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STRENGTH FOR RUNNING



STEP UP

Muscles: Quadriceps, Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius


Slow, explosive, high, low, heavy, light, forwards, lateral, reverse. Step ups challenge single leg balance, and build tons of lower limb strength, as well as provide some vertical stimulus.


These are a great addition to your regime regardless of the type of running you do, the versatility is endless, with ability to increase difficulty with little equipment. All you need is park bench, dining chair or a stack of books, and you’re sorted.

1. Step up, step down

Place one foot up on the height, allow the knee to rock forwards. Keeping a tall chest and killing any momentum through the torso. Focus on driving through the front leg rather than pushing off the back foot. Stand up onto the height, finishing tall with open hips. Control the step down, soft contact with the ground.


2. Sprinter step up

Using a lower height, step up finishing tall on one leg, with the other knee in front bent at 90 degrees. This step up is fast and explosive, with quick arms, and finishing with open hips. This extension position is important for running gait.


3. High Lateral Step Down

A good lead up for developing a true single leg squat. Standing side on with one foot over the edge, bend the knee and control the descend down to the floor. Allow the foot to touch the ground, then drive back up to finish tall.



BRIDGE

Muscles: Hamstring, Gluteus Maximus


A solid exercise for honing in on your gluteus maximus and posterior chain. While isolating single muscles at a time isn’t achievable, the bridge is a great way to introduce awareness and feel to glute contraction. This concept can be taken and applied to more complex exercises that involve hip extension, like a step up or squat.


The bridge can be easily modified and progressed with the use of bands, weights, changing the length of the lever (more or less bend of the knees), single leg or feet elevated variations, depending on what your goal is.


1. Double leg glute bridge

Lying on your back with knees bent. Start with a glute squeeze, lightly brace the core and posteriorly tilt the pelvis. Drive feet into the floor, lift hips up, avoid lifting too high and extending through the lower back


2. Glute bridge march

Same set up as above, once hips are off the floor, hold the position and alternatingly lift one foot off the floor. Feel the hip flexors work on leg off the floor


3. Hamstring bridge

Same set up as above, once hips are off the floor, walk feet out straightening your legs to position you can control. Keeping weight on your heels, lower hips up and down.



HEEL RAISE

Muscles: Gastrocnemius, Soleus


With a surface area significantly less than other contributing muscles groups like the quadriceps, the calf complex still has a significant job, therefore are prone to fatiguing quicker. The calf complex play a vast role in producing overall force for running, contributing to the windlass mechanism and propelling you forwards with each stride, lower limb stability, as well as endurance on longer runs.


The two prime movers of the calf complex are the gastrocnemius and soleus. Because of their attachments, the set-up of a heel raise needs to be slightly different to ensure both muscles are being targeted.


Building up to high repetitions and adding load as tolerated will increase the capacity of these muscles.


1. Double leg heel raise

Standing with feet hip width apart, using a wall for support lift heels off the floor, rising up onto toes. Ensure knees stay completely straight, and weight is distributed evenly across balls of feet- focus on driving ball of big toe into the floor


2. Double/Single leg heel raise off step

Control the eccentric phase of the movement (lowering down) as slow as you can, pause at the bottom for 1 second, then raise back up.


3. Seated single leg heel raise

This variation targets the soleus, seated on a bench or a chair with knees bent at 90 degrees, raise heels up, maintaining a controlled tempo. Increase the difficulty by resting a free weight on your knee, or a low height.



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