Unrefined Athlete

Daily Pose: Bridge for the Hip Flexors

Daily Meditation: Everything in life is pointing us back to our true nature. 

When I injured my knee my physical therapist recommended several modifications of the bridge pose to help strengthen my hip flexors and core. Since a relatively successful recovery I've been posting several of those poses in the hopes that they might help other runners recover from hip, knee, or lower leg injuries. So often I think we focus on the injury itself, and not on treating the body holistically. When I injured my knee I was surprised that most of my physical therapy exercises focused on the hips. Although hip strength and flexibility is very important for both men and women, women have a special potential to benefit since we are "blessed," (or got the short end of the stick evolutionarily) with wider hips then men. See below for a video demonstration of bridge pose lifts. I highly recommend bridge lifts with a raised leg as well, since these will target quadriceps and hamstrings in addition to hips and core.

Daily Pose: Help for Hips, Back, and Core

Daily Meditation: When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills. 

The Fire Hydrant: I have used this pose many times for warming up my hips before running as well as basic hip, back, and core strengthening. In the video below, our model gets on all fours,  lifts the right,  and then the left leg up and down while keeping a bent knee. 

I recommend some other variations, such as lifting your leg and holding it (envision dog peeing on fire hydrant here). Or lifting your leg, straightening it, and then holding it. You can also left the opposite arm and reach in front of you or out to the side to add additional back/ core strength and balance. 

Fire Hydrant Kicks: Get on all fours, lift right leg, keeping knee bent, and kick leg out to the right and then as far back behind you as you can, almost as if you're kicking towards your left butt cheek. When you kick out to the right you have the option of straightening your leg, but keep it bent as you kick it behind you. I perform about 10-15 reps and then I switch sides.  This is one of my favorite pre-run warmups because it is a dynamic stretch and gets circulation into the hips. 

Fire Hydrant Butt Exercises

Daily Pose: Hip Series Half Moon

Daily Meditation: It is better to do your duty badly, than to perfectly do another's. 

This month I'm going to focus on poses for stretching and strengthening the hips. If you're a runner, you may have aches and pains in your knees, feet, ankles, etc. that originate from having weak or inflexible hips. See this insightful article on how hip strengthening has been proven to help correct imbalances in the lower legs. 

This first series is Triangle Pose into Half Moon. Both help to open and elongate the side body. Further, Half Moon assists with developing balance as well as flexibility.  Content is adapted from Yoga Journal. 

Triangle to Half Moon: 

Enter Half Moon from Triangle Pose. Stand sideways on your mat with your feet four feet apart. Turn your right foot out so that it is parallel to the side of your mat. Angle the back foot in slightly. Inhale and reach your arms out like that huge hawk, then exhale as you extend to the right, pitching your pelvis powerfully toward your back leg. Keep your torso long as you place your right hand on your shin.

From there, place your left hand on your left hip, bend your right knee, and take a small step in with your back leg. Place your right hand directly below your right shoulder just to the outside of your front foot. Straighten your right leg as you lift your left leg off the floor to hip height. Push through the sole of your left foot, as though you were pressing it against a wall.

Now, look down at your standing foot and make sure it's still parallel to the edge of your mat. This foot typically turns out, pitching the standing leg off its axis and disturbing the equilibrium of the entire pose. To counter this tendency and to keep yourself upright, you need to find the plumb line of the pose, in this case the line running up your inner leg from your heel all the way to your inner groin.

To engage your inner leg, press the mound of your big toe down as you lift your arch. Stretch, spread, and activate the toes. The outer hip of the standing leg tends to splay out to the side in the Half Moon poses. To prevent this, draw in the center of your right buttock and pull the greater trochanter (the big bony knob of the outer hip) into your body. As you draw your right hip in, shave its outer edge back, like a carpenter planing a piece of wood. Then stay for a few breaths, noticing how it feels to have your standing leg set.

To complete the shape of the pose, stack the upper hip atop the lower hip. Without disturbing your standing leg, spin your chest up toward the ceiling as you reach your left arm up. Slowly take your gaze toward your left hand.

Spread the wings of your diaphragm and your inner chest cavity with soft, open breathing. As you stay in Half Moon for 5 to 10 breaths, go for the feeling of flying while staying in one place. If you fall in any direction, fall upward! Come out of the pose by lowering your back leg into Triangle Pose, and then switch legs.

Daily Pose: Pre-Run Yoga Sequence

Today's Meditation: If you do what you did, you get what you got. 

Before my run this morning I practiced a pre-run yoga sequence I adapted from Runner's World.  I began with some basic Vinaysa warm up and then performed each of the following poses on both my right and left sides.  It took about 10 minutes total and was a great way to loosen up pre-run.  For a more detailed version of the sequence click here. 

Warm-up: From standing come to high plank, lower to low plank, roll to upward facing dog, then downward facing dog. Hold downward facing dog for 5 breaths.  Return to standing. Repeat 5-10 times. Follow with the sequence below. 

1) Pigeon

From Downward Facing Dog: 

Bring the right knee between the hands and place the right ankle as close to the left wrist as possible. Extend the left leg backward, ensuring the leg is in line with the hip and the kneecap faces the floor.  Come up onto your fingertips, inhale lifting the pelvis up and lengthening the front of the torso as well as flattening out the curve of the low back, sending the tailbone down. Arching your upper chest, slightly fold forward over your front leg. 

Releasing all the tension in the back, neck and shoulders, rest your forehead on your knee, or on your forearms, depending on your flexibility. Balance the weight equally in the right and left hip, drawing the right hip back as the front of the left thigh lengthens. 

Stay in this pose for 10 to 15 breaths. To come up, place both hands flat on the ground beneath the shoulder blades. Draw the right knee into your chest as you float back to downward facing dog. 

Take four breaths feeling the differences between the right and left sides of the body. Repeat on the other side.

2) Standing Straddle Forward Fold

 Separate your legs about four and a half feet apart. Be sure your weight is equally distributed onto both sides of your feet. Pigeon toe the toes slightly in to stretch the outer ankle. Feel the thighs rotate outward and the kneecaps drawing up into the quads. 

Interlace your hands behind your back, drawing your shoulders as far down your back as possible. Inhale and fold over until your spine is parallel to the floor, letting your head drop. As you exhale, feel your knuckles draw toward the sky. 

Keeping your legs straight, stretching the back of your legs, hips and back and fold -from the waist- as far forward as you can without rounding your back. Keep the sternum lifted as you fold forward. Your upper back will arch slightly. 

Stabilize yourself with the large muscles in your legs, allowing your back to release and the backs of your legs to lengthen. Hold for 10 breaths. 

To come up, engage your abdomen and draw the body up with a flat back. Repeat once.

3)  Low Lunge

Step your right foot between your hands. Place or leave the left knee down. Keeping your right knee over your ankle (scoot your left leg back if necessary), bring both hands to the inside of your right foot. 

Align your right shoulder with your left knee. You should begin to feel a deep release in the hips, inner thigh and back. Let your head just hang. Drop down onto your forearms and allow your body weight to drop deeper into the hips. 

For a more athletic version, lift the back knee and straighten the leg. Hold for one to three minutes, step back into downward facing dog for four breaths and repeat on the other side.