what if as a runner there were only
three exercises you could ever do again
to help you run strong and run injury
free I thought that was a really
interesting idea interesting question
and something we could take a closer
look at right now so let's get into it
okay so of course there are hundreds of
different exercises if not thousands of
different exercises you could be doing
and different weak links that we each
have as runners which lead to different
types of injury history that makes sense
that's what we see amongst runners but
we also see a lot of common patterns and
I thought to answer this we could break
down using those patterns into three
different areas and pick three exercises
to look at those areas so it's begin
with we've got general strength so we
know we need to build strength for our
quads through our hamstrings through our
glutes through our calves in particular
we've then got single leg balance and
stability so we need to do something to
address the fact that we're always
landing and loading on one foot we need
to be able to stabilize and control we
also then need to work on calf
conditioning and ankle stiffness and
there were so many injuries plantar
fasciitis Achilles tendinopathy shin
splints calf strains just to name a few
which come from poor conditioning
amongst other things of the calf and
lower leg so we'll pick something to
address that too let's start out with
general strengthening and I really like
a split squat now call it split squat on
a static lunge whatever you want to call
it but in this position we need to
firstly think about position of the
pelvis so we're not just gonna arch your
back and shift forward into a lunge here
instead I want to draw your belly button
in squeeze your butt and from here how
it's come down on one plane of movement
so straight down from the hips and from
the bottom here you're gonna push
through your heel and come back up to
the top as you come down into the
movements you'll feel a stretch down at
the top of the front of the rear thigh
through those pods and hip flexors
especially if you're tight through there
and as you start working through three
sets of 15 on each side you'll feel that
your quads and glutes in particular will
be working hard in the front leg
with this it's important that we control
position of the knee of the front leg so
as you come down into the movement make
sure the knee is pointing forwards over
the second toe rather than drifting in
or flaring out if you need to hold on to
something do this beside a wall that's
absolutely fine and if you want to make
it harder for yourself grab a couple of
dumbbells a couple of dumbbells or any
weight we'll add a bit of external
resistance that you have to work hard to
push against on the way back up that'll
make your life a lot more challenging
now when it comes to single leg control
single leg stability we could do things
like a single leg squat single leg
deadlift but I really like the challenge
that comes from our runners arabesque so
let me show you from sidon in a stand on
one leg starting hip flexed on this side
squeezing my butt on the standing leg
from here gonna reach back with this leg
keep my back straight as I reach forward
with the arms looking to come to
parallel here then come back up squeeze
my butt drive the knee through slow and
controlled as I'm on my way down I feel
in the standing leg the lengthening
through my hamstrings I feel like a good
hamstring stretch as those muscles
really work to each centrically control
the forward movement of the torso the
weight of the torso coming forwards
above great hamstring conditioning now
it's important with this that's slow and
controlled is the order of the day
so don't rush it focus on the balance of
the movement and the control of the
movement and you'll feel how you're
having to work hard around the hips
through those glutes to control the
single leg stance now it may be that you
can't do three sets of fifteen right
from the off break that down do five
five five with a break in between
focusing good form
every time slow and controlled over time
those fives will become 8 will become 12
will become 15 it's all about practice
the third exercise I wanted to choose
was all about calves and ankles building
a bit of conditioning and a bit of
stiffness into that whole region and for
me the best way very simply to do that
is with some light plyometric works and
work using our skipping rope so jumping
rope now little and often is the best
with this so five sets of twenty seconds
on a four or five times per week basis
is plenty with this and it's all about
quality so with this we're looking to
keep the bounce coming through the
ankles and everything else stays fairly
rigid so engage your core keep your feet
together your knees together and focus
on control now from here we are simply
working for 20 seconds just feeling the
bounce coming from the ankles
now with that it doesn't matter whether
you're a forefoot striking runner or
heel striking runner mid-foot striking
runner anything in between ankle
stiffness is actually a benefit for all
runners and if you want to find out how
to improve your foot strike in general
and improve your running form from
ground upwards check out the video right
over here so it will help you do exactly
that now if you're new here don't forget
to subscribe for more videos to help you
run strong run injury free and I'll see
you very soon in the next video bye now