HEALTH PORTFOLIO (H-Portfolio)
Health = Wealth
Fund Your Health by Running Pain-Free
The H-Asset You Want to Acquire: Physical Wealth
The H-Investment You Need to Make: Running Pain-Free
Some of the most enduring New Year’s resolutions are to get in shape, lose some weight or simply be healthier, and that inspires people every year to take up running. It’s an easy-to-make H-Investment because of its sheer accessibility (no need to pay for a gym membership—you just need some good running shoes) and enormous popularity (you’ll have plenty of company!). Unfortunately, as the popularity of running has increased, so has the incidence of injuries. In fact, over the last 40 years, as many as 18 to 92 percent of all runners have suffered an injury. Even your children can be at risk for running injuries, especially if they have tight-fitting sneakers as growth spurts occur. Having smart H-Investments in place for you and your family could prevent these running-related issues. This makes you a more-informed H-investor, by reducing your investment risk while improving your H-Returns.
What you can do to Fund Your Health:
Here is my H=W (Health = Wealth) formula: As a licensed physical therapist and acupuncturist, I have seen a lot of patients with running injuries, usually caused by a combination of things: poor-fitting sneakers, muscle tightness or weakness in the legs, and ignoring knee pain while running. Luckily, preventing injury is easier than you might think: For one thing, pay attention to pain. If you feel pain in your knees while you’re running that may signal undue stress on your knee joints, and you will be doing more harm than good by overriding your own body’s wisdom. It’s tempting to decide to ignore pain, to disregard your body’s signals in order to log that next mile, but that’s a sure way to end up with a more serious injury. It’s important to pay attention to your body’s signals and stop any movement that hurts. The goal isn’t to finish the run you’re doing that day, it’s to be able to run pain-free every day.
More tips for running pain-free:
- Check with your physician prior to engaging in any exercise program, especially those exercises that affect your heart rate.
- Make sure your sneakers fit properly and are durable. If your feet hurt, something’s wrong. You might need to wear a different brand of running sneaker for the shape of your foot. If you’re not sure if your sneakers fit properly, find a reputable running store where the staff understands proper footwear and sizing. And even if you’ve chosen the right running shoes for you, if they’re worn out, running in them is just as bad. Replace your sneaks every 300-500 miles because you want the most shock absorption, and a new pair will reduce your chance of injury.
- Take the time to warm-up for 5 minutes before your run. I believe warming up before your run (with walking lunges, jogging in place, or marching in place) is the best approach, to increase your heart rate, bloodflow, and body temperature, which prepares your body for exercise and helps prevent injuries.
- Start out slow. Avoid progressing too quickly to help avoid training injuries, stay with your program, and be patient. For example, shin splints (pain on either side of your shin) is a pretty common running injury. Rest usually helps it, but if you run through it, your body will be forced to compensate by taking on an unnatural position—and that can lead to even greater injury.
- If you take a long break from running, be gentle with yourself and avoid overdoing it when you start back up again.
- Cross-train. Consider incorporating weight lifting, cycling, or swimming to allow different areas of your body to rest while working on other areas of your body to maintain overall strength and flexibility.
What you invest in your health is an important decision, and this H-Investment will help grow your H-Portfolio over time. Preventing running injuries can positively impact your overall health and wealth. Such measures could save nearly two million lives and nearly $4 billion dollars a year! Your health and wealth depends on this word: PREVENTION. Your H-Asset Physical Wealth is counting on you.
I cannot express the importance of building an H-Portfolio that includes this important H-Investment. This is just one more way to pay your health forward by adding smart H-Investments to your and your family’s H-Portfolio. It is never too early or too late to invest in your health.
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LEARN HOW “H-INVESTMENTS” CAN MAKE A HEALTHIER YOU
What you invest in your health IS an important decision, and Dr. Lisa Williams can help you organize, prioritize, and maximize your H-Investments, using her unique Health=Wealth concept that will create health and balance, and empower you to invest and manage your own H-Portfolio. Take that first step and invest in your health and Contact Lisa today to schedule a free 15-minute phone, in person, or Skype consultation to discuss your individual health concerns. For over 30 years, Lisa has been helping people successfully overcome and manage a wide variety of ailments and conditions such as sleeping problems, stress management, digestive problems, sports injuries, orthopedic issues and musculoskeletal problems, among others.
About Lisa’s Fund Your Health Blog
Lisa developed the Fund Your Health Blog to inspire people to achieve their health and wellness goals, by sharing what she has learned throughout her career and from her own personal journey. With Lisa’s relentless pursuit to restore the natural healing process, she reviews specific health assets (H-Assets) and recommends sound health investments (H-Investments) for building health dividends (H-Dividends) that are the key to a healthy lifestyle and will pay off in years to come. Yes, it is all about the H’s in her Health Portfolio. Using her approach will empower you to find your own solutions for a healthy lifestyle.
About Dr. Lisa Williams
Lisa has developed a business culture of health equals wealth and a core philosophy that bridges the gap between health and wealth using what she calls H-Portfolios (Health Portfolios), which leads to overall health. Lisa’s quest for health answers began nearly 30 years ago, when she needed to start building her own H-Portfolio, and this led her to create a multi-pronged approach to health and wellness, and pursue other areas of medicine and attain her acupuncture license. Lisa has managed several health clinics and consulted in multiple corporate, health and wellness industries and branches of medicine. Her areas of practice and experience have included corporate wellness, fitness, health and beauty, internal medicine, neurology, pain management, pediatrics, rehabilitation, schools, scoliosis management, sports injuries, and weight loss clinics.
Reference
Malisoux, L., Delattre, N., Urhausen, A., & Theisen, D. (2017). Shoe cushioning, body mass and running biomechanics as risk factors for running injury: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 7(8), e017379. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017379
Photo Credits: Lisa Williams
Disclaimer: This material is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Information on this site is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. Doing anything recommended or suggested on this website/blog must be done at your own risk.
