Is it Safe to Exercise in the Cold?
Many people tend to use the cold weather as an excuse to not workout. It is so much more appealing to sit on the couch by that nice warm fire instead of going out in freezing temperatures. I have done this many times myself but for many I think they have a legitimate excuse of just not knowing if it is ok to go outside to workout when the temperatures drop into the 20's or below.
Muscle Memory, Fact or Fiction?
I spoke with a client the other day who had started running again for the first time in a long time. She used to run quite a bit in the past but has not done any now in over 4 years. She tried to go for a few runs this past week and said that it seemed as though she had never run before. She was frustrated, not that she could not run for long distances but that she felt like she had no ability to run with any kind of a stride that resembled what she used to have.
"I Need Better Flexibility in My Hamstrings, Where do I Start?"
Another great example that we get asked all the time. How do I increase flexibility in my hamstrings? It comes from many different sources when people ask us. "My Doctor tells me I need better flexibility in my hamstrings to help with my low back pain." "My Golf Instructor tells me that increasingly my hamstring flexibility will improve my swing plane." There are thousands of reasons you want to maintain flexibility in your hamstrings but rather than list what you already know, let us take a few minutes and show you some simple steps to get started.
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Exercise of the Week Workout #4 Running Warmup
EXERCISE OF THE WEEK WORKOUT #4
RUNNING WARMUP
Here is the complete Running Warmup for you to follow. Give it a shot the next time you are headed out for a run. We have taken the time to put together an intelligent warmup that incorporates the various components necessary to promote an efficient stride. Here is the extra descriptions for each move along with the number of repetitions of each.
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What is Your Favorite Time of Year to Run?
Some of the Athletes I coach were discussing this topic today. They were doing a workout for our winter track program in our indoor training center. At the end we went outside to do some sprints to open up their stride and it turned out to be significantly colder than I had anticipated. I was worried this would be a detriment but they all said it was a relief since the training center was getting pretty humid from the sweat and heaters.
Exercise of the Week #38 Full Squats
EXERCISE OF THE WEEK #38
FULL SQUATS
Full Squats or Free Squats are one of the more common exercises we use at the end of warm-ups and cool-downs to introduce proper loading into the hips, knees, and ankles. With the progression of the warm-up exercises leading into this one all designed to properly align the skeletal system, this moves help to reinforce this anatomically correct position.
Is Running Stairs a Useful Training Tool?
Stair Routines have been a standard of many workout programs for who knows how many thousands of years. Stairs are a tremendous training tool to help develop more power and efficiency in your stride. One of the major limiting factors that runners suffer from is a lack of proper muscle sequencing in their stride. To have an efficient stride it requires the proper muscles working in sequence. The stride should be initiated in the muscles surrounding the pelvis such as the iliopsoas and rectus femoris.
Exercise of the Week #37 Standing Hip Flexor Stretch
EXERCISE OF THE WEEK #37
Standing Hip Flexor Stretch
You can never do enough lengthening of the hip flexors with the amount of siting we are forced to do as a part of our jobs. This is the main reason why we decided to add an additional stretch for the hip flexors as a part of the running warm-up. This is a great stretch that can even be done throughout the day to help break the tightness that we suffer from as we sit.
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Another Opinion on Running Shoes
I recently received e-mails from a few of you regarding an article from the New York Times about running injuries. The article is great so thanks to all of you who sent it. The article is regarding how many runners are suffering from injuries when training for long distance running. We have discussed this topic several times before in some of our running efficiency posts.
Exercise of the Week #36 Spread Foot 3 Position Arm Raises
EXERCISE OF THE WEEK #36
Spread Foot 3 Position Arm Raises
We are just 2 exercises away from completing your Running Warm-up. Following them we will do one more video in this series that will go over the proper sequence and reps to make it complete. The 3 Position Arm Raises are a great example of an exercise you can do to help prepare the upper body for running. This is a very commonly overlooked component of preparing to run.
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