Browsing Tag

stretch

    Blog

    Healthy Hips for Runners

    Runners with tight hips never develop a full stride. Hips mobility is key for 3 reasons

    1. Greater force productions with each stride
    2. Provide strong base for tall posture
    3. Longer stride reaching hip extension

     

    As a runner your main engines without a doubt are your hips. As you push off the ground with one leg and lift the other, your hip flexors and hip extensors  simultaneously are forced to take the brunt of the work load. Consequently this is where you’ll find most of your tissue restriction and major injuries.

    If you have tight hip flexors, they don’t lengthen properly when you drive down into the ground, which means you produce less force and have a shorter stride. The opposite happens when you have tight glutes and hamstrings, these muscle can get so bounded up that they wont lengthen in order to lift your knee up off the ground. This results in less distance between your foot and the ground meaning less time and distance to gain momentum for a powerful punch into the ground.

     

    Here are some drills for improving your hip mobility

     

    Hip Seat Swivel – perform 10 reps on each leg for 2-3 sets

     

    Groiner with a twist – Perform 10 reps on each leg for 2-3 sets


    Worlds Greatest Stretch – Perform 6 reps on each leg for 2-3 sets

    Cossack Combo- Perform 20 reps for 2-3 sets

     

    Hip Flow for exploring where you are tightest – Spend 5 minutes moving through the positions

     

     

  • Blog

    Healthy Ankles for more Speed and Power

    Stiff ankles can shorten your stride and speed up overuse injuries. A mobile ankle can help in 3 ways. Better bounce of the ground increasing your stride length Less wear and…