Five Important Lower-Body Exercises for Runners

When you think of lower-body exercises, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves are the top-of-mind muscle groups to work, right? Well, yes and no. Each of these muscle groups are important and depending on the runner one group may need to be worked more than another. But, there's an entirely different group of muscles that often get overlooked by most runners. These muscles (abductors and adductors) are found laterally on the outside and inside of the legs. There is not one abductor and one adductor muscle, rather they are a collection of different muscles that work to pull the legs away from or toward the body or to create internal or external rotation of the leg. They also work to provide stability and balance in the lower body. The glute medius muscle is a hip-abductor muscle that provides stability in the whole pelvic region when walking and running. It's when this muscle is tight or weak that often results in runners knee. Adductors running down the inside of the leg help provide stability as well as help with acceleration when running. Adductors are the only muslces in the lower-body that are continuously firing throughout the entire running stride cycle. Keeping these muscle groups well conditioned will not only help make you a more efficient runner, it will help decrease the chance of  injury and falling. The video below shows five simple exercises that are very effective in working your abductor and adductor muscles. Check it out!

Got Ouchy Shins?

Whether you're new to running or training for a marathon, ouchy shins are

often a complaint. This pain down the inner or medial portion of the lower leg along the shin is commonly referred to as shin splints. Often a runner experiencing shin splints will first notice the pain after the run. Overtime, the pain will surface during the run.

The correct term for what you're experiencing is medial tibial stress syndrome. 

The cause of medial tibial stress syndrome is often debated, but most agree that it's caused by overuse. 

Experienced runners think of shin splints as a new runner's problem. So, they're often baffled when they experience the symptoms themselves. A seasoned runner can experience shin splints with a sudden increase in training frequency or intensity. Ahhh....sound familiar? That's why seasoned runners often experience shin pain during the early stages of race training or even later in marathon training if the runner starts to up the intensity or push too hard. 

Other causes can be lack of calcium, running on hard surfaces, running hills, ill fitted running shoes, or severe overpronation.

Sometimes the pain, soreness, or swelling is felt on the outside or lateral side of the shin. This is called lateral tibial stress syndrome. 

New runners that heel strike often experience lateral tibial stress syndrome. The tibialis anterior muscle is the muscle that runs down the outside or lateral side of the shin. This muscle is used to lift the toes. A heel-striker lifts his/her toes each time they strike the ground. So, if a person suddenly goes from not running to running for several minutes, all the sudden they've overtaxed the tibialis anterior causing inflammation resulting in soreness. 

So what do you do if you have shin splints? Recognize the symptoms and act promptly. If you notice soreness on either side of the shin after a run, ice and elevate the leg. Ice is great for reducing inflammation. I always tell my runners to keep a bag of frozen peas in the freezer. It makes a great ice pack. Just place the ice on for 5-minutes on 5-minutes off for about 20-30 minutes. Icing throughout the day may help as well. Anti-inflammatory painkillers may add additional relief. If it's still sore the next day, take a break from running. Swim, cycle, or do other low-impact exercise for a few days.

Evaluating your running shoes is a good idea too. Is it time for a new pair? Do you have 300-500 miles on your shoes? If so, it might be time for a new pair. Were you properly fitted and have the correct type of shoe for your feet? If you're not sure, go to your local running store and ask them to evaluate your feet and help you get the best shoe for your foot type. If you're a severe overpronator, custom orthodics may help with shin splint symptoms. Analysing your stride can also be useful. Are you overstriding and heel-striking? If so, work on pulling-in that foot landing. Strive more for a mid-foot or fore-foot landing under your center of mass. This helps the body work with the oncoming pavement. It also helps the body work more like a shock absorber.

Some "pre-hab" exercises can help strengthen the ankles and lower leg which may help keep runners from experiencing shin splints. Click here for some simple but effective ankle and lower leg exercises. If you're currently experiencing shin splints, wait until the soreness/pain has subsided for a couple of days before doing any exercises.

As with any pain/soreness that persists after a couple of days, check in with your medical professional immediately. If you're not able to put pressure on your lower leg, definitely head to the urgent care. Persisting pain along the inner shin could be a sign of an actual stress fracture in the bone. 

If lateral pain persists, it could possibly be compartment syndrome which can be pretty serious. This is more related to poor circulation in the affected area because of increased pressure in the area. 

If you're having to alter your stride to compensate for pain, then you need to check in with your sports doc immediately. Compensating for one pain can often cause other problems in other areas of your body.

Flex that Foot!

"They love me. They love me not. They love me. They love me not." That's the relationship many runners have with their feet and ankles. If you're a runner and if you're a runner getting in lots of miles, you're probably thinking you're a pretty healthy individual. You're probably right. Aerobically, you're fit as a fiddle. Muscular, tendon, ligament, and joint-wise "healthy" might be questionable, particularly in the feet and ankles.

Running is great. Been doing it for over 25 years. Swimming is great too. So is Cycling. The only thing with these three sports is their linear nature. You're moving forward. Constantly. Mile after mile.

That forward movement is in the sagittal plane of movement. That's what a runner, swimmer, and cyclist needs, right? Yes, you definitely need your quads, hamstrings, calves, and hip flexors in the lower body to help with the forward movement, no question. The problem is what happens when you step out of the plane of motion.

Ever jump over a pot hole? Step off of a curb? Dart out of the way of a ball, kid, or dog unexpectedly crossing your path while on your run?  When trail running, ever dodge trees, roots, fallen debris, rocks, washouts?  Ever roll your foot when making these movements?

When you step to the side laterally, then you've suddenly moved from the sagittal plane of forward movement to the frontal plan (lateral or side-to-side movement). If you've rotated your foot, leg, or torso, internally or externally, you've then moved your body into the transverse plane of motion.

The other day while running with my Intermediate Running Group at Volvo Trucks North America, the toe of my shoe snagged a divot in the pavement. I tripped, stumbled, then veered off the sidewalk which dropped down into about an inch or so of leaves, twigs and other tree debris. In a split second, I went from the sagittal plan to the frontal plan and into the transverse plane all at once. Amazingly, I was able to regain my balance, steer my feet back out of the debris and onto the sidewalk. There were some older ladies walking nearby that actually clapped when I successfully made my way back to the sidewalk without falling.

How did I do that? Well, a couple of reasons. God was probably with me. In addition to the spirits watching over me, I've become much more in-tune with my body. So, instead of my brain going, "OMG! I'm going to fall! Crap, this is going to hurt!" it said, "Okay, I'm falling, come on muscles pull me out of this."

The mind-muscle connection or lack there of plays a big part in the prevention of a fall or the severity of a fall. If the stabilizer muscles in the lower leg and feet (the little muscles that aid with balance, rotational movement, and lateral movement) are accustomed to being used, then, when you find yourself in a sticky situation (such as tripping and/or falling) they'll be more apt to come to your rescue instead of saying, "Huh? You want me to do what?" Even if you do ultimately fall, the recruitment of your stabilizer muscles will help the fall be less severe.

So how do you wake up these muscles? Use them! In your weekly workouts, take some time to focus on a few ankle exercises. These can be very simple and use just body weight or simple exercise equipment like resistance bands or tubes. One really easy exercise is standing on one leg. Yep, that's it. When you stand on one leg, you recruit a multitude of stabilizer muscles to help maintain your balance. So, next time you're waiting in line at the post office, grocery store or movie theater, pull up one leg and balance on the other. Just be sure not to always stand on the same leg. Give both legs equal attention.

Writing the ABCs with your toes is another easy exercise. Sit in a chair. Lift one leg and use the lifted foot to write each letter of the alphabet with your toes. When doing so, you'll be moving your foot up, down, left, right, front and back hitting all planes of motion and recruiting the stabilizer muscles in the lower part of the leg and around the ankle and in the foot. Stand to make the exercise more difficult. You'll recruit stabilizer muscles in the standing leg to help maintain your balance while you're working the muscles around the ankle and in the foot of the foot that's writing the ABCs. Check out the video below for more simple ankle exercises.


I've also discovered a cool new product, the AFX Ankle Foot Maximizer, that's great for working the muscles in the lower leg, around the ankle, and in the foot. Did you know you have more than 20 muscle in your foot! AFX is a strengthening system that enables you to strengthen all of those muscles and the ankle complex.

The thing I like the most about AFX is that it's one piece of equipment. No need to gather the towel, bands, or tubes. It also provides a wide range of resistance to meet everyone's needs. The odd looking contraption looks like it would be hard to use, but it's not. In just a couple of minutes out of the box, I was using it with ease.

With the AFX you're able to do plantar flexion, toe flexion, dorsiflexion, foot/ankle eversion, foot/ankle inversion as well as stretches.

Check out the AFX video below to learn more about it. 

Anaylze It! The Answer May Be Just a Spreadsheet Away!

I love the Yogi Berra quote, "You can observe a lot just by watching." Although humorous, there’s a lot of truth to Yogi’s statement. Problem with running is that it’s hard to watch yourself.  Which reminds me of something Thoreau said, “It is as hard to see one’s self as to look backward without turning around.” You can learn from watching others, but it’s pretty dang hard to watch yourself without tripping and causing bodily harm. And that ain’t good.  So, if you’re having some issues with your running, what are you to do?

Well, you can read lots of books and there are a ton out there, many with great information (just check out the Book Review section of the blog). But, while all that info is great, it still may not apply to you and your specific issues. You can visit a running coach like me and he/she can give you great info, but unless I’m with you running every day, I’m still only able to speak to you in generalities which reminds me of something Mark Twain said, “All generalization are false, including this one.” (I love that.) 

So, read the books and check in with your running coach or sports doc. All that info will make you more informed and a better runner, but then take it a step further. You need to analyze yourself.  Keeping a running journal is a great way to record your running habits. For years (before the dawn of laptops, PDAs, tablets, iPhones and apps) I religiously kept a running journal. I’d record my weekly mileage and jot down information about the weather, my mood, and so on.  This was a great way for me to mentally reflect on my runs.  The problem was that it was hard to track any trends in my running.  Good or bad.

Fortunately, today there are tons of apps and websites out there that let your track all kinds of information about your daily running. I use many of them myself. The only thing I’ve found lacking in them is they’re still not catered to me. Any running is all about me, right? LOL! Well, when it comes to figuring out why I’m having this ache or pain or that, it’s definitely all about me. 

I’ve found that tracking my runs on a spreadsheet can be very helpful. Someone once said, “Half of analysis is anal.” There are no words more true. So, I’m not recommending that your speed hours tracking minute details of every run (unless you just like doing that), but if you’re having some issues and can’t seem to find the answers to resolve them, then sometimes taking a closer look at your running habits over a short period of time can really be enlightening. 

Customize your spreadsheet by creating column headers for each type of run you do (trail, road, sidewalk, etc) as well as type of workout (easy, long, tempo, intervals, hill work) and distance. Then add weather conditions, your various shoes, time of day (morning, midday, afternoon). Next, add more columns for other factors such as if you fueled pre- and post-run, stretched  pre- and post-run. Then add columns for aches and pains (sore knees, sore ankles, sore hips, sore whatevers.) Finally add columns that rate the run (Jubilant, Great, Mediocre, Horrible, etc.).  The rows down the first column (on the far left of your grid) are where you’ll record the date of each run.

Now you're ready to start recording your data. For a month, after each run scan across the columns and put a check mark in each column that applies to that specific run. 

Here comes the fun part. The thrill of the sort!  Spreadsheets are so wonderful because you can sort the data. Sort by the various column headers and see what trends appear. For example if you’re having issues with your knees, then do a sort by the “Sore Knee” column and only the runs in which you’ve checked “Sore Knees” will appear. Now you can scan the data and see what other data surfaces. You may see that every time you have sore knees, you’re also wearing that older pair of running shoes. Or, maybe it’s only on the days that you’re running on the sidewalk. Or maybe it’s the days you’re wearing the older shoes and running on the sidewalk. In either case, you can start to see certain trends and now you have something tangible to help you make modifications. This will quickly help you see patterns in your running that you can avoid or try to repeat.

10 Tips for Injury-Free Running

1. Track your shoes' mileage. Worn out shoes can often contribute to and/or exacerbate pain in the ankles, knees, and hips. Like the shelf-life of the loaf bread in your pantry, your shoes have a "road-life." Instead of time, shoes are best checked for "freshness" by the miles put on them. A good rule of thumb is to buy new shoes every 300 to 500 miles. This will vary from person to person. A small person with a neutral gate may get closer to the 500 miles while a heavier/taller runner may breakdown his/her shoes more quickly and only get 300 miles.

2. Have more than one pair of running shoes. To extend the life of your shoes, having two pair is a great idea. Alternate your runs between the two pairs. Or, you could also have one pair suitable for longer runs and a lightweight pair for your faster speed workouts. Having two pairs is also helpful when you've had a rainy or muddy run. While one pair is drying, you can run in the alternate pair.

3. Only run in your running shoes. Wearing your running shoes to work or for your daily routine, can quickly break them down. After my running shoes are past their running prime, they become my knock-about-shoes. Then when they're too worn out for that, they become my yard work shoes.

4. Have a gait analysis done. Make sure you're wearing the right pair of shoes for your foot strike. Many running shoe stores and running coaches offer running gait analysis as a service. They'll have you run on a treadmill and/or outside and analyze how your foot lands when you run. Whether you roll inward, outward, or have very little or no roll will help them determine if you need a neutral, stability, or motion control shoe.

5. Stretch, Stretch, Stretch! Pre- and post-run stretching is very important in helping prevent injury. Dynamic stretching such as walking, an easy jog, butt kicks, side shuffles, walking lunges, and high knee are all examples of dynamic stretching. If you still feel tight after the dynamic stretches, then you can do some of the more traditional static (stretch-n-hold) stretches. After your run, static stretches for the quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, and hip flexors are appropriate. If you've been sitting at a desk all day or driving hours in the car, you can become very tight. It's important to loosen up those muscles before taking them for a run.

6. Drink up! Proper hydration is vital in helping to prevent muscle cramps. If you're dehydrated before you begin your run or if you become dehydrated during your run, you increase the risk of depleted electrolytes. Potassium (an electrolyte) is needed in order for your muscles to relax after they've contracted. If you begin your run with depleted potassium levels or you deplete them while sweating on the run and don't rehydrate while running, you increase your chances for cramping of the calves,  quads and/or hamstrings. 

To read Tips 7-10 click here! 

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New Runners and the Dennis the Menace Syndrome

One of the best parts of the church service each Sunday, is the children's sermon. Every Sunday, one of a handful of brave souls attempts to give a meaningful and entertaining talk to about 20 youngsters gathered on the steps of the alter at the front of the sanctuary. In my previous life, I was a 5th grade teacher, so I'm very familiar with how difficult it can be to keep 10- and 11-year-olds captivated. The weekly children's sermon, however, can have toddlers up to 5th grade. Many of these inquisitive little ones love to monopolize the conversation talking about the latest toy they just got, telling on their siblings, or sharing some embarrassing moment about mom or dad, all to the delight of the congregation.

This past Sunday was especially entertaining. There was one blond headed little boy sitting at the bottom of the steps just behind the prayer rail. This Dennis the Menace reincarnate, had spied something of interest, so I watched to see what his keen eye had uncovered. Just behind the rail was a small glass communion cup that must have fallen off the rail from a previous communion Sunday. He picked up the delicate little cup and held it up to his eye like a monocle. As if at the opera, he peered though his makeshift spyglass at the congregation. I could tell something was wrong. As he turned toward my direction, I saw the problem. The bottom of the glass was smeared with some remaining sticky grape juice. Well, you could immediately see the wheels turning beneath that little blond mop. I looked over at his parents sitting at the other end of the pew. Their look of horror on their faces, was priceless and I knew they too were aware of what was coming next. Down came the monocle and in went a curious little index finger to the bottom of that glass, then out of the glass and yep, right into the kid's mouth. At this point, I heard a low groan from his mother. My wife and I could hardly keep the pew from shaking due to our internal giggling. As "Dennis" removed his finger from his mouth, he spotted the piercing eyes of his mother and he quickly returned the little glass and directed his gaze upon the face of the children's sermon leader.

New runners often have a little "Dennis" in them when it comes to their new activity. They see where they want to be in their running and sometimes are tempted to take a few injury-promoting risks to get there.

One of the most satisfying things about being a running coach is helping new runners. It's kind of like when I taught 5th grade and I'd see the light finally come on for a kid struggling with a concept. When a struggling new runner sticks with it and gets past that initial hump and really begins to enjoy the run, it warms my heart. A very cool moment to share with a client.

It often takes a couple of months of running before a newcomer feels good with his/her first couple of miles. Once they finally get to a point where they're feeling good on their runs, they're kind of like that little boy in the children's sermon. But, instead of wondering what that dried grape juice tastes like, they're wondering what running further feels like. So, one day instead of they're regular 4-miler, they'll run 5. That's good. Nothing wrong with adding a mile. But, Wow! that felt really good, so on to mile 6. That's not too much of a problem, right? Well probably not if they stop there. But sometimes that awesome euphoric feeling of going further can get the better of a new runner and that 4-miler all of the sudden becomes an 8-miler or a 10-miler.

Most seasoned runners can probably relate to this. We've all pushed it too far at times. The problem is that the further you push past your acclimation point, the higher your chance for injury. It will also take you longer to recover from the run.

Remember those couple of months it took to get to that "feeling good point?" That same building process needs to continue as you increase your mileage. While you may be able to run 4 or 5 miles past your regular 4-miler, that's not the best thing to do to your body. And, if you continue to push the limits (coupled by not taking enough rest), then overtraining and injury can be lurking in the shadows just waiting for the opportunity to pounce on you.

So, to avoid the Dennis the Menace Syndrome, gradually up your mileage. A good rule of thumb is to increase your total weekly mileage by only 5-10%. Usually this increase is added to longest run for the week. For example, if you typically run 5 miles four days a week, your weekly mileage will be 20 miles. So the next week you could increase your weekly mileage by 1-2 miles. So, you may do 3 five-mile runs and then for the long run do 6 or 7. This gradual progression will allow your body time to acclimate and recover as you build.

It takes about 4-6 weeks for your body to acclimate to a particular distance. That doesn't mean you have to keep running the same 6-miler for 4-6 weeks before you move on, but it does mean that the first time you run that 8-miler, your body is probably acclimated to 5 or 6 miles, so you may feel the extra mileage. But, if you stick to the gradual adding of miles, then by the time you get to 10, you'll be acclimated to the 8 and so on. If you jump from 5 miles to 12, you're asking your body to handle and recover from 7 additional miles that it's not accustomed to.That's asking a lot.

So, even though it may be temping to"taste that grape juice" resist that urge and build your mileage slowly and safely. You seasoned runners coming back from an injury or from being away from running for several months, you need to heed that same advice. Come back slowly. Your body will thank you.