Running Technique Coaching / Run faster, further, with less effort and fewer injuries
The foot massage with a golf ball is an excellent exercise to release tension in the foot muscles, and improve foot flexibility and mobility. At the end of the day a goof foot massage feels really good, doesn’t it? See the video below on how to do it and if you have any questions contact me.
I asked each participant to describe the session in 3 words. This was their first time meeting me and doing something like this. The session was exhausting but so rewarding.
Alison: Challenging, Exhausting and Exhilarating
Marielouise: Awesome, Froggy and Quite Dirty
Eva: Novel, Energetic and a lot of Fun
Fiona: Exhilarating, Tiring and Lovely
Mihai: Intense, Natural and Reassuring
Maria: Energetic, Fun and Cheerful
To register for a FREE taster session in Oxted, Surrey CLICK HERE >>>
Bandage for sprained toes and fingers….small toes though, it’s designed for fingers.
Injured fingers? Try this little bandage, I think it’s really cool and could have helped me when I fractured one of my fingers in a Karate competition.
Just stay focused and remember it’s a bandage.
There is more to fitness than calorie counting and “chasing” weight loss. Many people get disappointing by the fact that weight goes up and down over several months, and just give up. What is the point right?
So how can you get and stay fit, healthy and slim without even thinking about it. Without making weight loss a life long pursuit? I explain everything in this video:
Here’s a method which will help you get out of monotony, make exercising more fun and different and reduce bias in the choice you make when you choose your exercise.
We unconsciously do more of the things we are good at and which we love. This means progress slows down to the point where we make very little progress. When you have a Personal Trainer or a Coach, they will give you exercises you are not good at, but when you have to choose alone we tend to be biased without realizing.
So here’s a way to solve this problem and to also make things more interesting. This is not a method of training to get results though. If your training needs set repetitions and sets, a certain structure, then this is not going to work. But it will make things different.
I will be using the same video I used in the first post on press-ups: Press-Ups – Why It’s Difficult To Do A Full Press-up, to list some of the most common mistakes we do when learning and practicing press-ups.
There are 3 main reasons why we make press-up mistakes:
Practicing and repeating press-ups with incorrect technique can lead to:
When you lose technique, further repetitions are useless and you are wasting time and energy.
Common press-up mistakes (you will also see them and explained in the video below):
Correct these press-up mistakes and you will train and strengthen your whole upper body. The more correct you do them, even just a few at a time, the more effective they are.
And here is the video I promised, jump at minute 2:48 for press-ups mistakes:
Doing a full press-up is very, very achievable but not as easy some think. You just try it a few times and expect to go from not being able to bend your elbows to a correct full press-up
There are many muscles involved in doing a correct full press-up. Because there are so many muscles involved, for a beginner, until those muscles strengthen, it takes a while. That is why it is important to have patience and practice, if you want to do a full press-up in the end.
These are roughly the main muscles press ups work. There are also the oblique muscles (side of the abdomen), lower and upper back muscles. The whole mid section of your body need to work to keep you in the right position.
So you see, it cannot happen over night. Work and consistency needs to be put into it. So I have put together a video with how I managed my full press-ups and how I helped my clients who really wanted to do this. Hope it’s good enough to help you as well.
A strong and stable hip joint reduces the risk of injury in your pelvic joints, spine and knees. It also promotes a good posture, as there is no limitation in the hips flexors area (above the thighs, the muscles which help you bring your knee up, that’s hips flexion) and you develop a stronger core and stability muscles.
For runners, and not only, strong stability muscles, a stable hip joints, strong glutes maximus and hips flexibility and mobility can save a lot of injuries, help recover faster from injuries, and help perform better.
By strengthening muscles around the hips joints, which also stabilize the joint, you can relieve lower back pain as well.
Alignment
All exercises must be performed with correct alignment. If you lost technique and perform them with poor alignment then it’s for nothing. Dozens of repetitions are useless if they are not performed correctly.
Running is more than just placing one foot in from of the other. Running with good alignment, and a stable, mobile and flexible hip joint is the key to performance, speed or endurance, and less injuries.
1. Bridges
Lie down on your back.
Soles of your feet, hip width appart, flat on the ground and knees bent.
Keep heels as close to your buttocks as possible.
Lift your hips off the floor – using the buttocks.
This exercise activates your buttocks and hip stabilizers in your hip joints. It will reduce some of the back stiffness and lower back pain, and also improve your posture.
2. Squats
Particularly full or deep squats. These are excellent to strengthen your buttocks, and all stabilizer muscles from your feet all the way up to your core. It is a natural movement and should be practiced every day.
I have already written an article on Deep Squats – Benefits And Technique, it’s more detailed.
3. Balancing exercises
Balancing exercises are again exercises which should be performed daily. They strengthen all stability muscles from the soles of the feet to the core.
Balancing exercises do not stop at just standing on one leg. Not at all. Try variations such as:
Get creative but do take care where you balance. Even if you have very good balance, in case you do lose balance make sure you will not fall and hurt ourself. Safety first.
These exercises and more are some of the balance exercises we practice on out Natural Human Movement coaching. They are also part of the online Academy – a 12 weeks, weekly training and planning on Natural Human Movement, with videos, audios and detailed technique descriptions.
If you want to know more about The Academy contact me.
If you’d like to experience the outdoors Natural Human Movements training, we have FREE taster sessions taking place in Surrey. Message me and let’s book you on a taster session. Click here to message me.
Being fit means something else for different people. I’d say it’s personal.
For example, among other reasons, being fit for me means to be able to comfortably compete in Karate competitions. I want peak performance for my sport. But in the same time fitness also means keeping my body strong, training and moving the way my body was designed to move and making sure I do whatever I can to reduce the risk of injuries and recover from the ones I already have.
For other people being fit may mean less aches and pains, while for others a number on a scale.
What does fitness mean to you? If you wish to share leave a comment under this article with the answer.
Firstly…
On video or YouTube you certainly see the movements and you can mimic them. It’s not difficult at all. And yes, you can burn calories. You might also lose weight if you keep up.
But do you actually know what you are doing? Do you even care? Or are you pursuing calorie burning and the numbers on the scale? Maybe you don’t, maybe you like and want to do things the correct way?
YouTube is great, but do you know where the movements come from? I mean where they come from within the body, what makes a lunge effective and efficient. What makes a punch strong. No, you don’t know that from a YouTube video, and even if they tell you, you are not sure you are doing it, because you don’t know what and how to feel.
When I post videos on YouTube I always worry about not giving enough and I encourage you to contact me with questions.
Even if you have all the technical points, how do you know whether you do it correct or not?
When it feels “good”? Nope. You will do whatever feels natural to you. But if natural means being slouched (for example) , because that is natural for you now, then you are in trouble. Only someone from the outside can see these mistakes and make you aware of them. A YouTube video cannot.
Second…
If you want to progress you must be out of the comfort zone. That’s how it works, that’s what causes the body to go in the adaptation phase where you see results. If it doesn’t reach the adaptation phase there is not much progress.
You can only push yourself so far. Everyone reaches a point where they, themselves, cannot push anymore and that’s where we all need external motivation, which usually comes from a coach.
A coach takes you out of your comfort zone. Now, you might say you can take yourself out of the comfort zone. Maybe you can, but how do you know that’s not actually your comfort zone?
Third…
Top athletes have coaches. They know almost everything about their sport, they can coach others, they can train themselves yet they have coaches.
Why is that? As I said before, we all need someone to be behind us and push us out of the comfort zone, make plans, correct technique and so on.
If athletes need coaches, athletes who know what they are doing, then you should consider it too. More so if you are not an athlete, as you were not trained and your muscle memory has not formed.
When muscle memory forms it does so in a correct way or not. If it’s the later it is more difficult to change later on.
I am not trying to sell you into anything. But I am trying to make you aware that, for the moment, technology cannot replace humans and that you should learn how to move in a correct way.
Why learning correct technique? Here are a few reasons:
Never use YouTube?
YouTube is not always bad. It’s just that you should do some work before that so you understand how your body functions. If you have already trainer with a coach or trainer then you probably already know more than many other people.
You can get inspiration from YouTube later on after you learn the basics of natural human movement or after working with a trainer who taought you good technique, and can then recommend you good YouTube source. You can use YouTube after you learn correct movement.
There you go. Do you know what you are doing? Has anyone showed you how to use your body in a correct way? As usual, if you have further questions or are in need of advice you know what you have to do.