal journey into chiropractic care, her approach to injury prevention and treatment, nutrition, and footwear.
We also learn about different self-treatment and prevention exercises to help keep us on our individual training plans and how to counteract the detrimental effects of being in a seated position for extended periods of time.
“Sitting Kills Our Running”
Dr. Baird is a certified Active Release and Graston Techniques provider whose practice, Riverstone Chiropractic, is located in Oakland, CA. Originally a civil engineer, a persistent, repetitive strain injury led Sandy, via a circuitous route, to the field of Chiropractic.
Dr. Baird treats both elite and recreational athletes and also speaks to local running groups and clubs about injury prevention, treatment, nutrition and recovery techniques. The Riverstone Chiropractic website has links to a wealth of informational blog posts that cover a variety of medical and health topics.
In addition to all the great content shared in this episode, you can also receive Dr. Baird’s free e-Book Eight Steps to Fix Your Plantar Fasciitis by texting the word ‘runningbook’ to 44222. (Standard data and text messaging rates apply).
Questions Sandy is asked:
4:21 First Four:
- How old are you?
- Where were you born?
- Where do you live now?
- What is your favorite race distance?
5:18 How did you get to chiropractic from engineering?
7:32 Where did you go for massage and chiropractic training and what’s involved?
8:20 How much of your practice is treating runners?
9:18 How many people see you for prevention and how many for treatment?
9:56 What is Active Release Technique, Graston Technique and Spider Taping?
11:39 Can people self-perform Spider Taping or should they use a professional?
12:07 Is Spider Taping more for prevention or treatment?
12:48 Are there common running injuries you treat and what are they?
13:16 How do these conditions feel and is the pain always located at the source of the condition?
14:28 What can we do as runners to help prevent knee injuries and what can we do if we start feeling injuries there and when should we see a professional?
15:21 What is Dynamic vs. Static Stretching?
16:04 How much time should someone spend with dynamic stretching before a workout?
16:13 What resources are available online that can help people outside of an office visit?
16:58 What can someone do once they start to experience pain in their knee?
19:09 How do you help treat athletes?
19:58 How often should someone get chiropractic treatment?
20:40 How would running analysis benefit runners?
22:35 How long does a running analysis take to perform?
24:11 How do long-distance training runs, whether trails or roads, exacerbate injury potential?
25:42 How can we combat the issues caused by sitting for hours and hours a day?
27:08 What do you have for online resources?
28:33 What is your opinion on Paleo for nutrition?
31:56 How about minimalist or barefoot running?
36:55 What kind of training plans do you prefer for marathoners?
38:03 What are your thoughts on your family’s nutrition and nutrition for marathoners?
41:01 What experiences have had the biggest impact on your life and where you are now?
45:23 Final Kick Round:
- What is your favorite local training run (location, starting point, parking, distance, terrain and safety issues)?
- Favorite running book(s)?
- Advice for new runners?
- Favorite Quote?
Quotes by Sandy:
“A lot of injuries are due to overuse; the same motion happening over and over. When that happens the muscle fibers break down and develop adhesions.”
“There have been some studies that show that if you do static stretching before running, you will have less power for the muscles, so save the static stretching for after the run and warm up with dynamic stretching.”
“Often a simple thing to alleviate knee pain is to roll out the quads with a foam roller. Sometimes the quad muscles get so tight that they’re pulling on the knee and creating the pain.”
“It’s a big job to figure out what you need to strengthen, what you need to mobilize, what you need to loosen up and it can be helpful to have some professional guidance on that.”
“It’s good to know that maybe you’re feet are rolling in or pronating too much and that you need a certain shoe, but it’s better to know that if we found one of these biomechanic flaws going on in the hip or knee that’s causing the ankles to roll in, there are things you can do to correct that so you run more efficiently and not have injury.”
“Sitting kills our running.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
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Mentioned in this podcast:
Run To The Top Winners Circle Facebook Community
RunnersConnect 2018 Running Retreat
Riverstone Chiropractic homepage
Riverstone Chiropractic’s YouTube Channel
RunnersConnect Running Injuries Treatment and Prevention page
Book: The Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett
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