TOP Session 1

What a fabulous turn out for our first training session! The main aim was to get to know each other, get a feel for doing a time trial, learning some important warm-up drills, strength exercises and stretches to incorporate along side our run training

If you are a total beginner or have not been running for a long time, within a week or two of starting your training you may have noticed that you are feeling the impact on your hips, knees and ankles.

Don’t worry! Its perfectly normal. Your body has not built up the strength required to go from 0 to 60 in 30seconds!!

Good news, you can counteract some of the effects by adding more daily movemnt into your lives but also doing targeted muscular exercises

A very important lifestyle change is MORE NATURAL MOVEMENT through the day. Become aware of the choices you make everyday. These little changes may seem almost futile but they are little magic bullets of movement therapy. DO NOT UNDER-ESTIMATE THE POWER OF THIS Joints are mobilised, muscles are activated and that brings more flexibilty and strength to those points.

• CHOOSE STAIRS ALWAYS!
• park your car at the back of the supermarket car park furthest from the door
• park far as you can and walk kids to school
• Just walk kids to school
• While kids are doing their after school classes, instead of sitting waiting, go out and walk around the block or even around the building
• stand more often, especially if your work is sitting at a desk
• get off the bus a few stops before yours and walk
• play with the kids in the garden/on the floor/ in the park
• clean the house like no-ones watching, shake it, shimmie, dip and flex 🙂
• BREATHE BETTER…move those ribs, your pelvic floors and core muscles

Corrective Exercises are cruicial for our physical wellbeing, no matter how fit we are. These exercises are different from the fitness exercises you do which are fast and sweaty and feel good. These are slow and targeted, small and often quite challenging moves. So slow it down and bring more awareness to your spinal energy and posture. PLEASE READ THAT SENTENCE AGAIN!

Try and get some of these in at least 3 x a week (remember build up if you need to…start with 5 a day, then a few days later 6 a day, then 7 etc and build up to 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps). Use things around the house . Just do these any time…no need to warm up or change into your lycra and sweat bands…just keep the movement slow and targeted (not about cardio)

• Lunges
• squats
• calf raises
• side plank
• glute bridge
• hip drop
• foot fascia roll

Good idea to use sofa.. or kitchen chairs…or bed..anything!

Use steps wherever you can…great little video…do it facing forward as well. Keep it slow. Think about the length in your spine…tuck the chin inward (not down) .

Excellent Video with the Lunge (split squat),hip bridge,side plank, calf raise. DO YOU NOTICE HOW SLOW SHE IS GOING?

Some yummy, juicy ankle and foot mobility …lovely 🙂

But beginners, please DO NOT do the hops he does at the end…not yet anyway

After your run do a short cool down stretch.

Check out Paige…he’s very serious and says things like Buttttocks and Rear End 🙂

Seriously some good explanations and stretches…your in good hands here…

And finally a gorgeous foot roll…we have balls all over our house…everyone just rolls whenever they find a ball…doing whatever, like having a cuppa, reading some book, chit chatting ..

Ladies , Hope this helps…Remember if anything really hurts or does not feel right to you DONT DO IT!

Next session we are going to take it up a notch with the strength work . So I really hope you guys do these targeted exercises at least 3 times a week

oooo….forgot one more thing….SMILE

Update 29/10/19

Going from a 5 to 10k distance …good info on how to pace yourself with a nice little weekly plan

Click to access 10K%20Plan.pdf

For strong knees: