Beginner
Movements for runners
Activations
Here’s the truth: running isn’t simple
Once you’re ready to run, it’s tempting to shoot out the door at top speed, or forego a running warmup in the interest of saving time. But heading out of the gates at full throttle without a proper prerun warmup is a recipe for disaster: injury.
Activation is a great way to not just stretch & go. But begin to understand how your warm-up can make or break your activity. I’ve seen clients shave minutes of 5k PBs and athletes jump higher/run faster due to a well-designed warm-up and activation period.
Use the exercise selection below to guide your warm-up and pre-session activities.
Exercise #1: pogo hops
Here’s what we want to see out of athletes when doing pogo jumps: minimal ground contact time, and minimal knee flexion (knees over the toes). Each jump is mainly with ankle movement instead of hips and knees. Never let your heel touch the ground. Stay on the ball of your foot to utilise your lower-leg elasticity.
Perform 2-3 sets of 5-10 reps each side
Exercise #2: drop lunge
The Drop-lunge is an excellent exercise to train the body how to absorb force during explosive movements. Never exceed your body's capacity to control movement in trying to drop to fast or aggressively. Take your time and slowly work up to full force drops.
Exercise #3: crossover steps
Probably my favourite pre-run exercises to warm-up the hips and encourage proper spinal alignment, while the hips rotate (happens every time to run). I am not a fan of static hip stretching prior to explosive activity. There is evidence to support dynamic stretching and dynamic warm-ups are more beneficial prior to working out compared to static stretching. Working the hips dynamically followed by more targeted glute work should be the theme in any warm-up.
Perform for 2-3 sets of 10 - 25 reps each side
Exercise #4: glute bridge switches
Strong, active glutes not only look great, but they also help prevent pain and injury while also helping you to lift more and run faster.
To set-up. Drop into a classic glute bridge position.
Engage the glutes by pulling your pelvis to your chin, engaging the abs at the same time. Drive the hips as high as you can, sinking your weight onto the mid-foot. Elevate the non-working leg where your knees are aligned. Then switch. Keeping the hips high, making sure NOT to drop them lower during the ‘switch phase’.
Perform for 2-3 sets of 5 - 20 reps.
Exercise #5: single boom step
We call these boom steps because I want to hear the foot punch the ground. The second boom comes if we want to do two contacts to the ground. I stole it from Frans Bosch’s Running DVD (I stole a lot from that DVD). Lift your swing leg and arms to a perfect position (90 degrees).
Quickly step down with the swing leg, scissoring your legs. The swing leg hits the ground and punches back up to the starting position.
In his book, Melén shows the positions of where knees pass each other in a variety of sprinters. The faster the athlete, the further away from the ground the knees pass.
Perform 1-2 sets of 10 - 20 reps each side