REGENT’S PARK, 02 AUGUST 2015
It all seemed like a good idea when I planned a summer 10k in Regent’s Park, one of my favourite London parks. It wasn’t such a good idea when the alarm went of at 07.00 on a Sunday, but boy was it worth it. As the picture shows, it was a stunning summer day and made me SO glad to be able to run in such a beautiful place. Early on a Sunday morning Regent’s Park it is a quiet oasis and gives fabulous views of London waking up. For Londoners (or very earlybird Brighton and Hove residents) The Regent’s Park Summer Series is a brilliantly organised series of 10k runs on the first Sunday of each summer month. There is a maximum of 800 people, and you get homemade flapjack at the end, what more could you ask for!
GLUTE ACTIVATION
I was running with the lovely Karen Lemon (a fellow osteopath and runner) and she had promised to show me her pre-run warm up routine, not so much stretching as getting the key muscles for running activated. I have always been a bit lax on pre-run prep, an extra 10 minutes in bed has often won, but for a proper 10k rather than a quick midweek run it is worth it. Karen managed to prove that (some of) us men aren’t as coordinated as we could be, as we did a number of warm ups together, but it got the blood pumping (through laughing as well as exercising!)
The new exercises Karen showed me were really focused on the glutes, I will add a video of them shortly but scroll to the end of this post for a video of similar exercises. I certainly felt very energised, but did it work? Well I set off pretty fast, much faster than I would normally start a 10k, without realising it and without trying, so something was working! I probably overdid it at the beginning as I was more tired than usual at about 8k but it was getting pretty hot then too.
So – it’s worth a go – just don’t go too fast at the start. Or just do the exercises but skip the double espresso I had when I was on early morning autopilot at the tube station…
EXERCISES
The main ways to fire up the gluteal muscles (really important for running) where these:
LEGS
Lean forward against a handy tree so your body is at about 45 degrees, bring your right knee up to your chest then kick your leg back, with your knee bent, bringing your foot up towards your back. It is quite a big movement so do a few gently at first but then speed up. Do this 10-15 times with each leg.
HIPS
In the same position, leaning forward, holding onto that handy tree with your body at 45 degrees, bring your right knee up so your hip and knee are flexed, then make a really wide circle taking your knee out to the side and then back across your body. Do this as fast as you can for about 15 rotations, then repeat for the other leg. Do the routine twice.
GLUTE WORKOUT VIDEO
For a video of some similar gluteal activation exercises see here
REGENT’S PARK 10K SERIES
For more information on The Regent’s Park Races 10k Series click here or watch the video below.
MATT BRABNER OSTEOPATHY 