With the Brooklyn Half Marathon just a couple of weeks away, most serious competitors are well into their training schedules by now. For others who are slowly getting out and about now the bad weather is mostly behind us, you’ll want to get up to speed with your running gently and not at a pace where you are going to be getting injured easily. Of course, before any exercise, you should warm up first to allow your muscles to become more flexible and not strain once you are in your run.
So here’s three things you should do to get yourself warmed up and reduce the risk of injury.
Glute and Piriformis Stretching
This stretch helps the hips, glutes and lower back to become mobilized and is an important stretch before running. To do the exerices, stand straight and then bring your ankle upwards towards the knee and the waist. Your ankle will be in an inverted position. You should slowly feel the stretch in your glute area. Hold the position for a couple of seconds and then repeat on the opposite side.
Ankle and Calf Exercising
In this exercise, you will be kind of doing the opposite of walking. So instead of heel to toe as you walk, you’ll be going toe to heel. So stand straight and then lift one foot up and bring down on your toe and slowly bring it down to the heel. It should take 3 seconds or so per foot and alternate for up to half a minute. This will provide great strengthening exercises for your calf and ankle area.
Walk before you run
Before you start on your run, begin walking briskly for a minute or two and then breaking into a slow jog. This helps to loosen the muscles and get blood pumping and oxygenated properly.
Bonus tip: A little known fact, especially with amateur runners is that the warm down exercises are as critical as warming up. Getting key stretches in after you have run can seriously help with getting joints and muscles better aligned and adhesions kept to a minimum while improved blood flow of nutrients is encouraged around the body. This helps put the body “back” and reduces the potential of injury.
Of course, if you get any pain warming up or during your run, stop what you are doing. Ice the area and depending on the severity or if it is not improving, give us a call because we treat all levels of runners from Olympic and professional runners to couch to 5k first timers.
While this information is general, it can never replace any advice on an individual level, and you should always consult a physician before undertaking any new fitness regime.
Remember, if you are in pain we can help. We have three simple ways you can make an an appointment:
Call now on (212)371 2000 or
text (315)873-3095
or email us at Your.Friends@BackAndBodyNY.com
Looking forward to helping you get better fast.
