Staying Fit While Staying Home

Kim W

There are lots of reasons why all of us sometimes have difficulty fitting in a run or making it to the gym to work on our strength and conditioning.

Over the years, as a runner, a running coach and a personal trainer I've heard it all (including from myself!) including:

• The weather's too nasty.
• A gym membership is too expensive.
• Traveling for work or pleasure gets in the way.
• Laziness gets in the way.
• There are just so many hours in the day.
• I've got kids and can't leave them home alone.

And this got me thinking. Why don't more of us exercise at home so that we don't have to go out in the nasty weather, pay a gym membership, find a place to run or work-out when traveling, get motivated enough to get dressed and head out the door, or spend a lot of time when we're feeling extra-busy. Well, why don't we work out at home??  

Here are some of the reasons I came up with and/or have heard from my clients:

• What types of exercises can be done at home.
• What's the proper technique for these exercises?
• How do I choose from among all the available exercises to put them together into an exercise program to meet strength and fitness goals?
• How do I figure out how to vary in-home exercise programs for different durations of time, intensities, and purposes?
• Etc., etc.

Sooooo, I thought, wouldn't it be great if someone came up with a way for a person to go on-line and have an exercise program provided for them right then and there with a custom-tailored exercise program?  And that's when I decided that this is something that I, Coach Kim, wanted to provide to others. Free of charge, at least initially, plus maybe for a nominal fee for providing some more extensive services. And that's what led to the creation of inMOTION Customized Workouts.

For example, let's say someone wants to do a 30-minute Total Body fitness work-out at medium intensity. Well, then a good work-out for that could include:

• Butt Kick Jog
• Later Bent Leg Kick Back
• Russian Twist with Deep Lean
• Crab Kick
• Total Body Crunch
• Clockwalk
• Bird Dog Arabesque
• Etc., etc.

None of the exercises require any equipment, and all can be done in the comfort of home.  The way it works is that a person fills out a short on-line registration form, gets a password, and then can get started right away. All it takes is to select the number of minutes for the work-out and the level of intensity. For those who don't mind paying a small upgrade fee, in addition to Total Body Fitness, other work-out choices include Low Impact, Mid Day Boost, Weight Loss, Beach Body, Running Warm Up and Cool Down, Pre Natal, More Energy and Off My Feet.

You can click HERE  to see a sample exercise (Russian Dance in Place). And then click HERE to see another one (Plank with Leg Lift). These are just two of the graphics from the videos that can be viewed on-line -- in the actual videos each exercise is illustrated and is explained in detail for 30 seconds, and then the exercise is to be performed for 30 seconds before moving onto the next one. You also can hit pause to stop the action and can rewind or skip ahead to the next exercise.

Although the work-outs aren't designed for kids, my daughter loves to join me for my morning routine. She's getting strong!

Getting Strong in Footie Pajamas :)

I'd love for more people to try out the InMotion Workouts for free, and to let me know what you think. If you want to give it a try, just click HERE to create an account. I hope you may find using InMotion a fun and convenient way to work out at home!  And if anyone wants to sign up for the full membership option (i.e., to access more than a dozen other exercise varieties and to save your workouts), you get 50% off the $8/month enhanced membership with this promotion code: FlyersinMOTION.

- Kim Watkins

Blogmaster's Note: I've gotten to know and love Kim Watkins in her role as a Team for Kids Coach. She's founder and CEO of inMOTION Workouts and inSHAPE Fitness. inSHAPE Fitness and inMOTION Workouts aim to get people out of the gym forever, by shedding light on smarter workouts through the best equipment-free tools possible. In business for 15 years, they are a team of trainers working with clients in and around New York City, and in other locations across the US via online meetings. They offer private sessions with clients in their homes or private gyms, and we work with companies across the city with boot camps and yoga in conference rooms, training for recreational events in the parks, and consulting via wellness programs.

With the team's research, highly seasoned training experience, and two amazing programmers, inSHAPE recently launched inMOTION Workouts. This one-of-a-kind exercise platform delivers unlimited customized routines via radio player-like technology. You can read more and set up a free trial account at www.inmotionworkouts.com. To read more about the company, private and corporate wellness programs, visit www.bodybyinshape.com.  -Dave K, Flyers Blogmaster

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From Rio to NY -- From Rowing to Running

Luiza S

Since I was a child my parents always had me practice sports. So I went from swimming to volleyball and anything in between.

I loved to play volleyball at school, but at some point I realized that my mates were still growing taller while I got stuck at 5 feet 5, which made me the shortest player in court. I had some advantages though, like a strong service, good vision for the second ball (setter), and the ability to spike with both hands. All these skills became useless after high school.

         

When I started college where I majored in biology, a friend of mine introduced me to rowing. It was a love at first sight. I had a good instructor and was part of an amazing crew. For 14 years straight I practiced rowing, going to Brazilian Nationals and other local regattas.

My Face I Saying "I'm Tired of Rowing!" But Really I Loved It!

But it was when I lived in England in 1999/2000 that I got the most important results. Competing for the Stratford Upon Avon Boat Club with my boatmate Juliet (does it ring a bell, a girl named Juliet in Startford Upon Avon?), my team won the bronze medal at the GB Nationals (lightweight double sculls). I also was able to participate in international regattas while there including racing in Gent, Belgium (another bronze medal, in women’s double sculls!), as well as in Blessington, Ireland and in the UK at the Women’s Henley in Henley-on-Thames.

Rowing at the UK Nationals

In 2005 I moved to NYC with my husband and a 3.5 year old boy (who happened to be my son) while I was pregnant with my daughter-to-be. Without easy opportunities to practice rowing I started working out at the gym. It was not fun, as I like to talk and to be surrounded by people. 

Beautiful Family

Without many friends in NYC, I decided to put my “backyard” into a good use, so I decided to start running in Central Park. I was used to running as a part of my training for rowing, and as far as I can remember I hated it. I was slow and lazy to run –– rowing was so much more fun!

My first running race was in 2006 –– the Adidas Run for the Parks 4-Miler. At that time I had 2 small kids to look after and not so much free time. Before I got a running stroller for my daughter and started training with her while my older one was at preschool, I already had been bitten by the running bug. I skipped the year of 2007 but came back in 2008 with total determination to race more and improve my times.

For some crazy reason (which I cannot quite put my finger on) I signed up for my first marathon, NYC Marathon 2010. It was just then when I realized that I would need to seriously train for it. But where to start? Rely only on online training programs? I was afraid I would not be well prepared to face the challenge of a 26.2 miles. 

I saw a lot of running groups training and racing in Central Park. With so many choices, I had no idea which to choose. Thanks to Google, the NY Flyers was the first club on an endless list that showed up on my computer screen. So in August 2010 I joined this awesome club. I immediately started doing speed work with then NY Flyers Head Coach Toby T and have since made a lot of wonderful NY Flyer friends. 

Accepting the NY Flyers Coach's Award
From Coach Toby T at the Flyers Annual Awards Gala in 2012

From there, I ran my first marathon and countless half marathons. With the help of good friendships and valuable advice, I have raced 3 more marathons so far (4 in total) including the Rio de Janeiro Marathon twice where I PR’d in 2011 at 3:56:02. Yay!

Rio de Janeiro Marathon -- Looks Like I'm in the Lead :)

I believe that variety is a key when training for any sport, so to help me avoid injuries I do cross-training: swimming, weight-lifting, yoga, spinning and of course, the dreaded rowing machine. Wait, that’s a lot for one week with just seven days. Oh, yeah –– I do double training (morning and evening) on some days! As to running, just three sessions a week, or maybe four if training for a marathon.

I’m happy to be a Flyer and to race representing the club. And for someone who always had another sport in mind and never cared much about running, I now can’t imagine myself not running. Thanks Flyers family!

-Luiza S

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Vive la Revolution

Scott C

Many of us in the running and multi sport community have long utilized indoor cycling, which for this piece we will refer to as spinning.

We spin for a variety of reasons ranging from the obvious––that it’s a fun intense activity–– to the perhaps not so obvious as it can:

• Torch 500-700 calories an hour
• Compete with a speed work session in terms of maximum heart rate, sweat factor and a great group dynamic, and
• As a non-impact, or more accurately a non-weight bearing activity, be done by many on a daily basis year round.

I want to go deeper here, I want to try and bring the uninitiated into the world of spinning both from a class participant's perspective and from the perspective of a teacher, a class leader whose bike sits on a platform and who can address, motivate or sometimes even alienate a room full of 20-40 eager cyclists ready to rip up their bodies, drench their clothes, and exit that spin room feeling totally spent.  

As a running and multi-sport coach, I integrate specificity into each athletes scheduling model.  Specificity often takes on various components such as implementing a pattern of intervals segments that differ based on distance goals. The training approach will include a progression in tempo and hill repeats using pacing ranges that allow an athlete to explore a greater depth or be more “in touch” with their leg turnover and pacing range.  Focus also is placed on developing and enhancing their conditioning to enable each athlete to achieve a better overall understanding of their mechanics.

As a “middle aged” athlete who some may have accused of being reckless with my body in the past as an arrogant Type A overachiever, I have had to learn that as my body ages I need to work smarter. I now need to be open minded and patient.  I need to work in greater specifics on how I utilize my volume and where I want to maximize my energy in selected work outs. And, I need to try and look at the bigger picture.

I’ve discussed the above context with my athletes, and considered it for myself, as it can and does relate to the activity known as spinning.

Spinning History

To offer a brief history, spinning was created by a man known as Johnny G more than two decades ago, and the first indoor “spin” class premiered in Venice, California in 1992. Johnny created the weighted “flywheel” you see on all spin bikes as well as the ability to allow a cyclist to add or to minimize their resistance levels. Both the flywheel and the ability to progress, adapt to resistance levels using cadence or RPM variations, which I will offer more explanation on, give each rider the feel of being on bicycle and simulating that sensation within a class dynamic.

Add a strong motivating instructor and some great loud music and you just might be hooked on this awesome work out!

How Can Spinning Help a Runner?

Spinning can help runners gain greater range of motion, enhanced functional strength, improved heart rate, and the ability to add at least one cross-training activity to increase not just training volume and variations but also our athletic “shelf lives.”  In addition, spinning can help develop perhaps the most integral and important aspect that any runner needs to take that next step in achieving more PR’s…..confidence!

From a class participant's perspective and from an individual who teaches a 45-60 minute spin class, spinning should offer diversity, and that diversity needs to begin with and include a 7-10 minute warm up period where your objective is to relax your shoulders, put some flexion through your elbows and begin developing a fairly high cadence by working with a resistance level that should simulate riding a bicycle outside on a flat smooth road. Moving past the warm-up and looking to increase our work load we will put ourselves through segmental training that will involve high RPM intervals, tempo riding and hills, hills, hills! 

Cadence and RPM

The terms cadence and RPM (revolutions per minute) are interchangeable to both an indoor spinning participant and to an outdoor cyclist. Both relate to the number of times our legs are turning the crank on either a spin bike or a road, mountain, hybrid or triathlon bike.

To the recreational cyclist cadence might be 70 RPM on a flat road. To a more aggressive cyclist or “freaks of spin” it might mean 90-110 RPM, again on a flat road within a very manageable resistance spin range or rear gear range on an outdoor bicycle. Conversely when utilizing hills, either outdoors or on a spin bike, our cadence range will decrease in reflecting the difficulty or rate of perceived exertion.  When spinning indoors, we use resistance to simulate a challenging gradient, or outside riders can find challenging gradients on paths such as Central Park's winding Northern Hill.

While there are certain spin bikes that can measure our cadence anyone can do this by counting within a 15 second range the number of times your left or right knee or foot turns over, multiplying it by four to calculate the RPM whether on a flat road (high cadence) or on a fairly challenging hill (lower cadence).

The relevance and subsequent benefit to both the cyclist and the runner behind our change up in cadence directly relates to developing and utilizing our range of motion and leg turn over thus increasing our leg strength, utilizing changes in heart rate for interval, tempo and hill segments.    

Structure and Stimuli

The relevance and benefit to not just an older athlete but any athlete steeped in one dimensional training is that it allows your body to develop, progress and adapt to different stimuli and overload while gaining not just physically but psychologically as well in getting enjoyment from a new found activity and quenching the urge to explore your own limits from within.  The physical “push me hard” and the psychological “I feel drained” are two components that spinners seek and leave them wanting to keep coming back for more.

However, the two components have limited success unless the spin instructor leading his or her charges can provide the spinners with a structure, a menu based on working past the warm up and getting everyone to be on the same page and to take them into the next stage.  The structure might include, for example, working through higher RPMs, using limited time-based interval drills, or maybe a blend of both endurance and functional strength using an extended hill set that features both vertical and seated climbing over a length of time––all based on changing gradients and resistance levels or categories.

A Spinner's Perspective

No matter what type of structure an instructor might bring, for many spinners often what's as or more important to the spinner might be how that instructor “bonds” with the class, how personal he or she is, how well he or she takes command of the room, what type of music is played.  Sometimes it’s just a matter of  an instructors style, your personal taste or more precisely what works for me just may not work for you.

I genuinely love spinning and the rewards I get from it and because of this I’ve been an instructor for 10 years now, I’ve taught at Crunch Fitness, Reebok/Sports Club LA, the 92nd Street Y, and some other smaller private clubs.  During this time I’ve learned a lot about people, about venues I’ve worked at and while some might seem peculiar some have also been valuable (but I think that might be left to perhaps a follow up piece I can call…..Confessions of a Spin Instructor!).

Some Qualities of a Good Spin Instructor

I will say though that one of the more important things any instructor needs to do is ask and  identify anyone in the class who is either new to spinning or isn’t seated correctly on their spin bike. I make sure to do both as I think it’s important that someone new to spinning understand the intensity behind it and use those first few classes to ride properly and more conservatively and within an easy resistance range vs. too aggressively so that they aren’t turned off by the experience.  This helps a new spinner to give spinning the chance it deserves, and if they aren't fit on their bikes correctly they do not allow their knees to have a fair range of motion, and they may also risk injury.

A good instructor will explain both proper form and why and how he or she wants you to work through a ten minute blended interval segment. A good instructor will encourage, never disparage and never put someone on the spot or isolate them for doing something wrong. A good instructor will be firm but fun. A good instructor will never go to anybody’s bike and turn up their resistance but will rather explain that their cadence is too fast and resistance is required to make the most out of their time.

Finally a good instructor will understand that everyone is different and while one person might be there to leave a puddle of salty water under their bike, someone else may be there for a different reason that the instructor may or may not agree with or relate with, but should respect, too.

Spinning is hot and I know some people who ride and take as many as 10 classes per week shuttling between Equinox, Flywheel or Soul Cycle where some instructors are rock stars, have intense followings and are sometimes more important to the spinner than their therapist, hairdresser, or maybe even their boyfriend or girlfriend!

Spinning certainly has been a welcome cross training activity for me as it’s allowed me to develop my leg turnover, increase my strength, work hard during a triathlon off-season to prep for a new season, and to burn calories dressed in a triathlon kit sweating profusely indoors while it’s freezing outdoors.  And it's great to get paid to be the instructor to make my spinners work hard while I get my work out in as well.

Scott C Leading His Spinning Class

If you’ve been curious then try it!  And if you're interested in trying out a spinning class at the 92nd Street Y, please don't hesitate to contact me and I’ll arrange to give you a guest pass so you can try one of the classes I either teach regularly or for when I sub for others when they need the help.

Spinning Play List

This is the play list and structure for one of my recent classes

The warm up

Beautiful Day/ U2

Speed of Sound/ Coldplay

First blended hill interval segments

Sweet Nothing/ Florence Welch

Ooh La La/ Goldfrapp

White Flag/ Dido (Rich Radio Remix)

Hill Work combined vertical/seated climbing based on categories

Sprawl Arcade/ Fire

Anything Can Happen/ Ellie Goulding

Brain Damage/Eclipse/ Pink Floyd

A Loop in Time/ Wally Brill

        .      

Final interval work

On the run/ Pink Floyd

Anthem/ Moby

Cool down

Novio/Moby

-Scott C 

Blogmaster's Note: I happen to love spinning and have taken lots of classes at lots of places.  Recently I took Scott's spinning class at the 92nd Street Y and it was great!  I especially liked doing "hill #4" when he had us visualize riding six repeats of the northern hills of Central Park (hill #4 was conquered while Scott had us working hard to the beat of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb) -Dave K.

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RUN LESS RUN FASTER – “3Plus2” Training Program

Joe J

While recovering from yet another marathon training injury, I decided to rethink my approach to training. Running five plus days each week and logging high mileage was starting to take a toll on my 50+ year old legs and I was getting injured during each training season.

Looking for a new training program that would get me back into marathon shape without so many injuries, I discovered and read RUN LESS – RUN FASTER (ISBN 1-59486-649-X). The philosophy is that most runners do not train with purpose. “A training plan that fails to incorporate different distances, paces, and recoveries means that the runner will not reach their potential.” Nor will they garner maximum benefits from their training time. By focusing on efficient, purposeful training, the “3Plus2” program substantially reduces the risk of injury while producing faster race times.

After making a decision to try this new program, my training included three quality runs each week plus two cross-training workouts. The three runs, speed work, tempo run, and the long run are designed to work together to improve endurance, lactate-threshold running pace, and leg speed. The “3Plus2” program prescribes specific paces and distances that are based on a runner’s current level of running fitness. Each run has a specific goal and there are no “junk miles.”

My goal was to re-qualify for the Boston Marathon at the new faster qualifying times, while not getting injured in the process. Despite being somewhat concerned that the total mileage may be too low, I was willing to give it a chance. I did speed work on Tuesdays (sometimes on the treadmill), tempo runs on Thursdays, and long runs on the weekend. On the non-running days I would either swim, take a spin class or cycle. I did very little racing during the 16 week training program. The non-running days gave my legs a chance to recovery so that I felt ready for my next run.

I was extremely pleased with my results. I ran a half marathon PR three weeks before running my first sub-3:30 marathon. Most of all, I stayed injury free and my legs felt strong.

- Joe J.

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Stepping Up In Style

Joyce S

As some may say, a typical New Yorker has never been to the top of the Empire State Building. Well, I guess I fell into that category. Growing up in Long Island and living the last 25 years or so in the New York City area, I am one of those people that never visited the top of the Empire State Building.

That all changed a couple of weeks ago, when I not only made it all the way to the top, I ran the whole way up -- all 86 flights, 1576 stairs, two at a time (in the beginning anyway) -- in completing the NYRR Empire State Building Run Up. Okay, so maybe I didn’t actually run. I am not quite sure what it was I did but I managed to keep a steady pace the entire way, and clocked in at 21 minutes 40 seconds.  Five other Flyers also made the climb to the top.

Not bad for a first-timer with no real strategy, except for some training in my apartment building, going up 30 or so flights a couple of times a week. Of course, looking back I start to think of what I could have done better, smarter and more efficiently to get under 20 minutes. There’s always next year. Here’s what I learned:

• Start slow, don’t lose your breath, or you will burn out quickly. I got this training tip through friends and from online reading. A good tip. During my first 20 or so flights I was passed by a number of people, all guys. On the last 20 flights, I passed a number of people, mostly women, but yes some men too!
• Hand over hand on the banister. This tip was given to me by a gal I met waiting on line who has done the stair run for several years. I am really not too sure how much this tip helped or hurt me. During my training I never held onto the banister. But then again, during my training I had to stop to catch my breath a few times. This never happened during the actual event. 
• Take two stairs at a time. For someone with long legs, this method probably works well and saves time. For someone at my height of 5’ 4”, this worked well for about the first four flights until my quads started burning and I went back to single steps.

• Don’t carry anything in your hands – you need both hands. This is good advice. During my training I always had my apartment keys, my phone, and usually a bottle of water. Knowing there would be a bag check and 2 water stops along the course, I was grateful to have a hands-free experience.
• A little anxiety is good. The adrenaline is definitely needed to get you through the event.
• It's not so hard.  It is over before you know it, it is really easier than it sounds, and there is no reason to overestimate the complexity of completing a stair climb.
• Doesn't Anyone Dust? Expect to have a dry, sore throat for a day or so. It is dusty in those stairwells!

The actual event was almost a blur, and I think I blocked out all the pain. It was over so quickly. Even a 5K takes me longer. What I remember most were all the great people I met that evening. They started the participants alphabetically, and my last name begins with an “S." There was well over an hour wait to start my wave, so I had the chance to chat with a lot of participants. Most of us got in through the lottery and most of us were first-timers not knowing what to expect. There were, of course, a few veterans happy to give us their advice. It was all good.

When I got to the top, I really didn’t care about the view, which was a good thing because it was a very foggy night. I was so just happy to finally make it to the top of the Empire State Building, giving high fives to all the people I just met that night, and getting my medal. It was definitely a night to remember.

-Joyce S.

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Driving You Forward

Scott C



Brett C







Running is one of the greatest types of exercise available to most of us. It has one of the lowest equipment needs of any sport. You really only need a pair of running shoes, a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

Right?

What is running anyway?

You could simply define running as the act of putting one foot in front of the other.... But as runners do you know how this happens biomechanically? What muscles get you from step to step, from point A to point B?

From the Starting Line to the Finish Line

What drives you forward are your hips. The hips are quite complex and it would take much more detail than this blog entry allows to go over all the muscles and mechanisms that contribute to proper hip function. So, this article will be limited to the function of the gluteus (hip extensors) and hip flexors.

We are, by-in-large, a sedentary population. Now matter how many miles you run in a week, the majority of people reading this sit between 40-60 hours a week. When you spend much of your day in front of a computer, behind the wheel of a car, or in front of the television set bad things can happen that can be detrimental to a runner’s performance. One such problem is the loss of hip mobility. Hip mobility can be restricted by both soft tissue and muscle length and strength discrepancies. The key to hip mobility is to get the right muscles moving in the hip joint and decrease the movement of the lumbar spine as a substitute for hip movement.

If The Hips Don't Move, The Spine Will

Being in a seated position tends to lengthen the gluteus and surrounding hip stabilizers and shortens the muscles on the front side, the hip flexors. The hip flexors create a paradox in that they need to be flexible enough to allow for full range of motion of the hip extensors and also be strong enough to create full hip flexion. In other words, the ability to lift your knee up to hip height so as to create space for the leg to move forward in the swing phase of our running gait. Additionally, if a runner has an inability to flex the hip this will usually result in flexion of the lumbar spine (the low back). Done repetitively, this can lead to Low Back Pain!

The problem arises when chronic quad/hip flexor tightness “inhibits” (down regulates) your gluteus (the body’s main hip extensor). When your gluteus are not working properly it forces your hamstrings to take on the job which can lead to hamstring strains/pulls, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, patella femoral tracking disorder, and lower back injuries that often results in a decrease of neural input to the hip extensor muscles and hip flexor muscles.

There are 5 hip flexors…. .Rectus Femoris. TFL. Sartorious. Iliacus. Psoas. The TFL, RF, Iliacus, Sartorius all insert at the level of the iliac crest. They do great up to the level of the hip. The psoas acts directly on the spine. So, in the case of an under-active psoas, the femur may move above the level of the hip but it is not from the action of the psoas, but rather the momentum created by the other four hip flexors. This is what commonly causes Hip Flexor Strains and Quad Pulls under hard training loads. That's what makes the following movements so effective in that it eliminates the momentum of the other four flexors.

When you think of loosening a muscle stretching automatically comes to mind. However, you can also loosen your hip flexors through certain exercises. It works by taking your muscles through their range of motion dynamically.

Here are some ways you can strengthen both your hip flexors and hip extensors using nothing but your own bodyweight.

90/90 Side Lying Hip Flexor Stretch

On your side with both knees pulled to chest, holding the top ankle with the top hand and the bottom knee with the bottom hand

Contract the top gluteus while pulling the top leg back until stretch is felt

Hold two seconds, return to start position and repeat for prescribed number of repetitions

Switch legs and repeat

For a demonstration, click here. 

The Quadruped Hip Extension

• Start in a quadruped position (on your hands and knees).

• Tighten your core and contract your abs to stabilize the spine.

• Focus on contracting the left gluteus. You may need to place your hand on your gluteus to be sure it contracts.

• Slowly lift the left leg up while keeping a 90-degree bend at the knee.

• The left thigh should be nearly parallel with the ground.

• Slowly lower to the start position and repeat 10 reps per side.

• To increase the intensity of this exercise, place and grip a small 3-5 pound dumbbell behind your knee or add an ankle weight.

For a demonstration, click here.

Supine Single Leg Bridge

A single leg supine exercise that strengthens pelvic stability, gluteus muscles, ankles and especially the hamstrings is the single leg bridge. Start by laying flat on your back and raise your hips off the floor. Then lift your left foot a few inches off the floor and straighten your left leg. With your leg extended, move your hips up and down for 10 seconds. Lower your left foot and repeat the exercise on the right leg.

Do five repetitions on each side.

For a demonstration, click here. 

Overhead Split Squat

This is a variation on the basic lunge and is good movement for opening up your hip flexors.

• Hold a weight plate (or barbell) overhead, with your feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Without using any weights another option is to keep hands at sides and extend your arms up as your hips travel down.

• Keep the weight directly overhead (in line with the shoulder joint), and take a comfortable step forward in to a deep lunge position.

• Make sure your forward knee remains over your forward foot (not in front of it).

• Forcefully drive your forward heel in to the ground and return to the starting position.

• Perform up to 10 repetitions on each side and then switch sides.

• Maintain perfect posture throughout the movement — your head is level, your eyes are looking forward, your chest is held high and your back is flat.

• Don't bend your elbows or let the weight sink during the movement.

• Don't let your front heel lift off of the ground.

For a demonstration, click here. 

Backward Lunges

Here is how to do a backward lunge, step by step:

1. To begin, your feet should be shoulder width apart, torso erect with arms hanging straight at your sides, palms facing in.

2. Take a slow, controlled lunge (or large step) backwards with your left foot.

3. Lower your hips so that your right thigh (front leg) becomes parallel to the floor. At this point your right knee should be positioned directly over your ankle and your right foot should be pointing straight ahead.

4. Your left knee should be bent at a 90-degree angle and pointing toward the floor. Your left heel should be lifted.

5. After reaching the bottom of the movement (when your left knee is almost touching the floor), pause for a moment, or a breath, then push with your left, or back foot to move almost straighten both legs (photo on the left). Keep both feet on the ground - you are not returning to the starting position, just raising your pelvis up a bit and almost straightening your knees.

6. This completes one, now bend your knees and lower your pelvis down to complete another.

7. Return to the starting position (standing with both feet underneath your pelvis); now repeat the movement on the other side, stepping back with the right foot. Do ten up and downs (or reps) on this side now too.

Try and work with two sets of 8-10 repetitions for both the overhead and reverse lunge.

Keep your torso as upright as possible during any Lunge exercise to minimize the stress on the back. Start slow and don't go too low if you are new to the reverse lunge. As you progress you will be able to lunge deeper and to work your gluteus more. Press the heel of your front foot into the ground to feel the gluteus activate and engage.

Move slowly down and up, this will allow you to work your muscles more without jarring your knees.

To make the backward lunge a little more challenging, try adding a torso twist or hold dumbbells at your sides while you lunge. To help maintain balance, look straight ahead instead of down at your legs.

For a demonstration, click here. 

Step Ups

Step ups also help strengthen the hip flexors by placing the load put upon you in a more upright position. The key for getting the most out of your step ups is to use a step height that places your leg close to a 90 degree position when you lift your leg up. The higher you step the more you use your hip flexors. The key is not to step so high that you loose your form when you step up. If you have to lean forward on your step up then your step is probably too high. Do 8-10 repetitions. Alternate or work with each step up separately and for an added challenge introduce light weights, body bars for balance.

For a demonstration, click here.

Conclusion

What you do throughout the day has a huge impact on your ability to move effectively in sports. It takes much more than changing shoes to become a better runner. You need strong, balanced muscles that Drive You Forward.

Our job as strength/performance coaches is to get you to understand what muscles aren’t functioning properly, identify what muscles need to be used/strengthened and then teaching you how to use them properly.

About the authors:

Brett Cohen is a sports performance coach, endurance athlete and founder of Ready To Run and Intergrated Solutions comprehensive conditioning program specifically designed for runners and endurance athletes.

www.integratedtrainingsystems.com/
imakeufit@hotmail.com (917) 596-8485

Scott Cohen is a long time member of the New York Flyers, a former club VP and President, a certified coach for running and multi sport performance, an endurance athlete and the founder of The Athlete Within

www.theathletewithin.com/
3trikid3@gmail.com (917) 439-1195

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Yoga for Runners -Soothing Stretches for Mischievous Muscles

Nearly a year ago, I posted a Yoga for Runners entry on the Flyers Blog that I'm quite certain was critically acclaimed, plus read (and re-read) in rapture and awe by each and every Flyer.

No? Well, even still, as we’re approaching the fall marathon season I'm thinking it's a good time follow-up with some additional info. The focus here is on how to prevent and patch up misbehaving muscles that tend to be sore spots for runners.

This summer, Flyer Deirdre M. and I have been participating in a fantastic class at New York Yoga led by experienced yoga instructor and accomplished runner Tanya Namad. The class is on-going up until the NYC Marathon, and we'd love other Flyers to keep us company.

Specifically, Tanya recommends the following as among the essentials for runners.

Hamstrings, Calves, Achilles and Plantar Fascia

Downward Facing Dog stretches all of the muscles of the back of the legs, as well as the feet. This is the first stretch that I do after nearly every run even though I don’t look nearly as graceful and flexible as Tanya does in the photo below!

To get into the correct alignment for this yoga basic, start first in a plank position (as if you are about to do a push up) with your hips and shoulders and ankles in a straight line. Then keep your hands and feet where they are as you pull your hips up towards the ceiling. Relax the shoulders away from the ears, let the head and neck dangle (no tension) and gaze towards your navel. Focus on pulling your heels down towards the floor while you pull the hips up towards the ceiling and tilt the pelvis forward. You can lift the toes up to strengthen the arch of the foot to help relieve/prevent plantar fasciitis. Hold for one minute.

Back and Spinal Alignment

When we run, all the pounding, plus gravity, compresses the spine. It's important to re-lengthen our spines in order to improve our alignment. Also stretching the spine helps to prevent back issues for those runners who are prone to backaches.

Seated spinal twists are good for lengthening the spine and creating more space between the vertebrae. As you inhale, don't just turn but also allow yourself to "grow taller," and as you exhale try to twist a bit further into the pose. Repeat this breathing cycle 3-4 times and then take a counter-twist before switching and doing the other side.

Since I’m not comfortable keeping both legs bent in this position, a recommended variation that Tanya has me do is to straighten the bottom leg (in this photo, it would mean Tanya straightening her right leg).

IT Band Stretch

IT Band injuries can be painful and debilitating, and tight IT bands also put stress on runners' knees.

For a good IT stretch, fold over as far as you can, then bend one leg. Turn toward the side of the straight leg. If you can't touch the floor you can rest the left hand on a block or a prop of some sort (shoe box, foam roller stood up on its side etc.). You’ll feel this stretch on the outside of the straight leg. Hold for 30 seconds and then do the other side.

Hip Openers

Hip openers provide runners with improved range of motion, which is especially important for not losing stride length as we age.

Pigeon Pose is a great hip opener, including for stretching the outer hip muscles and glutes. If using a mat, try to get the front leg's shin as close to parallel with the front edge of the mat as possible. You want the hips to be even, so push the right hip down towards the ground. You may need to adjust the angle of the front knee to do this. Then lower the upper body down over the front leg. You will feel this in the left outer hip. Breathe to relax into it. Make sure to push the hip forward (the right one in this picture). Hold for 30 seconds then switch sides.

Piriformis &Outer Hip Stretch

A recent thread on the Flyers Forum highlights that piriformis pain (i.e., glutes) can shut a runner down. Piriformis syndrome is a condition in which the piriformis muscle becomes tight or spasms, and irritates the sciatic nerve. This causes pain in the buttocks region (my wife says I generate a similar impact for her with my mood swings) and may even result in pain in the lower back and thigh.

For a piriformis and outer hip stretch, stack the shins on top of each other, lining up the knees and ankles (if doable for you, don't tuck them "Indian style"). Then fold forward as far as you can go. Try to relax the hips as you breathe deeply and concentrate on relaxing. Hold for 1 minute and then switch sides.

Hip Flexors

Hip flexors get worked hard, especially when doing speed work, so it's important to stretch them afterwards so they don't tighten up. Lunges are very effective for stretching the hip flexors. Get into a lunge position, then push your hips forward and lean back. In this picture, leaning back towards the right leg really gets into the hip flexor. It also works the calves and achilles, which is helpful for preventing and alleviating plantar fasciitis. Hold for 30 seconds on each side.

Thanks, Tanya!

Thanks to Tanya for sharing all of her great information, which she put together specifically for this blog posting, and thanks also for Tanya kindly allowing me to photograph her in yogi-action to illustrate the poses. For those who'd like to know more about Tanya (no, I don’t mean if you want to know if she’s single!), her personal yoga website is www.yogitanya.com.
- Dave K.

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"She’s SKIING!": A Runner Relishes Winter's Last Hurrah

“Look, Mom, she’s SKIING!”  That’s what the little girl said about me, which would be exciting enough since typically when skis are strapped to my feet I’m not upright long enough to actually be skiing.  But it was especially impressive a few days ago because I was not in Vancouver, or even Vermont or New Hampshire; I was in mid-town Manhattan, headed towards the running path on the East River.


It was almost seven years to the day that I had last used the cross-country skis that compete with my running shoes for space in the closet; that was in Manhattan also, after a late-season storm similar to the one that dumped over a foot of snow over the city this past Friday.  I’d been sliding my way through Central Park then, and was interviewed by a NY Times reporter who quoted me in her story the next day. 


The skiing was harder this time around; the 12 hours of hours of rain and slushiness that had accumulated before the fluffy white stuff had moved in made for a very uneven ride once my skis sunk past the surface.  Not to say that a smoothly-groomed trail would have helped me any – there was no smooth shushing going on and most certainly none of that graceful gliding seen recently at the Olympics.  In fact, as you can see by the photo, I wore my bright red NY Flyers jacket to make sure I’d be found in case I got stuck in a snowdrift.


I was getting a great workout, though – you can burn almost as many calories cross-country skiing as you can running, and without the impact.  Until you fall down, that is.  (Yes, some people fall down cross-country skiing.)  I could certainly feel a great stretch in my hamstrings and my arms.  In fact, my hands are still sore as I type this, from the death grip I had on my poles (to keep from falling down.) 
And then I hit it – cross-country skiing nirvana, or as close as you can get in Manhattan: a ¼-mile stretch of virgin snow carved through by the treads of a very big truck.  So big, in fact that the track left by each tire was almost exactly the width of my skis.  In another words – a packed trail!  It didn’t last long – to the credit of the city sanitation crews, by early afternoon, the East River running path was almost clean enough to run on.  (Indeed a handful of intrepid runners were seen hurdling snow drifts and picking their way around ice patches.)  I ended up spending almost as much time walking between snow-covered areas as I did actually skiing.  So I did what most runners do when they can’t find a place to work out – I headed to the local track, in this case at 10^th Street.  Certainly they weren’t going to plow THAT.  Turns out fourteen inches of virgin snow is nice, but impossible to cross-country ski through.  Made falling down softer, though . . .

It was on my way home from the track, skis hoisted over my shoulder, that I saw the young man with a camera bag coming towards me, notepad in hand.  I laughed as he approached; he was a free-lance photographer for the New York Times.  Turns out he’d spotted me because my bright red NY Flyers jacket contrasted so nicely against the snowdrifts . . .   - Uli H.

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Real Men (and Women) do Yoga for Runners!

by Dave K

Yoga is boring. Yoga causes injuries. Yoga is inconvenient. Yoga is too hard. Yoga is too easy. Yoga is for females. Yoga isn't helpful for runners.

Or maybe that’s not true?

I've never been flexible. Not just the stubborn type of inflexible (although that, too). I've always had pretty limited flexibility. I remember in kindergarten, Mrs. Kass had us all sit cross-legged. Everyone looked so comfortable. I wondered why, since I sure didn't feel comfy.

But about 15 years ago I decided to give yoga a try after I kept hurting my back and neck. Although I can surely be a pain in the neck, my neck and back pain never returned.

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