Runners get plenty of movement in the sagittal plane of movement (forward movement). Quads and hammies tend to be worked pretty well. However, if a runner finds himself stepping out of that forward plane of motion (maybe while trail running or maybe to make a sudden lateral movement to avoid a pothole or to dodge an automobile) then he may find that his muscles don't react as quickly or maybe not even at all causing him to fall and possibly become injured.
Adding lateral movement exercises into your weekly fitness routine is a great way to bolster those stabilizer muscles and muscles responsible for side-to-side movement. This week's exercise is great for increasing strength in your hip abductors and hip adductors. Improving strength in these muscles can often help prevent runner's knee and groin injuries.
To complete the exercise, lie on your right side with your head resting on your extended right arm. Lift your left leg up, keeping the knee extended (Fig. 1). This movement will activate the left glute medius (hip abductor). While keeping the left leg in the air, raise the right leg up toward the left leg (Fig. 2). This movement will activate the adductor muscles along the inner thigh of your right leg. Then lower both legs to the floor. That's one rep. Do 10-12 reps on one side. Then flip over and repeat the exercise lying on your left side.
One of the most overlooked muscle areas of a runner is the backside. Okay, well, maybe it's not "overlooked." Maybe "paid attention to." Nope, that's not quite right either. Hmm... I got it! One of the most under worked muscle groups of runners are the glutes (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus). Yep, the derriere, the bum, the hind quarters, the tush. Weak buttocks have been the culprit in ending more running seasons than possibly any other running-related injury.
The gluteus maximus is the attention getter—the J. Lo of the group. But of the three gluteal muscles, the gluteus medius is a key muscle to focus on when it comes to running. This muscle (along with the gluteus minimus) helps to externally and internally rotate the thigh. It's also a hip abductor (helps to pull the thigh away from the body). Okay, now I know what your thinking, "I don't externally or internally rotate my thigh nor do I abduct my thigh when I run." Correct. However, the gluteus medius is key in stabilization of the hips/pelvis.
When running, the gluteus medius and minimus work together along with the tensor fasciae latae (TFL) to keep the pelvis from dropping to the opposite side. If the gluetus medius is weak, it can affect the stabilization of the hips and plevis during running. If this happens a lot of stress is put on the TFL which can cause patello-femoral pain (runner's knee) and iliotibial band syndrome (ITB) which can present itself as knee pain. Who'd a thunk that a pain in the knee is really from a pain in the butt?!
Unfortunately the repetitive nature of running can actually weaken the gluteus medius. So, what's a runner to do? Work that butt! More accurately, "Work those abductors!" The following simple exercises will whip your gluteus medius back into shape in no time. To maintain strength in these important muscles, be sure to do at least one of the following exercies once or twice a week.
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