Ep#362 Body Scan

Welcome to the Not Your Average Runner podcast. If you’ve never felt athletic, but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, and I help fat women over 40 to start running, feel confident and change their lives. I have worked with thousands of women to help them achieve their running goals.

And now I want to help you.

Hey there, runner. Are you ready to warm up your body and mind for this run? Let’s go. You start walking and I’ll start talking. So, we all struggle from time to time with aches and pains and injuries while we’re running. That’s just part of the deal. Sometimes it is really obvious that we need to stop our workout, and other times it’s not, right? And you’re questioning, is this pain something I should worry about, or should I just keep going and see if it works itself out? And that can be, you know, a little frustrating and stressful because nobody wants to get injured. So today we’re going to talk about the body scan technique and how it can help you tell the difference.

So between something you should pay attention to and something you don’t need to worry about, and then we are going to actually practice it right here in your warm up, okay? So, the body scan is pretty simple. You start at your toes, you work your way up to the top of your head, and you focus all your attention for a few moments at a time on each individual body part.

Now while you are focusing on that particular area, you’re looking for a few things. One, do you notice any sensation at all in the area? Is it, Oh, I didn’t remember I had toes until I started thinking about them? Or is it maybe a painful sensation or something else? If it is painful, what type of pain is it?

Is it sharp or dull? Is it a tiny little pinprick or does it cover a larger area? Is it steady or does it come and go as you move through your running gait? And when you focus your attention, does the pain get better or worse? And you might be surprised to notice that when you actually hone in on an area that feels achy, then suddenly there actually isn’t any noticeable pain there once you start to assess it.

Because brains are funny like that. Can I tell you the number of times I’ve been out running? Feeling kind of bored and thought, Oh, no, is that something happening in my hip? And then I do the body scan and it’s nothing and I’m like, shoot, I guess I need to keep going, right? But it also works the other way too because sometimes our brains can block pain and we don’t notice There’s something developing until it’s really painful and gets our attention So the body scan can be helpful for also sussing out developing issues before they become bigger problems.

But in general, like, taking that time to really pay focused attention to all of your individual body parts. It gives you a chance to really assess, is this something, is there something going on here or can I just keep moving and not worry about it? So I actually recommend doing a body scan at least once or twice per run, especially if you’re, you know, halfway through your run and you’re feeling like, Oh, I should probably quit because this feels really hard or I’m too tired or whatever is going on in your mind.

When you start having those thoughts. Do a scan and see if you’re really done or if you’re just bored and wanting to stop Because most of the time we think we can’t go any farther and that’s not actually the case It’s just that we don’t feel like running anymore and there’s a big difference between the two so I want to make sure that you are paying attention and Assessing is this just me trying to get out of running or is this a serious issue that I need to pay attention to?

So again, in a body scan, we start at the toes and we work up to the head and we rate each part on a scale of one to five. So a one is completely neutral, no sense, no sensation at all. You wouldn’t even remember if you had that body part unless you were thinking about it, like zero sensation. It’s fine. A two is basically fatigue, right?

Like you’re tired, you can feel your muscles working, but you can keep going because you’re a badass. And a three is where we start feeling mild discomfort. Maybe it’s a little twinge in your knee or a hip with each step. A muscle that’s starting to feel like it’s on the verge of a strain. A four is actual pain.

It might be sharp or dull, but it is somewhat steady or maybe it’s repetitive, like with every step you feel it. It’s rather than being intermittent or random. It’s like, yeah, this is a thing that’s happening literally because I’m running right now. And then a five of course is extreme pain, like a sprained ankle or a broken bone.

And you, there’s never a question about that. So let’s do it. Let’s do a body scan. Are you ready? Okay, so you are warming up, you are out there walking, and the first thing I want you to do is put your attention to your toes. How do they feel right now? Are they neutral? Or is there something going on, right?

And what is it that’s going on? Are they feeling numb? Or maybe one of your toes has a blister developing or something like that. Just take a moment to observe them, all right? Pay attention to your toes. And now we’re going to move on to the soles of your feet. Give them some attention. Do you feel any sensation there?

Do they hurt? Is there any kind of like a tugging or any kind of feel like on the, the fascia of your feet that feels like it’s pulling or irritated, or is it completely neutral? And again, you’re like, Oh, Look at that. I have soles of my feet. They’re not bothering me at all. Now let’s move on to the tops of your feet.

Is there any sensation there? Is there any, are there hot spots developing for blisters? Is there any pain on the tops or maybe the sides of your feet? Moving on to your heels and your ankles, how do they feel? Do your ankles feel steady and strong or do they feel a little wobbly? Is there any pain on the back of your heel or the bottom of your heel?

Now, let’s move on to your shins. Okay, especially because you’re walking right now and you’re warming up. You may feel a little hot pain in the front of your shin and that means it’s a shin splint. type of situation developing. So we want to be paying attention to that, but maybe you’ve got no pain in your shins and that’s fine.

So as we’re doing all this, remember to be rating yourself on a scale of one to five, where again, a one is completely neutral, no sensation, and a five is really, really painful and just take note. Okay. So let’s move on again to your calves. How do they feel? Is there any tightness? Is there any pain? Let’s take a moment and notice.

And let’s move on to your knees. Now, with your knees. If you sense anything, I want you to be really clear on exactly where it is, because it matters, right? If we have to talk to a sports doctor about this, we want to know where the pain is. Is it on the front of your knee or the back of your knee? Is it on the outside or the inside?

Is it above or below? Is it a sharp pain or is it more of a dull ache, right? So whatever that type of sensation is, again, rate it on a scale of one to five. For more information visit www. FEMA. gov And pay attention also to which knee it is, if it’s in both of them, if it’s only in one of them, and where exactly it is on your knee.

Now let’s move on to your thighs. The front of your thigh, the back of your thigh, right? Your quads, quadriceps, and your hamstrings, how are they feeling? Give them a little, little bit of attention, and then we’re going to move on to your hips and your butt. Are you feeling anything inside your hip joint, like deep inside?

Or if you’re feeling something, is it on the outside? Is it in the front of your hip where your hip flexors are? Or is it in your butt, right? Are you feeling any kind of pain or discomfort in your butt cheeks? Okay, pay attention to that. Moving on to your abdomen. Is there any pain or sensation in your abdomen?

And let’s also take a look at your lower back. So right above your butt, your low back, is there any stiffness? Is there any pain? Is there any discomfort there? Give it a rating on a scale of one to five. Okay, moving up to your chest. How do your pecs feel? How does your chest feel? And take a notice of your running form at this moment and your breathing.

So is your, how does your breathing feel? Are your, shoulders. And is your chest open? Is your head up? Are you looking forward? Do you have good running form? And then kind of take a look at your upper back as well as the backside of your chest. Obviously, is there any stiffness or discomfort there?

And also in your shoulder. So pay attention to that kind of section of your torso from your ribcage up to the base of your neck. And notice if there’s anything going on there. And again, give it a one to five rating. Let’s just take a moment and think about your neck. Is your neck tense? Is there any pain there?

And then also moving on up to your head. How does your head feel? All right. So that is a body scan. We started with your toes. We worked up slowly to the top of your head. And if you felt anything at a three or above while you’re just walking, right, because we’re just warming up right now, today is not a good day for you to run my friend, because you may have a developing injury and running could make it worse.

So I want to make sure that, you know, if you are just warming up and you’re feeling something at a three or more, Today’s not your day to run. Okay. Call sports doc, make an appointment to have it looked at. And that’s a, that’s a very important thing for you to do. Now, if everything was a one, you’re good to go.

Awesome. Let’s run. Let’s turn that interval timer on and go. If you felt any twos, I want you to do another scan after you’ve about 10 minutes after you’ve started running to see if there’s any changes. Okay. All right. I believe in you, my friend. Turn on that interval timer and let’s go

real quick before you go. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you have to check out my seven day jumpstart plan. It is a free downloadable guide that will teach you exactly how to start running safely and confidently in the body you have right now. Head on over to notyouraveragerunner.com/jumpstart to grab it.

That’s notyouraveragerunner.com/jumpstart. I’d love to be a part of your journey.