Running: It’s Not What It Might Seem

In “Running: It’s All in The Hips,” James Dunne says:

The biggest issue is that so many of us 21st century runners spend much of the time sitting down – a static flexion pattern – the complete opposite to running!

We sit at desks, in the car, and on the sofa. If we’re lucky, we sit on the train (Londoners know what I mean) and in our leisure time, many of us sit on our bikes (triathletes). Eight hours a day in a seated position takes it’s toll, and plays a large role in developing soft tissue restrictions in the Hip Flexors and Quads. Most frequently in runners, I see this manifested as tightness in Rectus Femoris (Rec.Fem.).

Somebody once told me that “the human body does best, what it does most often“. I think that’s an appropriate phrase to use here.

If you spend all day in Hip Flexion, don’t expect to be any good at Hip Extension. That is, unless you offset the “damage” done to our movement patterns by prolonged time stuck in Hip Flexion with lots of stretches and activation exercises into Hip Extension.

Just move. And think. Think beyond the obvious.

You can contact me to get whole-body activation going again, to get what you need for all sports and for daily life — and for being the best you can be in emergencies, if they should happen.