PERFORMANCE
MOVE OF THE MONTH LUNGE AND ROTATE
Every month, RF’s personal trainer Mike Ovens demonstrates a running-specific resistance exercise for the gym or at home
HOW TO DO IT Start standing as shown. Step the right leg forward into the lunge and bend the knee, keeping an upright posture. Be conscious of stabilising the trunk as you lower down into the lunge. Keep your knees facing forward, with your second toe in alignment with your kneecap. As you come down turn the trunk and arms over to the right lunging leg, and to the side. Move from the hips. As you rotate the trunk, keep the legs strong, forward and balanced. As you come back to standing return the arms to centre. Repeat on the other side. Keep movements slow and controlled and avoid jerky movements. Option: Turn this exercise into a walking lunge. To make it harder, hold the lunge position and pulse as you rotate. Lower or increase the weight as required.
GET OUTSIDE
With spring in the air, it’s not just running you should do outside. Get cross training in the fresh air and you’ll reap rewards. By Fiona Bugler
In 1846, John Warren, MD, author of Physical Education and the Preservation, recommended “walking in the open air” and “dancing” for young females, and in 1915 Harry Moore, in Keeping in Condition: A Handbook on Training for Older Boys, extolled the virtues of “fresh air, sufficient rest and wholesome food”. Sound advice – and it’s advice that has stood the test of time. In the 21st century we live in what
FOCUS: LEGS The lunging action helps to develop leg drive, and strengthens the glutes and the hamstrings.
experts are calling an obesegenic environment. Unsurprisingly, in both the UK and US the urge to get outside to train is reflected in the trend of recent years to move out of the gym ‘box’ and into somewhere more natural.
Three reasons why we love training outside!
FOCUS: CORE The core muscles and pelvic stablity are challenged as you move on one leg, as they are with running. As you lunge and turn you have to work to control lumbo-pelvic and lower limb stability, which will all help you stay strong and balanced as a runner.
How many?
START WITH 3 SETS OF 12, BUILD TO 3 SETS OF 20 AND INCREASE THE WEIGHT, OR ADD PULSES AS STATED ABOVE.
There’s a feel-good factor associated with getting outside to train, and science backs it up! Research journal Environmental Science and Technology reports on a review from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry. The consensus from the studies is that exercising in natural environments was associated with “greater feelings of revitalisation, increased energy and positive engagement.”
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It’s free, and you don’t need equipment to get in shape. Try
tricep dips on a park bench, or some step-ups. Do a push-up on a decline to make it challenging, or an incline if you’re a beginner.
There are lots of classes. Most popular are boot camp style circuit
classes like those run by British Military Fitness,
www.britmilfit.com.
RUNNING FREE n 29
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OUTDOORS
GREAT
THE
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