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In my first article I talked about the importance of core stability and strength for fast and healthy running. This time I want to focus your mind on the importance of flexibility in your training program.
Running provides many health benefits such as weight loss, stress reduction, increased cardiovascular fitness and overall improvement in leg strength. It is a terrific activity, accessible to virtually everyone as it requires little in the way of equipment. However, there is a downside, as overuse injuries can occur and do so fairly often. Many of these are caused by a lack of flexibility, especially in the calves and hamstrings. Muscles respond by strengthening under increased workloads, but in doing so they gradually shorten. Unless you regularly counter this effect with careful stretching, over time, your body compensates and develops imbalances, eventually resulting in injury. Serious imbalances may take months or even years of treatment and rehabilitation to address. Sometimes they end a running career. Think of stretching like flossing, you don’t have to do it and there aren’t any immediately obvious results, but in the long term it’s a good idea if you want to keep your teeth.
GETTING STARTED
There is no question that stretching makes good runners better, to the extent that today most top running coaches won’t even consider working with an athlete who doesn’t have a regular yoga practice. Unfortunately, most club runners never take the time and make the effort to explore this part of their potential, even though deep down they know it will help them. There is a saying that “first you learn how to stretch and then you earn your flexibility”. If you don’t know what you are doing and treat stretching like a competitive sport you will get injured. Take the time to learn properly and then take time to stretch carefully. It doesn’t have to be a lot,10 minutes at the end of each run plus 30 minutes of stretching a few of times each week will make a huge difference.
You can learn some things from books, but in this case taking classes is much better. Ashtanga yoga is probably the best practice for runners as it works strength and stability as well as flexibility. A good teacher is very important, one who understands you are an endurance athlete first and a yoga student second. Having an instructor observe your form and offer feedback is critical for your safety. Be aware there are many poses you should attempt very carefully and some you should avoid altogether. Your focus should be on releasing tight areas and correcting imbalances caused through running, not hyper-extending joints to the point of instability. You may see and feel improvements fairly quickly, but realistically expect a few weeks or months for significant results. If you do want a reference the recently published “ Athlete’s guide to Yoga” by Velo Press is excellent.
As well as unlocking your flexibility yoga can teach you how to relax and control your breathing in stressful situations. Ujjayi techniques focus on keeping respiration relaxed, controlled and relatively deep, all of which reduces your working heart rate. This is a huge advantage when you are pushing hard in training or racing. As a runner you need to maximize the amount of oxygen you can pick up and deliver to working muscles. Running relaxed and controlling your breathing allows for a much more effective air exchange in the lungs. In other words your body is functioning more efficiently, which means you can run faster for longer.
Enjoy the journey and if you do start a yoga practice let it be a balance to your athletic competition, not just an extension of it. In the next article I want to take your new found core stability, strength and flexibility for a run and do some form work………………………
© 2009 Malcolm Farrow CSEP-Fitness Consultant/Personal Trainer
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