Fitness
Running is good for you, sure. But it can also exacerbate physical niggles for those of us who spend most of our days at a desk. Thankfully, personal trainer Ben Longley has a few solutions.
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Running (or jogging) has amazing physical and mental health benefits, but it does come with its own set of risks if need to be wary of.
As a personal trainer, I find myself frequently reminding people that you don’t start running to get fit and strong, you need to be fit and strong before you start running!
If you’re overweight, or haven’t run or been to the gym in a while, then running can be quite stressful on your back, hips, knees, ankles and feet. If you have a desk job then there’s a high possibility that you have some muscle tightness, weaknesses and postural issues which will only further exacerbate these niggles.
Here’s a list of 10 exercises every runner and aspiring runner should include in their exercise program to keep the body balanced, strong and stable, and better prepared to tolerate the strains and stresses of a running program.
(There is one caveat here: this is not a tutorial on how to do these exercises properly, which is imperative. Poor form will do more harm than good. Learning from a good coach is recommended!)
1. Deadlifts
With many runners succumbing to the same postural issues as office workers (rounded shoulders, forward head posture, tight and overactive quads and hip flexors), the deadlift is the perfect antidote as it strengthens all the opposing muscle groups along your ‘posterior chain’ (basically all the muscles that run down the back of your body from head to toe).
This will help with balancing out your strength, maintaining proper posture and mitigating potential muscle imbalances and overuse injuries from running.
2. Squats
Squats done properly are a great mobility and strength movement all in one, and for this reason they should be a staple in everyone’s fitness program. Great for strengthening quads, glutes, hamstrings and lower back and will go a long way in sparing your joints from the ‘pounding of the pavement’ with the added muscular strength and support.
3. Lunges
There is a big functional carryover from lunging to running, with lunges working on very similar physical qualities needed to run well. If you watch someone doing a walking lunge its basically slow motion running through a greater range of motion, requiring extra strength, mobility, and stability. Being able to lunge well with extra weight, with stability and structural integrity through the hips, knees, ankles and feet should be a pre-requisite before doing any sort of consistent running training.
4. Face pulls
A great staple exercise for anyone who is fending off the rounded shoulders look (and who isn’t?). Face pulls will strengthen all the ‘postural’ muscles in your upper back and shoulders and give some balance to the typical running posture that is often developed.
5. Monster walks
Doing a goofy walk with a band looped around both ankles seems like easy work, but these can get you feeling the burn in your glutes very quickly. With the modern-day population at large suffering from ‘sleepy glute syndrome’ (not an official medical term), largely due to too much sitting, the extra isolation work for the glutes and hip stabilizers can be a great way to re- balance. Stronger glutes can help support your lower back, knees, ankles and feet.
6. Farmer's Walks
In the category of what are called ‘loaded carries’, farmers walk is basically just walking with moderate to heavy weights in each hand. This very simple (but not easy) exercise has a big carryover to any athletic endeavours. It will help to strengthen and stabilise everything involved in the gait pattern which means it will help you to get better at running and increase your capacity for hard work, for longer.
7. Bear Crawls
Crawling has a restorative benefit to the human body, as it’s not only a physically demanding exercise but there’s a neurological benefit too. We’re all controlled by our nervous system at the end of the day, and the particular ‘cross pattern’ of moving the opposite arm and hip to produce locomotion is what gave us the strength and motor control to learn to walk (and run) in the first place.
The act of crawling helps us tie the body together and helps us maintain and strengthen the ‘wiring’ in our brains and nervous systems for efficient movement and running. Getting the knees off the floor (unlike baby crawling) takes things to the next level in terms of strength, control and stability requirements and will have a big carryover to running performance and capacity.
8. Sled/prowler Push
Can be great for both strength and endurance in the legs, and the lungs! If you ever need to run up hills, sled pushes are a great training tool.
9. Hanging and hanging leg raises
Literally just hanging from a bar can have many physical benefits for a runner, like decompressing and aligning the spine, mobilising and stabilising the shoulders, and strengthening the arms and grip. See if you can build up to five minutes of hanging, even if its spread over a few sets or throughout the day. Adding some knee or leg raises will make everything harder, and also help with abdominal and hip flexor strength.
10. The World’s Greatest Stretch
The only stretch to make this list, and whilst we could easily expand on this to add in a bunch of other stretches, not to mention soft tissue work, this one makes the cut because it kills a few birds with the one stone. The long lunge position is great for opening up the hip flexors on the rear leg, and a wide stance on the front leg becomes a nice adductor (groin) and glute stretch. From this position we extend and rotate through the thoracic spine (upper back) for some good mobility work. This stretch will target the same muscles and fascial lines as the running gait, making it a useful addition to the repertoire.
About Ben Longley
Ben Longley has been a personal trainer for over 12 years, and is the owner of The Fit Stop – Personal Training & Group Training – in St Kilda, Melbourne, specialising in strength training, functional movement and fat loss. For more info about their services, visit: www.stkildafitnesstrainer.com.au
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