"I need a hip mobility circuit I can do just before stepping out the door for a run in the summer in the middle of my training cycle..."
I responded to this runner with, "Say no more".
Here's the scenario:
You're up at 5:30am before the sun can cook can you to death with its climbing temps and soggy humidity.
Maybe you had your long run yesterday and this is a recovery-albeit stiff-feeling
run...
OR
You've got speed work planned this morning but yesterday was filled with more sitting than movement because "business, business business" and that means sitting for hours during meetings.
Either way: you've got 3 minutes.
And some cranky hips.
Here's what you're going to do:
RULE No. 1: DITCH THE FOAM ROLLER
(this can wait till after your "oval-office meeting")
RULE No. 2: Hop into this fast and furious 3 minute, efficient hip mobility circuit I've put together for you to beat the summer heat and crush your workouts.
3 Minute Hip Mobility for Busy Marathon Runners in Summer Training
Circuit:
2-3 sets each// NO EQUIPMENT NEEDED!
1/2 Kneeling Stretch: the RIGHT WAY
hold 20-30secs
no really, watch the 5min video.
I give you a spicier version too if you have incredibly stubborn hips.
High Plank Hip Swivel
too fatigue, each side X two times ea leg
90-90 Shin Box with Frog Bridge Sit Up
5x ea side
Busy Runners: 3 Minutes to Happier, Smoother Summer-time Hips
1/2 Kneeling Stretch: the RIGHT WAY
I have an incredibly complicated relationship with this exercise...
THE PROBLEM: this stretch has been used and abused to the point of runners being told to prop their foot up on the couch for crazy quad stretches until they look like pretzels. Just...stop.
THE TRICK: you don't need to arch through your back. If you are; you're doing it wrong. All you actually need is to activate your core correctly. When you engage your core, this 1/2 kneeling stretch becomes a MUCH smaller motion than you anticipated. The ideal core contraction for this stretch is to think about drawing your front hips bones together. If this doesn't make sense, I'll settle for whatever core contraction you can do.
The EXTRA SPICY VERSION: you start in that 1/2 kneeling position as usual. Engage your core by trying to bring your front hip bones together. Slowly begin to travel forward until you a feel stretch. Then, while breathing OUT, rotating IN towards the knee that is up. Can you feel an extra deep stretch on the leg that is down? Repeat as desired.
High Plank Hip Swivel
who knew sneaker core work could also be hip mobility...
THE SECRET: that's partly the reason I love this particular exercise as a warm up exercise. It targets your upper body, activating it especially for speed days, wakes up your core to keep you strong and upright, AND with the bent knee moving at lightening speed, you actually spin or travel around the planted hip joint. Let me break it down...
The straight leg is the planted hip. Your hip joint is a ball and socket. The ball of that joint is planted firmly in place. As you sweep the knee that's close to your chest back and forth between your elbows, you actively spinning that socket around the ball of the joint. This exercise requires you to not only work on hip mobility, but also asks your glutes to engage so you can "hit save on the document" and save the mobility gains you've just created.
if this makes no sense...go watch the video ;) it's like 5 minutes.
90-90 Shin Box with Frog Bridge Sit Up
this is a flow...
TOP TIP: I feel like it's tradition at this point to include a 90-90 variation. But the reason for this one: it helps you travel through your entire hip rotation (external and internal hip rotation) which you need especially for speed work.
If you're a runner with your desk job: working on your hip internal rotation is NON-NEGOTIABLE. I promise you, that particular direction is tight and will get tighter with increased mileage, plus added effort of running in the heat, in addition to sitting for prolonged periods of time.
THE BEST PART: with the added "glute sit up" at the end, you get a little extra glute activation moving into hip extension. If you're adductors are tight, you'll feel a dynamic stretch here too. Boom. Work smarter, not harder.
WRAPPING UP
You might be scratching your head why you might need a specific hip mobility circuit for summer...
Let me drop a truth bomb or two.
It's not necessarily that you need "summer specific hip exercises."
It's that in HOTTER TEMPS, we all tend to sloooooow down.
When we slow down, those miles tick by a lot sloooooower.
Which results in MORE time on our feet
which can result in greater amounts of work being demanded from our hips.
Can you see the snowball effect?
You're running for longer, although the same distance.
You're body doesn't really care that you only have 3 miles to go. All it knows is that this whole workout is taking longer than it normally does and it's getting tired.
Not to mention, running in any kind of not-perfect weather conditions, but especially in the heat, is TAXING.
All that additional effort, on top of your normal running effort, can result in a mountain of extra load compared to what your body is used too.
Yes, heat training is a thing.
Yes, your body will adapt anywhere from 3-6 weeks with consistent practice, slowing your pace down, etc.
But during that messy-middle, you still have to slog through.
So let's spend less time slogging; more time actually running.
Sound good?
That's the hefty "Why" behind this particular hip mobility circuit: to give you something fast, effective, that doesn't require any equipment so you can wake up your hips and get out the door in record time before your neighborhood is as hot and hospitability as Dune.
If you're looking for even more hip mobility exercises, checkout my hip mobility and beginner's strength guide for runners HERE.
Until next time running fit fam....
Dare to Train Differently,
Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit
P.S. Looking for more of a strength challenge? Check out my FREE Strength Guide for Runners HERE!
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