The spring bloom and all its beauty is upon us here on the East Coast of the United States, and with it more favorable conditions for logging miles outside on road, track, and trail. Before you head for the door though, have you done any spring cleaning? And no, we are not talking about knocking the dust and animal hair off of the running shoes and unpacking the warm weather running apparel.
we are talking about the spring cleaning your body needs frequently in order to stay healthy and injury free during the season of training and events ahead.
SPRING CLEANING - TO DO LIST
- Clean up your coordination.
- Clean up the tightness in your hamstrings with flexibility.
- Clean up the weakness in your hips with strength.
- Clean up your rhythm with quicker cadence to reduce over-striding.
Accelerate your spring cleaning by having the right tools and supplies. Below we have options to clean up your running using the TRUEFORM RUNNER, as well as, options without using it.
For coordination, work on very short skips on the TRUEFORM for 3 - 5 minutes. It sounds easy, but believe us it is harder than it seems because of the slight curve to the deck of the TRUEFORM, which continuously challenges your postural systems to remain in an efficient position. This means you are not only stimulating your conscious coordination by trying to perform a skipping pattern, but you are also stimulating your subconscious coordination - your body's ability to sense equilibrium with the horizon.
For flexibility in your hamstrings, work on walking and running
backwards on the TRUEFORM. Try 3 - 5 minutes walking backwards (back facing the treadmill display), and 3 - 5 minutes shuffling or running backwards. Off the TRUEFORM, mobilize your hamstrings with manual therapy. We love Mobility Wod's approach seen below.
For strength in your hips, use the TRUEFORM for lateral shuffling (3 - 5minutes each side), forward hurdling: hurdle - run a few strides -hurdle again (1 - 2 minutes), and walk with a weight overhead. We like a kettle bell weight that you can hold ball-side up (*See picture 1A. at the bottom of page). 3 - 5 minutes each side. Off of the TRUEFORM, hit those single leg mini-squats & deadlifts. There are endless variations in this department, we love what Mike Boyle does with single leg strength building. Check out 5 of them right here.
For rhythm in your running, try running on the TRUEFORM with a quick cadence. Use a metronome app on your phone and set it to 165 beats per minute, run to this rhythm for 2 minutes matching your foot strikes to the beat. Now, increase the cadence to 170 for 2 minutes, then to 175 for 2 minutes, and finally to 180 for 2 minutes.
Try to clean up your running at least once or twice a week, believe us it will make running outdoors on the road, track, or trail even more enjoyable and sustainable!
