What is sciatica and how can it affect runners glutes to fire, you need mobile hips – in other words, your hip joints to be able to move without restriction.
Reasons why your feet can go numb while you run Summer running gear sale, which makes it harder to activate your glutes when you need them most – on a run and during your strength workouts. Strong and active glutes are vital for injury prevention, too. ‘Any weakness in the glutes will propagate further down the kinetic chain and manifest itself as runner’s knee or achilles tendinitis,’ says Dr Greg Grosicki, an assistant professor of kinesiology at Georgia Southern University in the US.
‘Tightness in the front inhibits function on the back,’ explains strength coach Erin Carson, founder of the online training group How to spot and fix IT band syndrome, which offers strength training for endurance athletes. ‘Your quads switch on and take over.’
Two-time IRONMAN world champion Mirinda Carfrae, who has never had an injury that stopped her from training, in part credits mobility for her success. ‘I don’t need extra muscle, I need the muscle that I have to work,’ she says.
Hip mobility exercises
To improve your hip mobility, Carson, who trains Carfrae, recommends performing these mobility moves before a strength session or run.
Multi-planar lunge sequence
Lunge following an imaginary clock and hit each time of the day with the landing leg: left leg hitting 12 to 7; right leg hitting 12 to 5. (You’ll need to open your hips as you move back– that’s fine.) Do 2 sets of 3 lunges in each position.
90-90
Sit on the floor with your feet on the ground and your arms behind you, holding up your torso. Now move both knees to the left, laying them to the side to create a 90-degree angle with both knees. Repeat on the right. Do 10 on each side.
Try a massage gun
Carfrae uses a massage gun, the Hypervolt 2, to promote recovery, especially on the lower body and glutes. ‘I use it a couple of times a week for 15 minutes,’ she says.
