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Veracity Performance & Recovery

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Suffield, CT
Veracity Performance & Recovery

Running Specialist Physical Therapy & Performance in Suffield, CT, and virtually.

01/13/2026

Veracity Testimonial:

"Chris is patient and thoughtful in his approach and made sure to catalog every detail I gave him regarding my history of injury and current needs. He not only addressed the acute injury I had, but he also gave me feasible strategies to mitigate the effects of my previous injuries as well. I cannot recommend him strongly enough. I’ve seen many professionals in this space throughout my life, and none have given me so much time and valuable attention, nor have they been as willing to see me as the sum total of all of my past injuries, not just the one they were currently treating. Whether you are a weekend warrior or a high-performance athlete, Chris can make you better!"

Trouble with staying active in the presence of injury?

📍Book directly in the Bio
📍DM directly
📍Comment

01/11/2026

What happens when you take time away?

Deconditioning Happens Faster Than You Think...

2–4 Weeks Off = Big Changes
• HR ↑ 10-11% at the same pace
• VO₂max ↓ 4-10%
• Endurance ↓ ~9%

Easy stops feeling easy.

Why does this happen?
• Blood volume ↓ ~9%
• Plasma volume ↓ ~12%
• Less blood → higher heart rate

What Doesn’t Protect Fitness?

❌ Easy runs only
❌ “Staying active.”
❌ No intensity
❌ Waiting it out

What is the least training needed to preserve aerobic fitness?

3 Rules That Matter
1️⃣ Intensity is mandatory
2️⃣ Frequency > volume
3️⃣ Protect the aerobic system first

What the Research Shows to preserve fitness:

• 1–2 hard sessions/week
• 20–30 min hard aerobic work
• Volume can drop 50–70%

Examples
• ≤2 weeks off → 1 hard + easy
• 2–4 weeks off→ 2 quality sessions
• 4–12+ weeks off→ 1–2 hard efforts
Run, bike, elliptical all count.

Smart training isn’t about never resting.
It’s about protecting what matters.
👉 Run coaching
👉 Return-to-run support
👉 Long-term durability

01/06/2026

Shin splints (AKA Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome) is an overload injury of the lower medial tibia.

It’s likely a combination of:

• Bone & tendon stress overload
• Traction from surrounding muscles & fascia

That’s why icing and rest alone often fail. Rest may make it feel better, but it leads to deconditioning of the affected tissue. This leaves you less tolerant of your sport.

What it feels like:

• Pain that “warms up” during running
• Tenderness along a long section of the medial shin

⚠️ If pain becomes painful as you continue to run without warming up OR focal, sharp, or lingers with daily walking – things may be progressing negatively towards a stress fracture, not shin splints.

Biggest risk factors:

• Sudden mileage or intensity spikes
• Sudden change in shoes or surfaces (AKA different loading patterns)
• Rearfoot eversion & arch collapse
• Hip control issues
• Prior injury history

👉 “flat feet” or “weak ankles” do not cause shin splints

Healing Timeframes:

Recovery ranges from ~2 weeks to over a year, depending on how long the overload continues.

Shin splints exist on a continuum that can progress to a stress fracture if ignored.

Takeaway:

Shin splints are a load management problem, not a rest problem.

✔️ Modify training load
✔️ Improve tissue capacity
✔️ Address mechanics upstream
✔️ Return to running progressively

🟦 Shin pain lingering or keeps coming back?
📍Book directly the Bio
📍DM directly
📍Comment

01/02/2026

VO2 max: How much blood you can deliver to muscles, and how much of the oxygen delivered can be converted to energy.

It’s ⅓ key performance indicators for distance runners. A high VO2 max is required for elite runners.

To hit VO₂ max, you must work at very intense paces. This typically involves:

🏅3–8 minutes of hard running intervals
🏅88-94% of your maximum heart rate
🏅Intensity where you’re unable to speak.

This:
• produces a lot of lactate
• burns energy quickly
• pushes your aerobic system to its limit

Increasing your pace at VO₂ max gives you the physiological foundation to run faster at any distance.

Only Training Easy Miles?

Volume and easy aerobic training matter. In fact, newer runners can improve their VO2 max by simply building volume and maintaining consistency in their running.

However, trained runners need to do more.

Training at or near VO₂ max can:

• increase the size of the aerobic engine
• elevate lactate threshold
• improve speed sustainability
• maximize race performance

VO2 Max Workout Examples:

🏅7-8x2 min @ RPE 7-8/10 w/1 min jog
🏅5x3 min VO2 max pace w/2 min jog
🏅5-6x800 VO2 max pace w/2 min jog
🏅4-5x1000 at 88-94% max heart rate w/3 min jog

Steady mileage builds the base.
VO₂ max training builds the power.

🏁 Practical Takeaway for Runners

If you want to run faster at any distance, from 5K to the marathon, your training plan should include:

• Intense intervals in the 3–5 minute range
• paces close to your VO₂ max
• Roughly 6-10% of weekly mileage
• progressive overload across training blocks

This is where the real performance gains happen.

12/30/2025

Should runners be doing plyometrics? For rehab? for performance?

As with most things, it's context and dosage-dependent.

However, running and its demands are relatively predictable and are most certainly plyometric in nature.

Therefore, honing that skill of hopping and demonstrating the capacity to tolerate such demands is non-negotiable.

How much plyometric work should be included? That's the art of programming, and it is dependent on the individual.

Not sure how to program plyometrics into your training?

12/27/2025

Veracity Testimonial:

"I'm thrilled to have discovered this PT facility tucked away from major cities. Chris's expertise and passion for his craft shine through in every session. He attentively listens to my feedback and customizes each session to meet my unique needs. I wholeheartedly recommend this place."

Wanting to train through the off-season but not knowing where to start?

📍Book directly in the Bio
📍DM directly
📍Comment

12/24/2025

⚡ The Achilles is the largest and strongest tendon in the body. It also takes on huge loads and, therefore, is easily overloaded if training exceeds capacity.

📊 How common is it?

• Annual incidence: ~9–11%
• Lifetime risk for runners: up to 52%
🔥 ~30% may become chronic if mismanaged

Achilles pain isn’t rare, but common and often lingers….

The Achilles is often a degenerative overload condition, not an inflammatory condition.

• Most commonly affects the mid-portion (2–6 cm above the heel) + masters athletes
• Occurs when collagen breakdown > collagen repair
• Blood supply is limited and therefore, healing takes time

🏃‍♂️ Why runners get it

The Achilles absorbs massive forces:
• Walking: 5–7× bodyweight
• Hopping: ~7× bodyweight
• Running: up to 12.5× bodyweight per stride

➡️ Repeated loading + insufficient recovery = Tendon structure weakens + Pain + reduced force production

🚨 Common symptoms

• Gradual onset (not sudden)
• Morning stiffness
• “Warms up” during the run, worse after
• Pain with hopping, bounding, or hills

⚠️ Pain improving during a run ≠ necessarily safe to ignore

⚠️ Key risk factors

• Previous Achilles injury
• Reduced calf or hip load tolerance
• Limited ankle dorsiflexion
• Male s*x, increasing age
• Sudden mileage or hill spikes
• Sudden switch to forefoot/midfoot striking
• Sudden shoe changes
• Inclines & compliant surfaces (sand)

⏳ Healing timeline

• Typical recovery: 1.5–3 months
• Poorly managed cases: 12–15+ months
Tendons heal slowly. Pain can improve before tissue capacity is restored.
➡️ Progressive loading, not rest, is the solution.

Achilles pain isn’t about weakness or bad feet. It’s about:
✔️ Gradual progression
✔️ Smart recovery
✔️ Progressive calf loading
✔️ Temporary load modifications

Having trouble with Achilles Pain?
📍Book directly the Bio
📍DM directly
📍Comment

12/21/2025

🔬 The Science of Running: Your 3 Energy Systems Explained

Every step you take is powered by ATP, your body’s energy currency.

Your body makes ATP through 3 energy systems:

Running performance = How fast and efficiently you can resynthesize ATP.

Energy System #1: ATP-PCr (Immediate System)

💥 Fastest. Most powerful. Very limited.
• Max-power bursts lasting ~8–10 seconds.
• Think: starting a race, clearing a creek, surging uphill, sprinting to pass.
• Uses stored ATP + phosphocreatine inside the muscle.
• Doesn’t require oxygen → instant energy.

Energy System #2: Glycolytic (“Anaerobic”) System
🔥 Delivers energy quickly when demand spikes

When intensity rises faster than your aerobic system can keep up, glycolysis steps in:

• Breaks down carbohydrates (glucose/glycogen)
• Leads to lactate buildup

📌 Important:

Lactate Threshold:
Under normal aerobic conditions:
➡️ Lactate clears faster than it’s produced
As intensity rises:
➡️ Lactate production > clearance
➡️ This = Lactate Threshold (LT)

LT determines:
💪 How long you can sustain a hard effort
🏃 How fast you can run before anaerobic by-products accumulate
📈 Improving LT allows you to run faster without blowing up (AKA good endurance training)

Energy System #3: Aerobic System (Mitochondrial Respiration)

🫁 Most efficient. Most sustainable. Supports all endurance running.

Uses oxygen to produce ATP from: Carbs, Fats, proteins

Distance runners rely on this system the most — and the longer the race, the higher the aerobic contribution.

Takeaway: All 3 systems need to be worked on to optimize training.

Looking for structured run coaching without burnout or injury?
📍Book directly in the Bio
📍DM directly
📍Comment

12/18/2025

🏃‍♂️ Running is a high-impact sport.

This is often underestimated, and it’s a common source of training errors and injury.

When we respect the true demands of running, we can train smarter and prepare our bodies more effectively.

Our bodies are always adapting—for better or worse.
• Stop moving, rapid deconditioning
• Train intentionally, resilience, longevity, and durability

The key? Gradually and intelligently introducing the demands of running so your body can adapt, not break down.

Getting back into running and not sure where to start? Want to reduce injury risk?

📍Book via the link in bio
📍DM me
📍Comment below

12/15/2025

Veracity Testimonial:

"I connected with Chris through a local running program. As I got back into running after several years off, I started encountering many of the common injuries - first shin splints, then patellofemoral pain, and, 10 days before a race, a strained soleus. In the past, any time I visited a doctor for these issues, I'd be told to "stop running and rest," but the pain would always return as the underlying issue was never addressed. Chris not only helped me with strengthening exercises, but also encouraged me to keep running with a modified training plan and kept in touch to check in with how things were going. I would definitely recommend Chris to anyone else looking for help with running injuries."

Looking to get back into running, but not sure where to start? Want to avoid injury?
📍Book directly in the Bio
📍DM directly
📍CommentVeracity Testimonial:

"I connected with Chris through a local running program. As I got back into running after several years off, I started encountering many of the common injuries - first shin splints, then patellofemoral pain, and, 10 days before a race, a strained soleus. In the past, any time I visited a doctor for these issues, I'd be told to "stop running and rest," but the pain would always return as the underlying issue was never addressed. Chris not only helped me with strengthening exercises, but also encouraged me to keep running with a modified training plan and kept in touch to check in with how things were going. I would definitely recommend Chris to anyone else looking for help with running injuries."

Looking to get back into running, but not sure where to start? Want to avoid injury?
📍Book directly in the Bio
📍DM directly
📍Comment

Address

Suffield, CT
06078

Opening Hours

Monday	7am - 7pm
Tuesday	7am - 7pm
Wednesday	7am - 7pm
Thursday	7am - 7pm
Friday	7am - 7pm

Website

https://www.vprma.com/contact-us, https://www.youtube.com/@veracityperformancerecover8713

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