Incorporating One “Strong” Walk Into Your Running Schedule
No this is not me preaching the "run/walk" method again, or selling Jeff Galloways programs, but only a sharing of my recent awareness of the benefits from incorporating a "strong" walk into your weekly schedule. Strong is not about "speed" in this element, but about quality of movement. Activating the hip and abdominal muscles and taking your body through the full range of motion it was designed to be taken through.
Most of the injures that are sidelining runners these days are caused from a loss of mobility at a specific joint, which results in inhibition of specific muscles, usually on the opposite side of the tightness. When your running speed increases your turnover rate increases, which means that less time is spent on your foot (leg), less time in contact with the ground. This is all great stuff as you are setting PR's and improving your endurance however, this reduction in time spent on the ground significantly reduces the mobility at the ankle, knee and hip and even reduces the natural rotation that occurs in the upper back when your leg hits full hip extension.
If you can incorporate at least one walk a week, and possibly a 5-10 minute warm-up walk prior to your runs, it will allow the body to engage all the muscles needed to prevent injury and take the body through the full range of motion it is not getting in on your runs.
How?
Awareness of your standing posture is the first step. You need to be sure you are not standing with your shoulders rounded or head sitting way forward of your shoulders. Your butt should not be tucked in. The best way to get your body to sit in the correct position, is to activate your deep abdominal muscles. Pretend you just put on a bathing suit for the first time this season, or a tight fitting dress ladies. What do we do? We pull in our belly button to tighten the stomach muscles. Now this should not feel like you are holding your breath, but simply pulling your belly button away from your pant line. This contraction will automatically place the upper back and neck in a neutral position. Focus on your toes pointing forward and not in or outward, and begin your walk. You want to walk in a heel to toe fashion and keep your foot in contact with the ground all the way through hip extension (this is when your leg comes behind you). When your right leg is in the back a natural turn of your upper body to the left should occur. This motion with the activation of your abdominal muscles will:
1. Provide full hip extension which stretches the hip flexors out and activates the gluteus maximus (your butt).
2. Create dorsiflexion (ankle mobility) elongating the calf, achilles and plantar fascia.
3. Rotate the torso, also creating elongation of the hip flexors and activation of the oblique muscles.
4. Elongate the IT bands, hamstrings and piriformis with the toe in a straight forward position.
5. Strengthen your core which is engine of your run.
6. PREVENT INJURY BY GIVING YOUR BODY BACK ITS FULL RANGE OF MOTION AND ACTIVATION OF ALL THE STABILIZERS.
Give it a try! It works on a treadmill too, just stick your back foot to the belt and ride it as far back as you can before your lift it off the belt. We call it the "sticky foot" workout.
Tracy Ryckaert
The X in P90X
P90X has become the "buzz" of the fitness community and everyone seems to be sharing their opinions, fears, and excitement over this newest fitness rage. So I thought I would take this blogging opportunity to share my insight on this program from the stand of a PTA, personal trainer and the wife of a Tony Horton fan!
My husband has always been intrigued by infomercials, and frequently asks my opinion of the product being sold. I have to admit that the p90x was the first to catch my full attention. I was intrigued by the philosophy of this program and found similarities in my own exercise prescription philosophy. The use of body weight and dumbbells challenging the muscles as a group vs machine training in isolation. I loved the emphasis placed on varied workouts preventing adaptation or plateau and creating muscles confusion. This muscle confusion is the base for creating growth and enhancing the nervous system. So I decided to bite the bullet and make my very first infomercial purchase. This would offer us an opportunity to work out together in the comfort of our home and give me the hands on experimenting that could also benefit my cliental.
This program is laid out in a fashion that varies the body part being worked out daily. Alternating between the upper and lower extremities, martial arts, plyometrics, core, stretching and yoga (which happens to be the toughest work out of them all). The beauty of the program is that you need very little space and equipment, in addition to the elimination of travel time to and from the gym. It promotes mobility and strength in all three planes of movement and emphasizes strength of the stabilizing muscles.
So how could you go wrong based on all of the pros listed here? Well just like any other exercise program, if it lands in the hands of an individual who doesn't have the ability or knowledge of where to begin and how to progress, or someone who has not been priorly educated in proper body mechanics with exercises such as lunges, push ups, or squats, it can serve as a danger. Although the videos do a good job of consistently reminding you to start slow, with fewer reps or light resistance and to listen to your body, this can still serve as a challenge to the type "A" personality, or the individual who is a newbie to fitness. It can also be a danger for the person who decides to just pick and choose their daily workouts vs following the schedule, if...... he only chooses the muscles that he can see in the mirror, such as the chest, biceps, and abdominals. Remember that there some very important muscles on your backside that are also being admired and if you neglect these scapular stabilizers, hamstrings or glutes, your performance could be greatly inhibited and your workouts may come to an end sooner than you wish due to injury.
My recommendation is, if you have been active with a strengthening program at the gym for more than a year now, take this opportunity to change up your routine. You will quickly note the benefits of this program. If the majority of your exercises have been performed on machines, be cautious and consider professional (personal trainer, physical therapist or MIHP????) guidance with initiating this program. If you are just beginning a fitness program, then take note that in each workout video they will have one of the instructors showing an alternate approach to each exercise whether it be positioning, or different forms of resistance. Stick with this form until you become stronger. Also, if you note any neck pain with doing shoulder exercises, consider using one arm at a time vs both arms together. This will allow an increase in the natural rotational pattern our body requires with upper extremity movement.
Please tune in tomorrow for how to periodized your P90X workout into the training schedule for the endurance athlete.
Please submit any comments or questions you have to tryckaert@mihp.net
Tracy Ryckaert
And that’s not all…..
I received an excellent question from a VIP client (yes, you Bill) asking if keeping your toes straight during running was equally important as when walking to prevent low back pain. I will tell you what I told him. A resounding YES!!!
When you walk or run with one or both feet “toed out”, you put your gluteus maximus (which happens to be the largest muscle group in your body) in a shortened position making it unable to work. What happens then is that all the muscles that are supposed to be assistors, such as the piriformis, ITBand, calf muscles, etc. have to over-work to take the place of the glute max. That’s when things go awry. The hip and/or low back start to hurt. It can cause knee pain (that came in 2nd place to low back pain in our findings), and even plantar fasciitis. So…. Try keeping your toes pointed forward and see if it helps!
Walk Straight!
A few weeks ago, the MIHP MoveWell team held a women’s seminar. The seminar consisted of a Keynote speech : “The Five Key Facts” about the body and its design, instruction/ participation in a partner circuit, instruction/participation in the “Daily Dozen” exercises, and 5-minute biomechanical screens. Our team of seventeen Movement Training Specialists moved 184 women through this event seamlessly. It was a huge success.
Our Lesson:
We learned that out of the184 women, 79 of them reported having low back pain! That is 43% of the participants! That’s a lot of sore backs.
Your Lesson:
Simply walking with your toes straight, rather than turned out, may significantly reduce low back pain. Try it!
Stay tuned for more tips on preventing and eliminating low back pain…….
Question: Should I stretch prior to exercising or after?
Answer:
I do not recommend stretching a cold muscle. You will receive greater benefits in activating the muscles in which you are preparing to call on for your chosen form of exercise. Consider this as a “waking up” period for the muscles that need to stabilize or drive you in your workout.
If you have a specific tightness that you feel needs to be addressed prior to your workout, keep in mind the speed in which you will be performing your exercise. You don’t want to teach these muscles to lengthen in a “slow and controlled” environment during warm-up and then throw them into an environment that requires the movement to occur rapidly. Consider dynamic stretching as a safer form of preparation.
*For more information on dynamic- stretching, you can contact Tracy Ryckaert, Director of Performance Enhancement at MIHP (Michigan Institute for Human Performance) at tryckaert@mihp.net
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