To all you runners out there…
First of all let me just say that I am in awe of you.. jogging around Clapham Common after work in the dark, in the wet, breathing hard, sweating, racing one foot in front of the other.. I applaud you!
But… are you offering your body support for the running? Your muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, tissues and bones will all need attention.
Strengthen to avoid injuries and weaknesses..
Building up strength in a balanced way will help you run with plenty more gusto!
Hip strength and pelvic stability is so important. The activation and strengthening of the glute muscles will help to stabilise your pelvis and prevent one of the most common bio-mechanical deficiencies out there – the internally rotating knee..
Also building up core and back strength will help avoid the dreaded lower back pain.
Stretch it out..
Hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes... They all need lengthening out before and after a run. No argument.
It's also important to mobilise the spine - flexion, extension, rotation, side flexion..
And the foot and ankle joints need special attention too.
Having more range of motion and flexibility in the muscles and joints will help you to recover quicker, meaning less achey for a shorter amount of time.
Breathe..!
Pilates can strengthen the diaphragm and improve the capacity of the lungs, together with increasing your awareness of how the breath can help to facilitate movement. Better breathing = longer running
Running has an incredible repetitive impact on the body and can leave it very vulnerable if you don’t add something like Pilates to your regime. If the body isn't balanced you will be reinforcing bad patterns.
Regular Pilates will help keep you safe from injuries whilst giving you a better running posture and an overall more efficient technique!
Make your body as strong as your mind!
