Whether you run recreationally, competitively, or even if you’re just looking to get started, the lessons we will share can help to improve performance and mitigate the risk of repetitive strain injury by addressing some of the key concerns. Areas of focus will include flexibility, strength, stability, breathing, and awareness specific to the activity of running.
Stability is Key! Improve your efficiency and reduce unwanted stress and strain on your lower extremities.
Broken up into its individual components, running is a series of single limb stance postures. In order to maintain adequate balance and efficiency through running, we depend on the use of our core and hips. In short, the core will help to limit excessive spinal movement by providing stability. Adequate endurance of the hip muscles will aid in keeping the torso and pelvis straight. It is critical to have good core control and endurance of the hips as running is performed over a long duration. Although our bodies are resilient and meant to withstand forces over time, they will break down eventually if they have not developed a strong foundation of movement.
In this series, we suggest several core and hip stability exercises from a physiotherapy, yoga, and athletic conditioning standpoint. Have a look, and make sure to incorporate some of these in your running preparation.
Therapeutic Exercise
– Assisted Deadlift
– Resisted Step up with High Knee
Asanas
– Balancing Tabletop Pose
– Three-Legged Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana)
– High Lunge with Airplane Arms
Athletic Conditioning
– Resisted Hip Flexion on Step, Quick up, slow down
– Pallof Press
– Staggered Pallof press
– Single leg pallof press
