Physics...Physiology...Physical Therapy

Video: Best Way to Stretch Your Quadriceps

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Are your quads firing like they should? How do you know if they’re behaving properly? If your knees, calves, or hips are giving you trouble, chances are your quadriceps are not as strong and flexible as they should be.

Hang around a group of runners before and after a run and you’ll likely see a bunch of half-hearted attempts to pull heels to butts, just like we learned in PE class. The problem with the old way is that it stresses your kneecap and doesn’t really get much of a stretch. Today’s video shows a better way to stretch your quads, which will take stress off your patella and make life happier for your calves, hamstrings, and hips.

All too often we make dealing with patellofemoral pain (pain around the kneecap) way too complicated. The first line of defense often needs to simply be stretching properly, in a way that gets all 4 muscles involved, and doesn’t stress the ligaments around your kneecap.

Check out the video and drop me a line to let me know how these work for you!

As always, please share with a friend and check out the facebook page for a live session wednesday evening going more in-depth with the how and why of quad flexibility!

Video: Most People Stretch Their Hamstrings Incorrectly…Don’t Be One of Them!!

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Everyone complains about tight hamstrings right? Many people regularly stretch their hamstrings, but see no results.

The two biggest mistakes we make when stretching our hamstrings, is starting with a straight knee and flexing our low back. Both of these bad habits cause our stretching attempts to be ineffective and set us up for aggravating our knees and low back.

Our hamstrings attach onto our sit bone (aka ischial tuberosity) before crossing our hips. Because of this, the movement that best targets the hamstrings should come from our hips, not our low back! Unfortunately, many of us have learned to move incorrectly when we bend toward the floor. Males seem to be especially prone to this!

We’ll cover this in more detail in our facebook live session wednesday evening.

When your hamstrings are working correctly it makes us more efficient runners and takes a lot of stress off our low backs and knees. All good things right!

As always, please share this with a friend and holler with any feedback you have for the video and the site as a whole. Run fast friends!

Video: Stretch Your Glutes for More Efficient Running

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Are your glutes working properly? Have you been encouraged to ‘activate your glutes’ while running? This concept seems to be getting more buzz than core strength these days, which is a good thing!

But…how many of us know if we are ‘activated’ properly? Indeed, this is a tricky concept because it can be much more complicated than to simply squeeze a little or perform a few donkey kicks before you run.

I won’t promise that there is one magic exercise that is going to solve this for you, but today’s video will perhaps bring you one step closer to using all your muscles properly and harmoniously! In order for your muscles to work properly, they need to have enough flexibility for the activity you’re doing. As runners, we don’t need to be as flexible as gymnasts! Our glutes need to have enough flexibility to absorb when our foot hits the ground. This impact is what loads our muscles and prepares them to have maximal power output (picture a slingshot being pulled back). Our muscles can only fire well once they’ve been loaded in this way.

But ultimately, if our flexibility is off, then our muscles will not fire properly!

All of us could benefit from the stretch featured in today’s video, but it will be especially helpful for anyone who has hip, hamstring, or low back discomfort. Or anyone wants to be more efficient and graceful in how they run!

Please holler with any questions you have and please share this with a friend. I greatly appreciate it! Also, check out the Facebook page for live videos and Q&A going into more detail on these concepts and exercises. Run fast friends!

Video: Hip Flexor Stretches for Smoother Running

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Are your hip flexors too tight? ‘Possibly’ you say, ‘but I have no idea, how do you tell?’

Our hip flexors (muscles in the front of our hips) are blamed for many of our ailments, including low back issues, hamstring crankiness, as well as hip and groin pain. In answer to the above question, chances are good that yours’ are tight if you’ve ever experienced any issues around your hips or low back.

As runners, it’s critical to have adequate flexibility in our hip flexors. When they’re working well, it’s a big contributor to proper form, when they are too tight, they can make our strides very inefficient and get in the way of other muscles working properly.

Our hip flexors consist of 6 muscles that run at all angles across the front of your hip. Because of the unique angles that the muscles run, it’s important to add twists into your stretches.

Today’s video demonstrates my favorite ways to stretch the hip flexors in a very targeted and functional way. Try these as a warm up for running, or before a strengthening routine in order to calibrate your hips and make life that much smoother!

As always, please share this with a friend and leave some feedback on how these work for you!

Video: Best Ways to Stretch Your Calf Muscles for Running!

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We’re all told to stretch regularly, but how many of us know exactly how to stretch and for how long? Many of us rely on what our PE teacher or high school coach taught us, and sadly all I remember from those days was going through the motions for 10 seconds!

It’s important to know what our goal is each time we stretch!

Before a run, we need to loosen up, fire up the muscle and get blood flowing. All these require movement, which is why dynamic stretching is usually most helpful BEFORE you run. Afterwards is when to do a static stretch, in which you hold still in a position and hold it until you feel a relaxation take place in the targeted muscle!

Our calf muscles can be our best friend, or biggest nemesis, when it comes to running pain-free. A disproportionate amount of work falls on our calf muscles, especially if other muscles are not measuring up! Because of this, nearly every runner needs to be proactive in keeping their calves happy and healthy! 

Today’s video focuses solely on the calf muscles, and demonstrates how to stretch them properly to awaken every muscle fiber. Please share this with a friend and leave feedback!