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With high school cross country summer training just a couple of rest weeks away I thought I would share a link I came across in Running Times magazine. It is a video link for a progressive general strength and mobility for runners. GSM Running Times by Jay Johnson

More on P90X....

diagram credit: Gray's Anatomy



Yesterday, I wrote some thoughts on the workout called P90X. I was writing those thoughts after watching the workout from the comfort of my recliner with a glass of wine. This morning, I was intrigued enough to give it a shot. Now, I have some more practical thoughts and I can speak from experience and not just from analyzing the exercises.

First of all, I still hold the same opinions from my last post on the workout even after going through it.

Second of all, can I be honest? This workout kicked my rear end! And every other part of my body for that matter! Getting through this workout is a slight overstatement because I got through the first 7 exercises and I was dead. I would consider myself to be in fairly good shape and have taken lots of core classes and pilates, but the intensity and duration of this workout is nothing like i've experienced (except for maybe a spin class or military training).

Third, let me say that before you start this workout or any other for that matter, watch each exercise and make sure you are using correct form and engaging the proper muscles before actually trying to go through the workout. I say this because once you start getting fatigued (in my case around the third exercise), you will think less about your form and more about how tired and how much work you're doing. This is true for any exercise or activity.

Fourth, unless you've been through it before, don't try to do the whole workout the first time. My goal the next time is get through first 10 exercises. This sounds crazy, but i looked up after 7 exercises and the clock still showed 38 minutes left in the workout!! Now, I understand that many reading this are in much better physical condition than I am, and this advice won't apply. I am speaking mainly to the crowd of people that are looking for a new workout or who are fairly new to the core/functional type exercises.

Lastly, let me again say that the exercises in this workout are outstanding for building core strength and most of all core endurance! These can be great for any type of athlete or for protecting the weekend warrior from sidelining injury. I use lower level variations of these exercises in a rehab setting, so I know they are effective. I would suggest taking the exercises that are the most challenging for you and practice them individually or ask a professional if there are modifications or lower level exercises that can be used to strengthen the muscles necessary to complete the exercises in the workout correctly. Also, the developers of the program do offer a free P90x "fit test" to complete before starting the workout. I would highly recommend doing this and being honest with yourself during and after the test. Don't risk an injury by trying to just get through the workout! Remember: Correct muscle engagement and form, form, form!! Have Fun....i'm going to be sore for the next week!!

the runner's core exercises

In this post we have listed the key exercises which Lou & I use in order to keep up our baseline strength and mobility. These exercises load the key muscles involved with running. Each of these phases have a different goal and we try do them in this order to achieve these goals. More reps is not necessarily better. As I do these exercises, I try to think of the goal and concentrate on the quality or control of the movement. We try to do these 2-3 times per week on easy running days or rest days. In the off season, in our case winter, we may do these more frequently. Click on the highlighted words for a link to the post which will demonstrate each exercise. I will also eventually add these to our sidebar with updates for the exercises which I don't have a description. Remember give us some feedback with a comment. I never really know if anyone gets anything out of this blog.

Phase 1
Foam Rolling Goal- relax/release key muscle groups / Hamstrings, ITB, quads & hip flexors
I do 20 reps on each muscle group

Phase 2- Gently lengthen muscle groups which were released with foam rolling.
My key areas are my hamstrings and hip flexors.

Hip Flexor stretch

Lower Abdominals -This is a good way to indirectly work lengthen my hip flexors by increasing
the strength of my lower abdominals and stretch my back extensors without
actively loading my hip flexors as with the majority of Pilates exercises.

Phase 3 - With this group of exercises, the goal is to strengthen muscles by isolating the weak ones which try to get out of doing the work (primarily the glutes).

Clams

Bridging series

Arms

Phase 4 Goal- Strengthen the key muscles in a more functional way or to integrate the muscles which were stressed in phase 3. I don't do all of these in one session but rather I pick 2-3 of these. In the next workout I do the ones I skipped in the previous workout.

• Step Overs /Balancing
  
• Step Downs
  
• Lunges/Front Step up (modified lunge)
  
• Squat

Note to readers: Always consult a physician before starting any exercise program. The posts on this blog are purely for educational purposes only. The information written in the posts is the opinion of the authors and should not be taken as medical advice.

Hip strengthening/ Clams

Clams:

This is a great exercise to work runner's weak gluteal muscles. The athlete will lie on their side, knees together and bent at 90 degrees. They will rotate their upper leg upward, keeping their feet together. After 15 slow repetitions, a low grade fatigue will be felt in the glut region.

The Bridge

This is a simple exercise that will help to build functional strength in your gluteals and core.


Start with the level one bridge. Both feet are on the ground with knees bent. Toes up to minimize the activity of the hamstrings during this exercise. Contract your gluteals or buttock muscles and tighten lower abdominals simultaneously. Push through your heels and lift pelvis off of the ground slowly and under control. Lift until your pelvis in line with your thighs. Do not arch back. If you are arching you're probably going to high. Lower your pelvis back to the floor under control. Remember are to keep both sides of pelvis level as to not let either hip drop during the movement.



Once you are able to perform level one with minimal fatigue and with good form and control, move on to level two. This level is performed using a single leg. The same principles apply. Use buttock muscles or gluteal to lift pelvis off of the floor. It is important to remember while performing this movement to maintain a level pelvis. Weakness can be seen if the unsupported side of the pelvis drops during initiation of the movement or throughout the movement. Keep core tight and perform slowly to maximize gluteal activation.

This exercise along with clams and standing band exercises are a great functional warm-up before a run. We also recommend doing these exercises on off days/strength training days to increase functional strength and prevent many lower extremity injuries.

Core strength/ Lower abdominals

This is a great way for our runners to strengthen their lower abdominals without further loading their hip flexors (Pilates or full range sit-ups).

The runner will lie down supine with their knees bent at 90 degrees. They will then tighten their lower abdominals (rolling the pelvis toward their nose/flattening the lower back toward the floor). This position is maintained as they slowly raise their arms overhead holding a ball. The lower back should not arch away from the floor. The higher the arms are raised the more difficult it is to keep the "core" engaged. They will continue to slowly raise and lower their arms until the lower abdominals are fatigued.












We then have them load their External and Internal Obliques by repeating the same exercise but they start at the side of the pelvis and raise the ball at diagonal toward the opposite ear.












Once this is mastered we advance them to a more difficult position. They repeat these exercises but with the legs straight out. In this position it is much harder to keep the core engaged as the hip flexors are in a relatively lengthened position. This is a sneaky way to work on lengthening tight hip flexors and back extensors while strengthening the muscles that oppose them.

Functional Strength & Mobility / a gentle reminder

This last weekend I decided it was time to finish a remodeling job that I started 2 years ago. You know, the last part of a project that isn’t that important, just cosmetic, a hassle. I never had the time to get into it. This job required me to do some wood working and getting into work positions low to the ground (squatting and kneeling). These are not positions that I spend much of my normal work day doing. Needless to say come Monday my hamstrings and quads were feeling pretty tight and sore.

Usually, over the summer I lower my running mileage and work more on my functional strength. That didn’t happen this year. I really dropped off on my functional strengthening as I just never seemed to have the time to get it done. It was a hassle. We runners with healthy joints must keep our ability to squat and lunge (functional strength and mobility). As I approach the age of 45 this is becoming more and more obvious to me. Because my home improvement projects are becoming less frequent, I could lose this ability if I don’t continue to work on it. My running could eventually suffer. So my home improvement project served as a gentle reminder to get back to my functional strength program. GET IT DONE & DON’T PUT IT OFF!

Functional Strengthening/Mobility

I decided that it would be beneficial to provide an occasional link to our previous posts/ video regarding functional strengthening and mobility exercises.
the why...
Got Strength?
You don't have squat?
Be Hip
the video...
Squat
Lunge
Step downs
Step overs

Note to readers: Always consult a physician before starting any exercise program. The posts on this blog are purely for educational purposes only. The information written in the posts is the opinion of the authors and should not be taken as medical advice.

Hamstrings

Here is a great post on Hamstring pulls written by Vern Gambetta. Here is a link to his blog. http://www.gambetta.com/blog.html

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Hamstring Pulling Season
We have just started hamstring pulling season (AKA Major League Baseball Season) So far in first two days of the season there have bee two hamstring pulls. Do you ever wonder why? Is it the cold weather? No I don’t think so although can be a factor at times. Are they out of shape? I hope not they have spent six weeks in spring training getting game fit. Based on my observations over the years here is my take on the hamstring pull situation in baseball and for that matter other sports. Too much emphasis on static stretching in warm-up. Warm-up to stretch, do not stretch to warm-up. Flexibility of the hamstring is basically a non factor in hamstring pulls, it is dynamic hip flexibility that is important. You don't get that wallowing around on the ground in pregame stretch. Lack of sufficient warm-up. The current rage in warm-up does not involve enough movement, way too much at walking tempo, you need to build the warm-up in a crescendo to top speed sprints. Another reason is too much emphasis on linear running mechanics, very little on turns. The hamstring is a transverse plane muscle that is stressed when running a curve and on deceleration. There is too much strengthening using non functional exercises in prone and supine positions. The solutions are simple, but require understanding muscle function and compliance to a program. More lunges in all planes, step-ups both low and high, more emphasis on running turns and at least two days a week of all out sprinting outside the game. It takes time and preparation with attention to detail.

Our interpretation for distance runners. Stop doing static stretching as a warm-up! Stop doing hamstring curls for strengthening! As Vern says, we must keep our functional mobility (ability to squat, lunge and step up/down). Check out the archives on our blog for exercises to address functional mobility/strength.