Strength Move of the Week: Squat to Leg Extension

Do you ever have the feeling that your legs are ahead of your upper body when you are running fast? Or, your legs are rotating around your pelvis as if your inner and outer thighs have nothing to do with your stride? One of the reasons for this is due to a lack of hip stabilty and balanced strength between your front muscles and side muscles in the leg.

If you are runner, you need hip stability and would probably also like inreased leg power to help you pick up the pace. One way to increase both of these is to implement squats with a leg extension into your routine. This move involves a slight twist on the regular squat to help strengthen abductors (outer thighs) and adductors (inner thights) as well as the gluteal muscles to promote hip stabilty. Try it out this week! 

Friday FunDay Workout - Strength & Stretch

This week's workout is focused on strengthening and stretching your body. By adding strength exercises to your running training plan, you are helping prevent injury. Stretching ensures that your muscles are being lengthened. Runners need strong, powerful muscles to perform and run faster however, if your muscles are too tight, they will lose power. This workout can be done as a separate workout (just repeat 2-3x) or after an easy run. 

Run happy and strong!

Tip of the Week - 3 Do Anywhere Exercises

by Meghan Reynolds

The following 3 exercises are our favorites because you can do them anywhere - house, hotel room, park, rest stop, gas station and airport - if you don't mind some funny looks! They hit the major muscles groups for an easy total body workout and will get your heart rate up. Do 3-5 rounds at the same time or split it up over the day. We like to do a set or 2 at each rest stop while road tripping. Try variations as well - we've listed a few for you. Happy exercising!

Squats: Strengthens the hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes and improves overall muscle balance and mobility. Focus on keeping the knees over the ankles and sitting as far back as you can while keeping your chest up. Add some variety: slow down the up and down movements; lower down to where it burns a bit and pulse; widen your stance into a ballet second position or sumo squat; or try the variation (video on the right) that adds more leg movement: Squat to Leg Extention

Pushups: Strengthen shoulders, arms and core. This is a great exercise for runners because it improves the upper body strength you need to maintain proper form as your lower body begin to fatigue & essential in hilly terrain to help drive your body uphill. Keep your core nice and tight throughout for a true full-body workout. There are a ton of variations as well: keep your arms close to your body for a yoga/tricep pushup, move your arms far away from your body and move one arm forward and keep the other by your shoulder. The modified version (on the right) is great and you can do those variations on your knees too. Aim for 10-15 for 1 set.

Planks:Targets your entire core. Our favorite way to do planks is in a 2 minute series: 30 sec forearm plank, 30 sec side plank, 30 sec other side and end with 30 sec forearm plank. Try the variation (video on the right) for added oblique work - Plank Knee Tucks

FunDay Friday Workout

by Meghan Reynolds

In honor of Jessica's and Matt's road trip from Brooklyn to Portland, we put together a bunch of Rest Stop Workouts. They are doing these exercises during their rest stops. Matt loves doing them Crossfit style - as fast as he can, while Jessica, who is 7 months pregnant, is taking them nice and slow and concentrating on form. She's also not jumping so her jumping jacks are static jacks.

Take this workout with you on your next long drive. It'll keep you awake and refreshed! Look for more workouts throughout June. They are tried and tested by Matt and Jessica.

Base Training - Muscle Strength

You’ve spent the last few weeks or so stabilizing your muscles and now you are ready to strengthen them so that you are able to run longer without fatiguing.

Most people think “lean and lanky” when they think of the typical runner’s body. While that might be true, it doesn’t mean weak. The most effective runners are powerhouses because they know that being strong translates to faster, more efficient and more injury resistant. And remember, running is a full-body exercise so you have to be full-body strong – not just your legs.

Below are some of our favorite ways to strengthen and tone. Do each exercise for 30 to 60 seconds and repeat 3x for 1-2 weeks.

Squat to Overhead Raise

Bridge with Tricep Dip

Renegade Row

Dumbell Woodchop

Skiers

How to Stay Strong Anywhere

We love being outdoors and pretty much do anything we can to avoid the gym, with the exception of our favorite yoga and pilates classes. However, we need to stay strong to ensure that we are able to run efficiently, faster and maintain overall balance in our body.

So, if you are like us and don't relish the gym and weights, make your living room or your local park your very own personal gym!

Here are our favorite exercises. We do these 2-3 times a week and sometimes mix them up within our run. We recommend warming up with a fast walk for slow jog for about 10 minutes and then jumping into these exercises that only require your body weight.

Full Body:

Walk outs: These suckers will get your heart rate up and strength your whole body. Make sure you hold your core tight and breath.

Legs:

Single Leg Squat: Improve your balance, flexibility and strength your leg muscles all at the same time!

Step Back Lunge: This variation puts less stress on the knees. If your knees hurt while doing this exercise, try a stationary lunge by stepping your leg back and then moving up and down without returning to the starting position.

Single Leg Deadlift: We love this exercise because it improves one legged stability and gets your glutes firing which is key for an efficient and powerful stride.

Calf Raises: All to often, runners overlook their lower leg muscles. Add in calf raises to increase strength and ward off injuries.

Upper Body:

Superman: You will feel super powerful after performing 2 sets of this exercise. Cape optional.

Triceps Dip: Find a bench or stairs on one of your runs and work those arms!

Plank Walks: Great total body exercise. Keep those abs tight and shoulder blades flat on the back and your legs engaged.

Core:

Plank and Side Plank: Another one of our favorites. Try this as a series: 30 second forearm plank, 30 second left side plank, 30 second forearm plank to 30 second right side plank. Don't sink those hips and make sure your shoulders are over your elbows.

Russian Twist: Strengthens the obliques which are essential to maintaining proper running form. The slower the twist, the deeper the burn.

Bridge Lift: This is a great exercise for your abs and your glutes. Hold for 10-15 seconds on your last rep and really engage your obliques closest to your hip bones.