Lang Yong Chun2014-02-07 09:18:25 From：New Sports
—— Dr. Chen and CCTV news anchor Lang Yongchun met at the Yangzhou Marathon this year, experienced this event with ten thousand participants, and understood together the profound meaning of the sentence, life lies in movements, and movements lie in science.
● From the July issue of New Sports, 2013, P102-103, dictated by Bob Chen, Written by Bai Qiang
Lang Yongchun’s Distress and Confusion
As a challenging guest of the CCTV program “Run with 5”, Lang Yongchun, who loved football, was eager at the Yangzhou marathon. For this event, he suspended his weekly football playing, hired a coach, and concentrated on preparing for marathon training at the Beijing Yu Yuan Dan Park. However, not long into it, the pain of his knee made it difficult for him to continue. So, through CCTV, he found me, and hoped to get a scientific assessment of his injury and a rehabilitation plan.
At that time, there were fewer than two weeks before the event. We immediately conducted a detailed examination, and found that around his right knee patella, especially inside, there was an acute strain, which is generally caused by incorrect force. But what factors could make him apply force incorrectly? Along the “kinetic chain,” we reached his feet, and found the lengths of his two feet are not the same; the right foot was slightly longer. During running, comparing with his left foot, his right foot was shown to be more splayed, therefore, the center of gravity habitually leaned to the right. After several inquiries, we also learned that Lang Yongchun had had several ankle sprain injuries when he played football in the past, resulting in its decreased stability, and the force naturally focused more on the right foot. When we checked the arch of his feet, we also found that his right foot arch was collapsed, which is commonly known as flat feet. Precisely because of this, when his feet landed on the ground during running, they were leaning outward, which caused his lower legs to buckle inwardly, which increased the wrenching force of the knees resulting in knee strain, so when he run, he felt the pain. In addition, there are many other external factors: having been going through a long period of systematic training, setting his goals too high, too much training at the start, and training on concrete were also reasons for the formation and increase of this sports injury.
“Electric Hammer” Hits the Soft Insoles
According to these check ups, we proposed three solutions.
First, we suggested Lang Yongchun do a running plantar pressure analysis to determine further the changes in characteristics of his plantar during exercise. After the diagnosis, given the situation of his eversion ankle joint and collapsed arch, we specially formulated a pair of orthotic insoles, which would ease the discomfort caused by the varied lengths of his feet. Given the situation of poor lateral stability of his running shoes, and according to the shape of his feet, we had him change to a pair of suitable shoes.
Second, we adjusted his running posture and arranged some special strength training for him. For example, on the treadmill, we corrected the habit of his right foot splay, and had him experience the correct action of even force in both feet. Meanwhile, through stretching and strength training, we relaxed the tight muscles of his right leg and strengthened the muscles of his left leg. The strength training we were conducting on him was both intense and progressive. At the beginning, we started with a safe method – cycling to strengthen his hips; later on, we used squatting exercises to increase his strength in the quadriceps; then we had him do toe extension exercises to strengthen the power of stability of his ankles.
Third, we taught him how to master the correct way to use strength when running, how to warm up before running, and afterwards, how to adjust and relax, and especially how to control knee inflammation after running.
After these three aspects of adjustment and training, Lang Yongchun slowly resumed normal training, during which, of course, there were some small setbacks. When he first used the new insole, he complained it was uncomfortable. This is a normal phenomenon, and generally it takes one or two weeks to adjust. But at that time, the Yangzhou Marathon was less than a week away. In order to make the new insole become soft as early as possible, we used an “electric hammer” (a deep muscle therapy machine) to pound and soften the spot that made his foot uncomfortable. After two times, this problem was resolved.
Unexpected Occurrences at the Arena
The Yangzhou Marathon started, and the crowds of people were like waves. Lang Yongchun took the lead, and seemed to be sprinting for the first few hundred meters. But during the running, unexpectedly, the bottom of his feet began to ache, and he slowed down. The relevant personnel rushed to the 5-kilometer point with ice packs waiting, and were ready to take him off running. However, when Lang Yongchun got there, he did not stop. It turned out that he saw an old lady running next to him, was inspired, and doggedly ran the full 10-kilometers. He also wanted to set an example for his daughter, and he endured the pain and finished the race. This was the first competition in which he had run such a long distance; the time was almost 5 minutes faster than expected.
I immediately checked on his ankle--not bad! But when I saw the bottom of his right foot, I was very surprised to find a blister there. It turns out that Lang Yongchun was wearing a pair of new acrylic socks that day. When people run, their feet sweat, and this kind of sock creates friction and rubs their feet. I regretted that, as the chief sports rehabilitation specialist, before the competition, I had explained to all participants many things to watch for in detail, but did not mention anything about socks. Before his departure, I did not check Lang Yongchun’s socks, which was indeed an unforgettable lesson.
The unforgettable lesson also included deep pain in my own heart. That day, inspired by Lang Yongchun and ten thousand other participants, I decided on the spot to run 10 kilometers. But just as I started, I stepped on someone’s foot, and sprained my right foot. I clenched my teeth, and continued on. When I ran to the 5-kilometer point, my left knee began to ache. I knew this was because after my right ankle got hurt, my left leg had to bear more weight. At the 8-kilomater point, the pain in my right knee appeared again. I then truly experienced the consequences of rushing into something without sufficient preparation and exercise. With my assistant Mo Jianbang’s help and encouragement, I finished the whole course. But afterward, I was like a sickly old man, struggling to take a step, and took days to recover.
WEIBO
courses
courses
