This past weekend, I got to take a 12- hour intense Running Analysis course put on by Chloe Lanthier. Chloe is actually a world class athlete (Mountain Biking World Champion) and an extremely intelligent sports scientist. She knows what she is talking about and more importantly she knows how to teach the information in ways that we can understand. I learned to perfect my running form (and actually feel how much easier it is) and how to analyze others. I learned how to teach others how to change their form, and I learn the important bio-mechanics of the body and the issues that all runners can have. No one body is the same, and everyone runs differently. Regardless of form, shape, size; Everyone can run. I am not going to tell you about the things I learned, (because I want you to come get an Analysis from me) but I am going to stress the importance of strengthening your whole body to help reduce injuries. Believe it or not, strengthening and focusing on the prime movers to your running form, will end up letting your body run more efficiently.
So, what do I mean by prime movers? When your body runs, it recruits many muscles such as the Gluteus maximus, hamstrings, gluteus medius..etc, etc. Basically, its a whole body experience. The ankle, knee, hip, core, upper body, all work together. If any of these are weak, or out of balance with another, it can cause stress on your body. Too much stress can cause injuries and no one wants that. The best way to prevent them is to continuously strengthen all the muscles, tendons, and tissues and hence participate in something called Prehab. With a good individual program a runner can develop a body to be more stable, elastic, powerful and efficient.
* Priority Training. One of the easiest things the runner (or any athlete) could and SHOULD be doing after every session is massage, stretch, foam rolling, flexibility. Thus, Priority training:
- Increases postural control
- Creates muscle balance
- Improves reactive force
- Increases mobility
So, break out those yoga mats and get to massaging. If you dont have enough time, well cut your run short so that you do have enough time. Believe it or not its not all about the volume.
I know you dont have time to do all the below exercises, but maybe pick 3 each day to focus on and do some everyday (except on rest day of course)!
*Postural exercises for runners:
- Bridging with knee extenstion
- Swiss ball rollout
- Dynamic plank with dorsi plantar movement
- straight leg bridge with dorsifelxion
- spinal rotation
*Gluteus Exercises:
- Hip thurst(maximum)
- Double ball wrestle
- Corner Drill
*Quadriceps
- Decline squat
- Hip Flexor stretch with posterior pelvic tilt
*Lower Leg Exercises
- Heel raises to failure
- Heel Drops
- Knee Drops
- Posterior/anterior tibalis/peroneal group with band
*Sports Specific (Running) Exercises:
- Calf Raises with single leg squat
- Triple extension drill
- Semi-lunges with back leg elevated and medicine ball forward.
The best thing about all these exercises is that you can do them at home and the majority of them you only need your body weight. Most of the exercises you want to begin with focusing on slow, correct form. As you get stronger you can focus on high volume and tension. This can mean increasing reps or sets, or also increasing speed. Example: Heel drops: add weight. Or Go up fast and down slow (or vice versa). These exercises are never ending and just because you think you are getting good at them, there is always a way to change it up and challenge the body more! Dont have time for this? Think again, cut your run in half, finish with Prehab, and reap the rewards.
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