Bike fit

I originally wrote this in August 2018 – but it never got published. So I have updated it a little, and here is is for your delectation and delight. The correct number of bikes is n+1, so if your bike doesn’t fit you – well, go and buy a new one- it will make you faster. No need to try and make the current one more comfortable. You then don’t have anyTHING to show for spending your hard earned cash – just some nebulous thing called “comfort”. Which you could have got with a lovely new carbon fibre frame…. It’s … Continue reading

Injury Focus – Rotator cuff

I see a fair few climbers and gym athletes with shoulder issues. Although there are a huge number of climbing and shoulder related resources out there, I thought it might be nice to have a quick blog about the most mis-understood bits of the whole thing. The rotator cuff and how that relates to issues that appear in the training and climbing community. Note, this is a blog, not a peer reviewed journal, nor is it a self-diagnosis provider. It is something to read, and hopefully be educated with. If you need a diagnosis for yourself – see a professional. … Continue reading

Injury Focus – Sprained Ankle

Sprained ankles – the bane of the fellrunner, general annoyance, occasionally (and unnecessarily) the end of a running career. What happens? You run along minding your own business when all of a sudden you go over on your ankle. We’ve all done it – your foot inverts, pain blossoms at the junction of your ankle and your foot, normally on the outside, you scream, sometimes fall over, and then attempt to keep running on it. Sometimes you can keep running on it, but sometimes it is so bad that all you can do is hobble to the nearest road, call … Continue reading

Calf Stretches

A common question asked in the running world is “do you stretch?” More often than you think, the answer is “yes”. Quickly followed by, “but only my calves”. Great – stretching is rarely a bad thing. But the way the lower leg muscle group tends to be stretched can be woefully inefficient. A lot of people are really good at stretching ONE of the main lower leg muscles. The other one, (in some peoples opinion, the more important one) doesn’t even get a look in, despite the fact it is used for the majority of force when running. Yikes! Running … Continue reading

F.I.T.T. Principle

Ever heard of the F.I.T.T. Principle? If not, read on – it’s important to anyone wanting to progress in their chosen sport. So you have a training programme but are you following the F.I.T.T. Principle? Well you should be. It’s a set of guidelines that will help you get the best out of your training and it stands for: Frequency: how often you train Intensity: the level of effort you put into each session Type: the activity you are doing Time: the duration of a session Lets expand on those a bit, so you know what you’re doing and why … Continue reading

Coping with Injury

Perhaps this is a good time to talk about injuries and coping with them, and maybe, how not to re-injure yourself through coming back too quickly. The reason for this is because I recently had my first DNF in a fell race, through an impact injury with a rock. A few days later, my knee was still pretty swollen, I couldn’t bend it so well… In fact I could barely walk up stairs. It was going to be a good couple of weeks, if not more, before I could actually get out to run, cycle, or even get on the rowing machine. … Continue reading