Posts in the Stretching Category at , Page 2

The Imbalanced Runner: Pinpoint your weaknesses and avoid injuries

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Cait — 19 Comments ↓

Every runner is imbalanced. I’m not talking mentally (although we’ve all got our quirks!) but physically; your body isn’t two perfect mirror images between right and left, some muscles are naturally stronger than others, some areas tighter and others looser.

For the ‘normal’ person that’s not such a huge deal, but when, as runners, we are demanding that our bodies carry us for miles and miles in the same repetitive motion, those imbalances become glaring weaknesses. Weaknesses not just in efficiency and translating to potentially lost time, but more importantly setting you up for injuries.

A runner’s imbalances are the slumbering volcanoes for injuries. Interestingly, the injuries can manifest in some tricky to diagnose ways, as in you may be having problems with your feet but the culprit is a weakness in your gluets. [Actually, there was an excellent piece in the September issue of Running Times on just this.]

The best way to deal with an injury is to be proactive before you’re actually hurt; you can’t stop them all but you can do your best. Think of runner upkeep and care like the safe sex talk you get in high school. 😉

Your imbalances are going to be different from your running friends, but many common points of weakness center around the core or near it:
* hips
* hamstrings
* glutes
* back
* ankles [not near your core, but one for five aint bad…lol.]

When it comes to the hips, adductors, abductors and glutes it’s like a minefield. So many people have issues: tightness here, weakness there, slacker muscles making other muscles pick up the work, you name it. This has the trickle down effect to knee issues and tons of lower leg problems. That’s why improving flexibility in the hip region and strengthening those small, intrinsic muscles is so important.

Here are some quick exercises and stretches that you can do to try to bring some balance to your imbalance:

Core
* Planks and leg raises: I did a whole post on probably my all time favorite core routine, it takes the plank and kicks it up a notch. You get nearly every muscle engaged, if you do it right, and as you get more balanced you integrate leg raises which is giving you a double whammy on working those glutes and hamstrings. Please read this routine, your life will never be the same again. 😉

Glutes and Hamstrings:
* Back Bridge: Lie on your back, pressing the small of your back flat to the floor to engage the core, knees bent in the air, feet on the ground a fair distance from your bum. Then squeeze your glutes and lift your butt into the air until your body from your knees to your shoulder-blades are in a straight line. Lower back down and repeat, do sets of 10-15.
* Hamstring Ball Roll: Lie with your back on the floor, arms at both sides, legs straight ahead and place your feet on top of an exercise ball. Lift your torso up so that only your shoulder blades are on the floor and arms at either side for support. Bring your knees to your chest by rolling the ball inward towards your bum and then roll back out. Repeat for sets of 10-15.
* Toe Touch Balance: Stand up and then balance on your left foot. Keep your left leg straight and reach down to your left foot leading with your right arm, going across your body. The trick here is to keep your balance without that right leg on the floor. Raise back up to the starting position and repeat 10 times. Then flip and balance on the right foot.

Mobility:
* Hip stretches – I did a whole post on that; strengthening is one aspect and improving flexibility and mobility is another.
* Leg Swings – Here’s my post all about those.

Ankles:
* Pillow Balance: Ankles are prone to rolls and you want the small muscles around the ankle strong and supple. Balancing on one of those Bosu balls or a pillow can really improve your ankle strength. Start by standing on a pillow, balancing on one foot and hold it there for a minute or two…you’ll notice that it’s going to be easier on one side than it is on the other, so you’ll see where your imbalance is between right an left there. Then when you’ve got that try doing the above Toe Touch Balance exercise on the pillow.
* Calf Exercises: THIS post about calf raises applies here and also helps with Achilles issues.

The argument of sanity aside, every runner is imbalanced in a way unique to them. Sometimes it takes a little hunting around, or an injury, for you to find your’s but if you do all you can to get as balanced as possible before an injury strikes both your running and your sanity will be better off. We all know how beastly those injured runners can be!

1) Do you know what some of your imbalances are? Do you work on them at all?

2) Do you stay pretty diligent about runner upkeep and care? Are you really good about stretching?

3) Have you gotten an injury that is due to some kind of imbalance you have? How did you figure out what the culprit was, did it take a lot of searching to solve the issue? Do you have any specific exercises/stretches you now do to make sure you don’t get re-injured?

Hip Flexibility Drills: Why runners should channel those Latin dancers (Also the Road ID Winner)

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

While being quarantine to the elliptical I’ve made it my mission to watch every bad movie sequel possible; it’s been so long I’ve long ago burned through the good ones…hehe. Anyways, today on the agenda was ‘Dirty Dancing Havana Nights’…and what I do have to admit is that any time I see people who can actually dance it makes me wish I had just an OUNCE of rhythm or the ability to move in any way that could be considered dancing.

I run in a straight line…it’s a stretch to turn left. But dancers aren’t just coordinated they are also flexible, another glaring weakness of many runners. Getting back to the good old ‘Havana Nights,’ the hip area (dare I say the groin!) is a commonly overlooked area where runners get tight and never do anything about it. They may stretch out the quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles, do the foam roller on the IT band, but not many of them think to make sure they gain flexibility in the hip region.

But if you don’t work on this area not only will you not be able to salsa and flamenco, but if your hip area is too tight you’ll be limiting your ability to get full extension in your running stride. What this means is you’ll be short-changing yourself with a shorter stride and that translated over miles could mean losing out on precious time and finishing places.

Here are some moves to regain some mobility in that hip area:

* Hip circles: We used to laugh doing this one in my running group, especially the guys doing them in public, but we’re runners so be awkward proudly! Standing with your feet about shoulder width apart, place your hands on your hips and then circle with your hips leading; really exaggerate the movement and get as much circumference as you can without moving your feet. Do 10 in the clockwise direction and then 10 in the counter-clockwise direction.

* 3 Way Leg-Lunges: Imagine you are standing on a giant clock, ahead of you is 12 and behind you is 6 o’clock; you are in the center where the hands originate. Start with both feet together, and then lunge your right leg directly in front of you to where the 12 would be; dip into the lunge and then back to center. Now, without moving your left foot, keep it planted, lunge with your right foot leading to where the 3 would be on the clock. As you dip down focus on opening up that hip area, and then lunge back to center. For the third lung, keep the left foot planted, and really work on opening up your hip by leading the lunge with your right leg to get as far past the 3 o’clock as you can. As you gain flexibility and range of motion see how close you can get to the 6 o’clock. This is tricky with balance as well; once you do three lunges with your right leg leading, switch to your left leg leading. You’ll note that often times one side of your hip is tighter than the other. Work up to doing a few sets on each leg.

* Donkey kicks:This one you will get down on all fours; your hands and knees. Take your right leg and keep it bent at the knee and draw it up under you and to your chest; then reverse the motion and swing it up and back and then raise the leg up into the air. Think about kicking towards the sky (you’ll also feel this working your butt muscles, which is good too) and then bring it back down to the starting position and repeat. You want it a slow, controlled movement not just letting momentum take over. Do a set of 10 for each leg.

You're not doing the front leg, but imagine the trail leg clearing that hurdle.

* Standing Hurdler: Stand with your hands on a wall for support; face the wall and start with your feet together. Imagine that you have a hurdle just to the right of you, pick up your right leg and imagine it is the trail leg of a hurdler as they go over. Take your right leg and make a full, sweeping circular motion as you raise the leg, carry it out to the side to clear the imagined hurdle and then right up under your chest before repeating the same motion. Do a set of 10 with the right leg and then repeat the same idea but switching to your left leg going over the imagined hurdle.

* Leg Swings: I’ve talked about these HERE along with more dynamic flexibility drills; but you really can’t do enough of these leg swings in both planes. That’s across your body going left to right, and then in front of you and behind.

While we may never gain the flexibility of a true dancer, runners with looser hips will be able to get that full extension in their running stride and that, in addition to making you less injury prone, will put you in position to get faster…and who doesn’t like that?? 😉

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The winner of my Road ID giveaway was:

Patty T, shoot me an email: captaincait@hotmail.com and we’ll get you all set up!
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1) Did you see either of the ‘Dirty Dancing’ movies? What is one of the worst sequels (or gosh, even third or fourth, etc. installments) that you’ve seen?

2) Do you see dancers, or gymnasts and ice skaters, and wish you could do some of their moves? Do you have a past of any of those arts/sports?

3) Have you even thought of working on your hip flexibility as a runner? Have you done any of the above exercises, or do you have some moves of your own that you do?

4) Do you tend to be a pretty flexible person and do you enjoy stretching and working on that?
No…and I own up to the fact I don’t like stretching, which is NOT good..lol.

In My Mind I Dance Like a Swan — And Am Super Flexible

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Well, at least I know where all the flexibility and coordination went in my family…

actually it’s never been a secret. So I spent the night watching my little sis’s dance show and while I may be biased, I’ll say she’s the bestest one out there. 🙂 (pix from tonight are being stupid and not working at the moment…sorry)

I have always had that little girlie part of me lurking away any time ice skating or gymnastics is on; that part that sorta wished I had even one fiber of grace and the ability to do all those flippy things. Dance performances can pull that part out sometimes, but I know my place…I’ll cheer and live vicariously through the sis.

Running makes you tighter, combine that with my mom’s DNA and we have my situation…I’ve never once, not once, touched my toes while keeping my legs straight. I use the excuse that since I’m all legs my arms proportionately never stood a chance.

Excuses aside, I have been doing a little better in my pledge to do at least SOME stretching. I may not ever do splits while conscious but neglecting the problem is certainly doing me no favors and was like letting it fester. Reasons not to fester: increased chances of injury, limiting range of motion, poor form, by the time I’m 30 I’ll need a walker…

If you’re like me and don’t like to stretch or say you don’t have time, I’ll call you out, I did it to myself and here are some sneaky ways to get your stretch on: (PS-rembember it’s counterproductive to stretch cold muscles, so only do so after you’ve warmed up…mmmmk)

Let's cut to Audrey in Funny Face, shall we?

*Dynamic leg swings: if you only have a second, I’d pick these. Hold onto a pole, swing your left leg front to back, gradually getting higher each time. Repeat with right leg. Then do lateral leg swings, so across your torso. Do a few sets of 10.

*Covert stretch: make fun of me, but when I’m waiting to micro up something, I’ll use the minutes to alternate between some easy stretches. My hip flexors and psoas muscles are tight from my elliptical sessions. And people, you can use TV time to do a little you know what.

*Do it sweaty: really, I know there is no excuse to give a minute or two to stretching after my runs/core. I’m already nasty and lying on the floor won’t make me dirtier. The thing is, doing little bits at a time is actually better than planning on doing a huge chunk once a week. The time adds up, and how many people actually then stick to that ‘planned’ stretching time?

So while I’ll never do an Arabian back-whatever, I know I can muster a few leg swings…eh?

1) Are you good with stretching?

2) Have you ever done the splits?

3) Have you ever been a gymnast, dancer, ice skater…or the like?
I actually used to tap dance and that I wasn’t horrendous at.

All About the IT Band — Regular Upkeep to Avoid Troubles

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Cait — 7 Comments ↓

It’s IT. The Illiotibial Band runs along the outside of your thigh, from the top of your hip (the iliac crest, that bony ridge) and down to your knee. With runners the IT Band is a common malady and I’ll go out on a limb and say that yours is probably tight unless you’ve been working on it.

Kick IT Band issues to the curb with regular maintenance! 😉

What does ‘working on it’ mean? Diligent stretching (we all know how good I am at that!) and breaking up the knots. One of the best ways to focus on the latter is to use the foam roller; I’m going to warn you that if you haven’t done this before it’s going to be pretty uncomfortable and maybe even make you want to curl up and cry…so bring a tissue. 😉

To use the foam roller on the IT Band, lie on your side, prop yourself up with your elbow and position the roller just under your hip. Now, move your body forward so that the roller works itself down on the outside of your thigh and stop when you come to your knee.

Roll in a gradual, slow motion, and then when you come to your knee reverse directions back up to your hip. You will adjust the amount of tension by applying more or less of your body weight onto the roller. If you’re new at this your IT Band will probably be tender and you might not even need to apply that much weight before you feel it.

When you come to a particularly sore spot, pause and hold it on the roller. This is called applying direct pressure and as you hold it gradually start adding more of your weight onto the spot, this will help break up the knot. Only hold it there for about a minute and then do short rolls back and forth over the area to further help release the knot.

You may come across quite a few knots and you won’t be able to break all of them up in a single self-massage session either. This is something that you should think of as maintenance, like you do for your car; you only want to target a particular muscle or tendon for up to 15 minutes at a time. The best way to go about it is to sneak in short sessions after your run or while you’re watching TV, but on a continual basis instead of ignoring it and then going crazy on the roller for an hour once a month.

After a few days/weeks of consistent rolling (and only go to the point of uncomfort, yes it will be tender and sore but you don’t want to go to unbearable pain levels because then you’ll just end up doing more damage than good.) you’ll see results and foam rolling across that IT Band will start to be less and less of a torturous thought.

Try to love the foam roller...really, it's not a torture contraption. 🙂

The other way to keep your IT Band in check is with stretching. Two of the best IT Band stretches:

Sit on the floor with your palms flat on the floor a few inches behind your bum; bend your knees up and place the soles of your feet flat on the floor in front your bum. Take your left foot and lie your left ankle across your right knee; you’ll then let your knee drop towards the floor, you’ll be rotating at the hip and be in a sort of half-butterfly position. Hold the stretch for at least 25 seconds and gradually try to get your knee closer to the ground. Repeat with the other leg.
This time, take your left leg, bent at the knee and lay it in front of you. Take your right leg, straighten it as best you can and let if trail behind you. You’ll be sort of in a splits position, except your front leg is bent. And if you’re me there is no way you could actually do the splits, so you might need to just drop your knee, bend your torso forward, and use your arms for support. Regardless, you want to feel the stretch in the outside of your hip area, so lean forward and slightly to the left as you hold this stretch. Repeat with the right leg in front.

The IT Band, once irritated can be a chronic and annoying bugger to deal with so if it’s not causing you problems yet, remember that the best way to avoid an injury as to be proactive!

If you are currently suffering from IT Band issues, stretching and gentle foam rolling is my advice. The only difference is that I caution you NOT to over-do it. You don’t want to be massaging it too much (ie: more than 15 minutes once a day) and you don’t want to be going past the point of uncomfort; do this and you’ll only cause more inflammation to the tissues. Stretching, follow the same rules, go to just the point of slight uncomfort and the best way to stretch is to hold it for a minute or two and just go a little deeper over time as the muscle relaxes. Then, once you’re done ice is your friend! Finally, be smart and it’s better to take a shorter break sooner rather than be forced into a longer one later; if you shouldn’t be running because of an IT Band injury don’t underestimate the power of cross-training.

Sorry to say it again, but I will….check out the December issue of Running Times because I’ve written an article that is all about self-massage and there is more where this came from in it. ☺

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This post was inspired by one awesome Jen @ Run For Anna, who you should go check out because she is training for her first marathon and running for one INSPIRING cause!! You have to read up on her story, she is truly doing something wonderful with each mile she puts it!
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1) Have you ever used the foam roller?
Yup…and it’s made me feel like a weenie at times…but the time on it are for a good cause I tell myself!
2) Have you ever had IT Band issues?
Yes again, hence the foam rolling.
3) Who raced this weekend?!

Stretch or Become a Tight@$$ Like Me

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Cait — 14 Comments ↓

Okay I’m going to have to try and keep this one short today. Why? Procrastination. Yup, I’m the queen of it, but I will say I NEVER miss a deadline and in fact with work type things I tend to be early. I also say I work the best under pressure, I guess forced productivity and all. But this time I’ve procrastinated in getting the whole Father’s Day things in order and two days after that is my bro’s birthday so I’ve got to get cracking on things.

Let’s see, so for today I did an easy run after yesterday’s harder workout. Came out to be a little over 8 miles, and again I’d like to note how that whole easy day term gets thrown around way too loosely. Trust me that first mile was a symphony of cracks and pops, and it felt like it. Then, not gonna lie, I was counting down the minutes of those last three miles! But get er done. Finished with core/abs and stick a fork in me.

I am also notoriously tight. Not a tight@$$ I’d like to note, although my adductor has been a beast lately and it’s really tight way up north so maybe I am. At any rate I’m HORRIBLE at keeping up with the whole stretching. I know I’m paying for it, I feel it, and running in fact makes you tighter. So I need to start getting better and forcing myself to do it.

It seems everyone has their own personal views on stretching: when to do it, how to do it, what kind to do it. I will say this:

DON’T stretch cold muscles. You’ll tear something, you always see people doing their little quad stretch before going out for a run, that’s actually not a good idea. Stretch after your run/workout or at least once you’ve warmed up and already been moving.

DO hold static stretches long enough. Fun fact of the day: for a static stretch (one that you just hold a pose) to be effective at all it has to be held at least 20 seconds. So just reaching down to your toes for 15 seconds isn’t gonna give you anything, sadly there’s no ‘A’ for effort there. Guilty for that one. 🙁

DON’T be a weenie like me and avoid doing it because you’re already inflexible, you don’t like stretching to begin with, it’s uncomfortable and you suck at it.

DO dynamic stretching. Actually I like this kind a little more because you’re ‘doing’ something with the stretching. These are the kinds of stretches that work on range of motion/flexibility through the stretch; think leg swings, torso twists, donkey kicks, the like. These are the ones that you look like a dork doing but are really good for you. Oh the price we pay in the name of health and fitness.

So let’s have a little stretching line-up that might possibly help motivate me to get my tight butt a little less tight:

* Forward leg swings: Stand to the side and hold onto a wall or post for balance. Now swing your left leg in front of you and then back behind you in a swinging motion. Aim to reach your leg higher in front of you and further behind you the more swings you do. Work into getting more of a stretch. Do a set of 10-15 and don’t forget the other leg. (Check yo I did this one today.)

* Lateral leg swings: Again steady yourself with your hands on a wall or post but this time you’ll face the wall. Swing your left leg across your body this time, first across your body and to the right,then back to the left side in a big sweeping motion. You want to feel the stretch in your legs but also in your glutes and work on opening up your hips. Again work on getting your leg higher with each swing. Do a set of 10-15 on both legs.

* Torso circles AKA ‘the creeper’: Put your hands on your hips and do a full circle with your hips. Make that circle wide peeps, look like a total creeper, but you want to really work on that range of motion. Do 10 hip circles clockwise then 10 counter-clockwise.

* Donkey kicks: Get on your hands and knees (Charlie Sheen really enjoys this one), take your left leg and tuck it in close to your tummy then keep it bent at the knee and lift it back and up towards the ceiling. Repeat 10-15 times then do the same with the other leg. A nice little bonus is it works your glutes a little bit too.

* Butterfly (static stretch): I think we all did this in gym, sit on that butt of steel you have, place the soles of your feet together and try to get those quads as close to the floor as possible. If you saw me there would be about three feet between the floor and my knees, sad picture.

* Straddle reach (static stretch): Pull the mind outta the gutter here. Sitting down you’re just going to spread your legs and reach towards your left foot, hold, then reach to the right foot and hold.

* Quad flamingos (static stretch): Stand up and grab your left foot with your right hand. Lots of people do this one but hold their left foot with their left hand, but you can get a little bit better stretch if you do it with your right hand and with your leg across your bum. So try it that way if you please. 🙂 And don’t forget your other leg.

* Calf on a wall (static stretch): Stand again facing the wall, place your hands there for support and then with your legs a few feet away from the wall. Keep your left leg straight and the heel of your foot planted flat on the floor and hold. Now bend at the knee with your heel still flat on the floor. You’ll feel this in a slightly lower spot, your calf is made up of two muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The straight leg stretches the gastrocnemius the bent knee the soleus. Don’t forget your other leg. (Couldn’t resist putting this picture up, could this chick be in a dorkier ensemble? Makes me look fashion forward.)

Wow, okay so much for a shorter post, sorry. Got carried away. That said, also remember that for all those static stretches you’ve got to put in your due time, longer than 20 seconds. 😉 I know, I’m a lazy bum when it comes to stretching and will skimp out if I get a chance. I wish I were like the people who really dig on all this and are complete yogi masters but alas, I’m just a runnerchick with a tight @$$.

On to trying to figure out these gifts and cards that are in order…wish me luck! What are you all getting your pops and grandpops for Father’s Day? I’ll share what I come up with even though you really may not care all that much! Mwahahaha!!!

1) Do you live close to your dad/grandfather and plan on visiting come Sunday?

No, but I wish. 🙁

2) Do you find stretching one of the banes of your existence like me? Do you also kick yourself in the butt every time you get a soreness or niggling injury BECAUSE you skimp on stretching like me?

3) What shoes are you currently rocking in?

Nike Structure Triax baby! Have been a fan forever, BUT not gonna lie they did a major overhaul on them a few years ago and they’ve never been the same. I say that in a negative light. PS- I happened to run into one of the guys behind the overhaul and he gave me the reasoning behind it all, maybe I’ll say more about that in a later post. BUT, I made sure to tell him that I, for one, was not a fan and that I wasn’t the only one who thought so. I’m pretty sure I intimidated the heck out of him. 😉