How To Run Faster And Longer Without Getting Tired Or Injured


7 Steps To Better Running Form


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Dynamic Mobility Warm Up Routine for Running

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Video Transcript:

Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m gonna take you through a complete body dynamic mobility warm-up routine. This can be used before a workout or a run to get your body ready. I’m a big fan of doing mobility work for the warm up. When you’re constantly moving, you get your heart rate up you get your body heat up We’re also moving joints to their full range of motion and providing a little bit of flexibility work before a workout. Not a big fan of static stretching before a workout. Tends to undermine your power output so dynamic mobility is where it’s at as far as I’m concerned. We’re gonna start off with four drills where you’re basically just walking back and forth. The first one is knee to chest. Basically walk when you take one knee, opposite hand and pull that knee up. Boom here. So the reason I like to use the opposite hand is because it replicates natural movement pattern. It gets me extending one hip and extending the opposite shoulder. Gets me flexing one shoulder and flexing the opposite hip, just like you do when you’re walking or running. So you can do a certain count here like 20. 10 or 20 each side or you can just go for a certain distance. This one is really good if you’re actually going for a walk or a run, you can just work it into your bipedal locomotion. So knee to chest. Next one is heel to butt. Here I want to be sure you can grab your ankle. Pull this knee back. When you pull that knee back, activate the glute, boom. That’s a key part of it. Stretching the quad. Activating the glute, knee back, knee back. Same as the previous drill. 10 each side, 20 each side. Or just a certain distance. The next one is the heel crossover. So you want to be sure here that you’re bringing the knee up and rotating the hip to get the foot to the hand. I don’t want to be bending my spine to reach down to my foot. This is not what it’s supposed to look like. It’s supposed to look like this: torso stays upright, the hands just reach down, and the foot comes up to the hand. The hand doesn’t go down to the foot. Same as the previous drill – 10 or 20 reps each side or a certain distance. The next one is the gorilla walk and on this one I step forward, hinge at the hips, reach down and touch the ground. I may not be able to reach the ground if my hamstrings are really tight. In that case you just reach and tap your shin. Hip hinge not spine rounding. Same as the previous 10 or 20 reps each side. Be sure you come up tall at the top, finish the motion. Bend forward, come up tall When I come up tall and bring this other foot forward I’m getting a little bit of mobility here in these hip flexors. Those are the four traveling drills. Next couple are basically just finding a wall, or something that you can hold one hand onto. You could potentially do these drills without holding on if your balance is good enough, but I like to hold on because it lets me get a little bit of velocity and power into these range of motion dynamic mobility drills. So grab a fence, pole, or wall with one hand. So if I’m holding with my right hand I’m gonna swing my right leg. I like to do about 15 on each side. You can see that my arm, my opposite arm, swings with it. What I’m trying to do is swing the leg back as far as I can and forward as far as I can. What I want to try to do as well is not let my leg wag my torso. So I don’t want to be doing this. If my torso is moving in order to get my leg higher, that’s too much. What I want to do is hold the torso upright, relatively stable. There may be a little bit of rotating and movement going on, but I’m not letting it deviate from vertical. And it looks like this. And on the other side left hand on the fence or wall, or pole. Left leg swings. And again you can see if I overdo it my torso starts swinging around. I don’t want to do that. I’ll keep the torso relatively upright and swing the leg. Next is the side leg swing. It’s pretty much the same thing except I’m going to be swinging my legs out to the side. So if my left foot’s on the ground. My right hand goes on the wall, pole, or fence. And the key here is that I’m emphasizing the lateral swing. The stance leg firing up the glute. There is a little bit of the tilt in the pelvis when I do this. I’m trying to get that leg as far out as I can. I’m letting gravity take care of the medial swing. my leg comes across the body. I’m not trying to get farther up here. Don’t really have too much motion in the hip there. I’m just letting gravity and momentum take it that way. So it looks like this, and once again ten to fifteen each side. I like 15. When the right foot is on the ground I’m swinging my left leg, my left hand on avstable object. There you go. That’s the lower body portion. So for the upper body, I like to do this flye exercise. Where left goes over right, and right goes over left. One thing that I like to emphasize is that when my arms come across the body my thumbs turn this way. As I go out I’m turning the thumbs back. That’s engaging the external rotators at the shoulder, the retractors at the shoulder blades. So we’re activating those muscles that tend to lie dormant and we’re stretching, dynamically stretching, the muscles that tend to be tight for most people, the pecs. Thumbs go in and thumbs go out. and I use momentum here in a controlling way. Thumbs out. Comes in, comes out. I like to do about twenty to thirty of these. Once I’ve done those I go into arm circles, really big high range of motion arm circles like this. I create a little bit of momentum so I go with 20 forward and 20 backwards. Give that a try and if you got any benefit from this video, then leave a comment below. If you’d like to get more content not available on the blog or the regular YouTube channel, then click the link connected to this video, you’ll have a chance to sign up for the Run Better Now VIP club.

Author:
Nick Ortego is a health coach specializing in biohacking for runners. He integrates modern methods with the ancient wisdom of yoga to help runners get the most out of every aspect of life. He is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and fascial stretch therapy.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

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Run Better Now Coaching

Do you want to love running again?


So there I was after my first marathon.


I was hurting and I could barely walk. I could walk but I looked 50 years older than my 29 years.


I had fallen in love with running about 8 months earlier when I was on a family vacation. I ran every day near the beaches in Florida. Not Florida in July, but Florida in April.


The warm sun.


The cool breeze.


They combined with the steady rhythm of my feet hitting the ground and the wavelike motion of my breathing. It hypnotized me into a state of euphoria.


I went home from that vacation and immediately signed up for my first ever marathon.


But here I was now 8 months later and I couldn't bear the thought of running. I resigned to the idea that running just wasn't for me, or my body. It was like an abusive lover. It just beat me up too much.


I stopped running and just focused on other exercises.


Then one day a I was walking my little wiener dog at a local park wearing some five fingers. Those are the barefoot toe shoes that were trendy back then.


I looked at my little dog and he seemed to want to run. I decided to do a little sprint.


And it felt phenomenal. I loved running again. Everything was flowing, my form felt effortless. A eureka moment happened.


You see, when I was training for the marathon, I had tried to implement better running technique principles to no avail. My form would just go back to my default setting once I got even a little tired.


I knew what good running form looked like. I have a degree in the science of human movement. I did most of my biomechanics projects on running when I was in college. I read all the books about better running form. I tried to use the principles that I knew.


But I had been unable to put it into practice.


Now something had changed.


When I was not attached to running a certain distance or speed, I ran much better. I started treating running as a skill I was developing, rather than a mode of cardiovascular conditioning I was using to condition my body.


It worked. I enjoyed running again. I took another deep dive into studying the biomechanics of running. I was able to practice the principles of better running.


Since then, I've run several marathons faster than that first one that left me feeling crippled.


I've run a 50k and 100 mile ultra-marathons without feeling beat up.


That's a lie. I felt pretty demolished after the hundred miler. But that's to be expected.


I love running again.


But it hasn't been all rainbows and unicorns. I've made mistakes and learned. I got over-zealous with the little barefoot toe shoes and had to fix my plantar fasciitis again. (I'm prone to it apparently.)


Prevention beats treatment is one of the most valuable lessons I learned, by the way. I haven't had the plantar fasciitis issues in over 8 years now though.


As a trainer, I started using what I knew about corrective exercise and motor learning to help people run better.


And now, with the current state of internet technology, I can offer coaching online. I created a 3-month coaching program called Run Better Now Coaching.


With the Run Better Now coaching program you get all this.




  • You will improve all of your movement patterns so that you can run with optimized mechanical efficiency. This means a smoother, easier experience each time you run.

  • You will learn how to improve other lifestyle factors that can make or break your running performance. This includes nutrition, stress, sleep, and recovery.

  • No guesswork. You get a specifically detailed program specifically designed for your body and your schedule delivered on my online platform with instructional videos and unlimited feedback.

  • Constant guidance. Each week we meet remotely to adjust your program based on how it's going for you.

  • Unlimited consulting.  I answer all your questions by email or through my online training platform.


Click here to sign up for the 3-month program,  or read more if you're curious.


How Online Coaching Works


Here is what your get:




  • Movement Evaluation: An initial evaluation of your movement patterns and running form through video.

  • Program Design: An exercise and running program designed specifically for your needs, goals, and time constraints.

  • Unlimited Q & A: My online coaching platform allows you to send me messages and videos. I answer your questions and give you feedback for improving your technique.

  • Weekly Coaching Sessions: We meet online each week throughout the 3 month program for accountability and encouragement as well as program troubleshooting.

  • Integrated Health Coaching: I coach you on the other aspects of a healthy lifestyle that can make or break your running. This includes better sleep, nutrition, recovery, and stress management. 


Sign up for the Run Better Now (3-month) coaching program.


Movement Evaluation


I send you the instruction video and then you video yourself performing a set of movements and running. It's easy with your smart phone or other device.


I evaluate how you move and design a movement optimization program based on your movement patterns. I post your program and you log in to your account to view it. It comes with video demonstrations and instructions.



Customized Exercise Program


In addition to the movement optimization program, I design a running technique and strength training program just for you. I design it around your schedule and based on your abilities.


We periodize your program based on your races or events. We design the program and shift the variables so that your performance peaks at the specific time when you want to be your best.



Unlimited Consulting


You get unlimited questions answered by email or over the online coaching platform. The online platform allows you to attach videos to messages.


If you have any questions about your technique, just shoot a quick video of yourself with your smart phone or other device. Attach it to a message and send it to me.



Weekly Sessions


We meet up to 4 times a month throughout the 3-month program for accountability or encouragement. During this session, we can also troubleshoot your program and game plan for any upcoming events.


You get access to my personal calendar to set your coaching sessions up at your convenience. No back and forth messaging about available times necessary.



Integrated Health Coaching


So many things outside of running can affect your running. I coach you on those things as well. I can teach you how to get better quality sleep, recover better, beat stress, improve your mindset, eat better, and optimize your cognitive performance.


With the Run Better Now coaching program, you CAN run faster and longer with greater ease and without pain.


Get Started Now on the Run Better Now 3-Month Coaching Program
Nick Ortego
 

Nick Ortego has been a fitness professional since 1998. He holds a BS in kinesiology and is certified by the American Council on Exercise as an advanced health and fitness specialist, health coach and group fitness instructor. Ortego is also a registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) with Yoga Alliance, a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist, and a Certified Kettlebell Teacher with the International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation.

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