A Simple Running Tip to Make your Runs feel Instantly Easier!
I want to share a simple running tip that can make a world of difference in your running!
A lot of injuries that runners incur are due simply to the fact that they are letting the wrong muscles do the wrong jobs and they are not engaging the muscles that they should.
We let our joints - particularly our knee and hip joints - absorb so much impact from constant pounding. But it doesn't have to be this way!
One simple solution is to let our big muscles do the heavy lifting.
And what's the biggest muscle group in our body? Our glutes (gluteus maximus and our gluteus minimus) which make up the area that we commonly called our bottom, butt, or bum.
So here is the simple running tip to make running feel instantly easier: squeeze your buttocks (glute muscles) together as you run!
What will happen when you squeeze your glute muscles?
- It is going to force your glute muscles to take a lot of the work off of the legs and joints
- It will help you land softer with much less impact on your body
- You will feel much lighter (even quicker) on your feet
- The stronger this muscle the more we want to be engaging it and working with them since as we engage the glute muscles we are able to produce and expend more force and more energy.
- This means that we can run faster!
- This also means that we can burn more calories which is a key to weight loss!
Now, you should also be employing and practicing this running tip all the time when you walk!
In fact our bodies were designed constantly be engaging our bum and to move like this but we rarely if ever make it work for us.
We have these major muscle groups and we need to make them work!
The problem is that we sit so much!
This sitting causes us to experience a whole host of problems but especially we re-shape our spine and end up with a society of people filled with back pain and weak muscles.
A simple way to effectively start treating this is just to learn how to walk properly. And what's one way to do that? Engage you bottom!
Build those muscles up and let it do the work! Then translate this over to your running.
So I challenge you to use this running tip on your very next run!
I want you to notice the difference this running tip makes in the simple movement of just squeezing in your glutes. You will feel better when you run and your form will be more on par.
You will also be strengthening them, (shaping them!) burn more calories and make them do what they were designed to do! They weren't made for us to sit on!
Here's a great Ted Talk on the subject. He talks about walking properly but we can also use this in our running!
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Hi! I'm Molly! I combined my love for running with my Exercise Science degree to provide training plans and resources to help runners achieve their marathon goals!
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