Welcome to this video where we're going to talk you through some of the good stretches to add if
you are a beginner runner. So, great for, if you just don't know where to start with your stretches.
We'll go through stretches that target the front of the hips, the back of the thigh and
also, the calves. And I'll give you an extra bonus stretch at the end. It's a little bit
more of a non-traditional stretch but i think it's really important to add into your routine.
My name's Claire. I'm a Physiotherapist from PhysioFit Health. If you are interested in
getting your legs lovely and flexible and want to come out with a good workout routine, we do have
an 8-week deep squat challenge for you to sign up to. The details will be in the description below.
And each week you just target different areas of the legs and so you can get a really good
idea as to the selection of exercises that you can do around those areas. And you can
figure out what's best for you. So, yeah check it out.
The first stretch that I would suggest you try will target the front of the hips.
Now, you don't need any equipment. I'd get you kneeling on
the floor. I tend to roll up my mat or get like a rolled-up towel and just to make my knees
a little bit more comfortable. So, please make sure you are comfortable in this position. So, starting
high kneeling and you're going to get that right knee in front of you. Hips are facing forwards.
Try and tuck the tailbone underneath so, really flattening that lower back and pushing the hips
forwards. And ultimately what you're looking for is a stretch sensation at the front of that hip.
And that's really what you're looking for. So, once you've got that stretch sensation you hold it.
I would tend to add a little bit of a side bend so, I'd sweep that left arm over and you're leaning
the body to that right side. So, I'll just turn so you could see a slightly different angle. So, you're
leaning away from the hip that you are stretching and it just adds a little bit of a stretch down
the side of the body and into the front of the hip. And so, I'd get you doing 5 or 6 side bends.
Breathing out as you lean over, breathing in as you ease off. And that's your first stretch to try.
The second stretch will target the back of the thigh. So, from that high kneeling
position that you are in for that first stretch you're going to get that right foot
in front of you. So, nice and straight, a straight knee and you are up nice and tall. And then as
you're breathing out you're just trying to reach forwards and trying to touch the toes
of that right foot. And ultimately, you're looking for a stretch down the back of the leg.
So, it's likely to be back of the thigh you might even get a little bit into the calves.
So, yeah hold it for a moment and then you can ease off so return to your upright position.
And then breathing out push into that stretch again, and then you're breathing in as you ease off.
The third stretch that you can try is in standing. You're probably potentially fairly familiar with it.
You're going to get yourself in step standing so right foot in front, left foot behind you.
You want that left knee nice and straight, bending that right knee and you're looking for a stretch
at the back of that calf on the left side. So, if you're not quite getting that stretch see if you
can straighten that knee just a little bit more maybe that knee's been slightly bent or bring
your right foot forwards a little bit. So, it's a static hold, you'd hold it for about 30 seconds.
Ideally you would repeat it, 4 or 5 times but this one does take a little bit
longer to do because of that kind of static hold. Now, the important thing to remember with
calves is you also need to be stretching with that knee bent. So, you're going to bend that left knee.
You might need to slide your right foot closer toward you and keep that left foot on the floor.
And this is likely to get you a bit more of a stretch a little bit further down the calf.
And again, you're going to hold it for the 20 - 30 seconds and repeating 4 or 5 times and
so yeah, that's your calf stretches.
As a bonus stretch that I would suggest for you to try
is one that will target the hips and it gets the hips rotating.
But it's a little bit more of a non-traditional stretch so you may not be so familiar with it.
So, I'd get you sitting down with your hands behind you and your knees slightly bent.
With your left foot you're going to take that left foot out to the side place it down and then
your left knee is going to come over across over to the right so as if you're trying to cross the
midline of the body. I'm coming on to the inside of my foot and I'm trying to keep my hips down on
the floor. Potentially if your hips are tight you're going to get that knee further down to the
floor and you're going to find that your hips start to lift up a little bit so you're stopping
just before you these hips and pelvis lift up and away from the floor.
So, I'll just show you slightly different angles so foot's out to the side
and then the knee comes down. Now, a couple of things with this one you just need to make sure
the knee feels nice and comfortable. You don't want it to feel like it's been put on any strain.
If it does feel a little bit uncomfortable you can actually just shift
the foot position around a little bit. You can bring it closer, you can put the foot further away.
You can just really search out where it feels more comfortable for you and then really, you're looking
for a little bit of a call it just a little bit of a strange sensation around the hips and the pelvis.
It's not that traditional stretch that you get with the other ones that we've been doing.
So, you would then go on to the other side. You'd probably be doing 5 - 10 repetitions
or so of these ones but it's good idea just to get used to doing these hip rotations.
As I tend to find a lot of hips get quite stiff and that can actually cause a few problems
particularly when you're starting out running. When you start something that's when you're
more likely to see some of those aches pains and niggles so yeah, it's just trying to stop those.
So, those are your stretches that I would suggest if you're a beginner runner. Try them out and see
what you think. If you would like to learn a little bit more stretches and exercises for running then
sign up to our palates membership. The details are in the description below and within the membership
we do run a runner's and walkers specific class. So, we do a lot of standing exercises.
We do a lot of these stretches that I've gone through and it's specific to the lower back
and the legs and specific yeah to those of you that want to be doing a little bit of running.
So, check it out. It's really straightforward. Let me know if you have any questions. See you soon!