Congratulations to our Invictus Ultra Marathoner, Tara Parsons-Miranda, on finishing her first 100-mile race in 28 hours and 35 minutes!
Quit the Chronic Running To Improve Your Running!
Written by Cat Blatner
In my experience as a coach, I have worked with hundreds of individuals in classes and private sessions that come from a chronic running background. It’s pretty common to have a period in your life where you thought that running 6+ miles a day was the way to create a slimmer you! Believe me, we’ve all been there! Those days have long passed for most of us (hopefully) and people are finding out that running might not be the best way to improve their body composition. However, without the right balance of strength training, it is one of the best ways to tighten your hips, tug on your knees and overstress the achilles tendon! Pair this with a desk job and you’re in for some real pain.
Now, I’m not saying to stop running. (Heck no! Please check out Nuno’s track night or Endurance Program if you need to work on the skill of running!) What I’m trying to say is that running might not be the best way to achieve more body composition goals as well as it might be jacking up your joints. BUT if you have goals that involve running specifically, these are a few tools I would use to better your aerobic capacity without making those joints angry!
Turn on that boo-tay!
Glute activation: Weak glutes are a universal killer of all things! Running creates a tightness in the hips and sitting basically turns those hip flexors into cement blocks! Monster walks, Glute bridges, Lunges, Single-leg step-ups, Bulgarian split squats and Kettlebell swings (just to name a few), will not only activate your glutes but assist in keeping them open due to strength gain and balance between your hip flexors and glutes!
Sled Pushes: The prowler is one of my favorite tools to use for my run-happy clients. It not only gives them GREAT glute recruitment but also assists in strengthening the quads, calves and hammies with lower impact than running hills or sprinting intervals at a track. The sled can be used in SO many fantastic ways and injuries are fewer and far between. Many people that love to run up and down hills complain on the impact while running down the hill they just ran up. Easy fix, Push a heavy sled here and there if your knees don’t love the stress!
Assault Bike/ Rowing Intervals: I know everyone cringed BUT these are two lower impact and highly effective machines that will create a massive aerobic push while keeping your joints happy and healthy…Well, they will be happy after you’re done at least. Mix up your time domains and maybe instead of going on longer runs try biking, rowing or swimming here and there.
If you love to run, these tips are for you! We want you to train for longevity and health! Even if you sub out 2-3 days of running for some of these less impactful options you will keep your body going for many more years to come and that is the ultimate goal! We only have one body and must take care of it in all that we do!
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