[gentle music]
- Welcome back to Quick Fit
Runner's Prep Episode Number Two.
I'm Cassy.
In today's class, we'll be adding another variety
of movements to warm up and activate the muscles
of the lower body, those particular to running.
Being more intentional about your fitness makes sense
if you want to extend the life of your joints.
Also, dedicate one-fourth of the time to stretching
that you spend running.
All right, shift it around.
So these are similar as in part one
because they're very effective.
All right, we're working that ball and hip socket.
And then move right in to the cat and cows.
So you can do these two programs separate,
or you can mix and match them.
You can do one one day and the other the other day,
and then as you get used to them, mix them up as you feel
you most need them.
All right.
Little bit of warm up to that lower spine.
[inhales] Don't forget to breathe.
[exhales] All right.
Next, let's do some fast knee pull-ups, all right?
Working on these hip flexors for speed and power,
pull it up.
We're working your core, pull up, and pull it up.
Let's do the other side, ready, lift.
Try to do it fast, pull.
Using as many muscles as you need to,
to recruit.
One more, all right, now take, you can balance if you need to,
but take your arm and just stiff-arm it
right into the top of your thigh and lift that leg
into this immovable force of your arm,
lift, lift, lift, [exhales]
and relax.
Let's do the other side. [inhales and exhales]
Ready, and lift.
So we've been working on the powerful, fast muscles
to lift the leg,
and now we're working on the slow twitch muscles.
[exhales] Good.
And the other side.
And lift, lift, lift, and relax.
[exhales] Other side.
And don't forget, breathe as heavy as you need to.
Oxygenate that blood.
Good, and a few feet exercises.
Okay, putting some weight down through each foot and the toes.
Warming up the feet.
We can't just run miles and miles in our feet
and then not care for them.
Let's work on the top of the toes, back and forth.
And the other side, all right.
If you are new to working, exercising your feet,
paying attention to them, taking your shoes off,
you might get a charley horse, so take care.
And do maybe only half as many of the exercises as we do
because your foot muscles, like any other muscles in your body,
need time to adapt.
All right, rotate the other way.
Cleaning out some of that debris,
inflammation in the ankles, other leg.
And reverse.
All right, next we'll be using the chair to start warming up
and stretching your hamstrings.
All right, so let's get one leg up.
Keep two soft knees
as you go through this part of the routine,
matching your breathing and definitely taking your time.
You'll want to spend more time on this part of the routine.
[exhales]
Good.
You feel the stretch as you stick your chest out,
taking care not to you know, involve the neck.
[exhales]
And as you do this routine, you'll get better.
You will be finding ways to twist and move
to loosen up those tight spots.
All right.
And tuck.
And two slightly bent knees will give you more range of motion.
[inhales and exhales] Good, keep it going.
We'll be switching legs here in just a moment.
[exhales]
Very good.
All right, switching sides.
You know, I'm like you.
If I'm going to go out and do a run,
I just want to get at it, you know?
It's not one of my favorite things to do.
But if I wanna have a better experience
and make sure that I just don't do damage,
taking this time to warm up and activate your muscles,
getting them ready for the work you're going to require,
[exhales] is really necessary,
especially y'know, your joints. [inhales and exhales]
Matching your breathing.
As you warm up, you can experiment
with straightening this top leg a little more,
sitting your weight back more.
[inhales and exhales]
And I think as you get into the habit of doing this,
you'll find that you enjoy this part as much as the running
and it won't feel like such a chore.
All right.
We'll be going down to the floor next,
kneeling on your hands and knees.
All right.
First thing we'll be doing is activating the glutes
with a leg extension lift to the back.
So have your hands right under your shoulders,
don't be too lengthened out.
Have your knee under your hip and squeeze your bottom
to lift that leg.
All right, lift, lift, lift.
Squeeze and hold.
Now, a little more intense, squeeze and lift.
So good.
And bring that knee in for a little stretch.
[inhales and exhales]
Widen your hands and we'll extend the leg out to the side,
and lift, lift.
And now press it down into the floor.
Press, press, press.
And lift, two three, push it into the floor.
You ready, push, push, push.
All right, we'll bring this leg to the front.
[inhales and exhales]
Trying to push your hips forward.
Make sure your foot is far enough to the front
that your knee is over the ankle, not well past the toes.
All right, stretching this right hip flexor,
the knee that's down. [inhales and exhales]
Coming out of that, and if you need a pad under that knee,
go ahead and make sure you double up your mat
or you put a pillow under your knee.
Very good, and [exhales] over.
Good, let's switch sides.
So we'll be doing an extension out to the back,
lift, lift, lift.
A few more. [exhales]
Lifting by squeezing your bottom.
Ready, some small, intense ones, little pulses.
Lift, lift, lift. [inhales and exhales]
Good.
And bring that knee in,
get ready to extend it out to the side, which is hard.
That's a lot of length to be lifting.
Your hips are getting warmed up.
So now push, push the foot down into the floor.
Pull your stomach in, recruiting more muscles.
[exhales]
And relax. [inhales and exhales]
Lift, lift, lift, and press.
Press, press.
Good job.
Let's bring that leg to the front,
extend the back leg back, [exhales]
enjoying the stretch through your hip flexor,
this side over here.
Exhale, [exhales]
arm up and over. [exhales]
Oh, that feels really, really, really good.
All right, let's get on two knees as we finish up here.
[inhales and exhales]
Squeeze your bottom, push your feet into the floor,
and feel it all the way down as your quads are activated.
One more time.
Get back, squeeze. [exhales]
Oh, that's it.
Finish up with just a couple cat and cows,
and you'll be all set for today's run.
All right.
Think of these classes like saving for retirement.
Making daily deposits towards your future fit self.
Come back often to pbswisconsin.org/quickfit
so you can enjoy years of running
and doing what you really love.
Because life is movement.