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Pulling in the right direction
An area that seems to generate a lot of questions is stretching, so lets look at this rather large and confusing subject.If you’ve ever seen elite runners warming up I doubt you’ll see any of them bending over trying to reach their toes. It’s been shown that static stretching before exercise actually reduces muscular power! So instead of leaning up adjacent a wall and stretching those oh so cold and tight calves, you should try a more dynamic approach.
The days of the touch your toes, grab your foot etc. have moved on. When you think about a stretching session I want you to try and imagine a more functional, dynamic session based around the three sports of triathlon. Watch the pros, they’re rarely still, constantly going through the motions. Research suggests that the use of dynamic stretches – slow controlled movements through the full range of motion – are the most appropriate exercises for the warm up. You may be familiar with the old school warm up moves like bum flicks and high-knees, but try and get beyond these and think about replicating the movements that are going to get you moving better.
Your warm-up routine should include a short amount of light aerobic activity followed by large amplitude movements that replicate the ranges of motion required by your session. Here are a few mobility drills that are great for developing that range of motion and strength through the range required for better performance:
Walking Lunge
Walking lunge activates hip stabilisers, including adductors & abductors.
You can advance this exercise in two ways.
One way is by adding a thoracic rotation at the lowest point. This adds both a stabilisation and strengthening element to the exercise that will benefit swimming as well as running.
The second way is by adding a high knee raise as you come up from the ground. When you draw up, stay nice and tight through your lower back.
Front Leg Swings
One of the easiest exercises to do. Bracing yourself against a fence swing your outside leg back and through. This is an exaggerated running range of motion. Pay particular attention to the back swing. Try and control the swing phase thinking about activating your hip flexors and extending the hip flexion as far as possible. This increases your effective range when running speed increases.
To make this harder move away from the fence and complete the exercise free standing. This adds in a challenge to the contralateral leg. Once you remove the support of a fence the proprioceptive fibres around your ankle and knee will start firing. If you can master this, your running economy will improve.
Side Leg Swings
Another fantastic warm-up exercise for the adductors & abductors. Think about activating the glutes on the out swing then controlling the down swing using the small muscles of the groin. Again, you can advance this drill by removing the support. Pay close attention to your posture when completing this one, it’s very easy to lean forward with your head down. To avoid this try and stay stood nice and tall looking ahead.
There are obviously thousands of variations and ways in which to make your stretching routine specific to you and your weaknesses. Use it as an opportunity to work on your flexibility (by increasing your range of motion). Try and incorporate 10-15 minutes of these dynamic stretches before every session, especially the faster sessions that will be filtering through at this crucial time of year.
