What areas of the body suffer most from the impact of running?
Running has great benefits for the body: more cardiovascular resistance, more strength, a trimmer waistline, not to mention how great it feels thanks to the endorphins kicking in, producing a feeling of well-being.
However, running is a high-impact type of work out, which means you might also suffer from discomfort ranging from tightness to injury, if you are not paying enough attention. You have to pay special attention to the knees which, among other things, absorb the impact from pounding the pavement.
The hips can be pretty tight because of the constant motion and contraction of the hip flexors. The lower back absorbs quite a lot of impact too, and the upper body (chest) can also experience some tightness.
Therefore you might want to stretch all these areas to neutralize and balance the impact so as to remain pain and injury-free, and make the most of running.
Simple Moves to Stretch
To start with, a great way to stretch the whole body is the yoga pose known as Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), in which your body basically looks like an inverted V. Make sure your hands are shoulder-width apart, and your feet are hip-width apart, feet parallel (slightly turned in from your perspective). Push on the floor with all ten fingers to keep some weight off your wrists, and try to bring your heels as close as you can to the floor (if they don't touch it's ok, just think about this action to stretch the calf muscles). Keep your back as straight as you can, and keep the shoulders down, you don't want them creeping up to your ears.
Lunges of course are great to stretch the hips. Take the back leg as far as you can, stay on your toes and push your heel as if you were trying to put it on the floor. You will feel the stretch along your back leg up to the hip, and trust me, this will feel good.
For the upper body, stand tall, clasp your hands behind your back and fold forward from the hips with flat back. Then lift your arms to the ceiling, to stretch the shoulders and upper torso. You might want to bend your knees for that one. Stay there for a few breaths, and stand up on an inhalation.
For the lower back, try a simple backbend: stand tall, and reach your arms up. If you can, have your palms touching, if not keep your arms shoulder-width apart. Then shift your hips forward and arch your back a little bit, looking up to the ceiling if that doesn't put too much strain on your neck. And breathe.
The most important thing is taking the time to stretch and not skip that part of the running work-out. And don't forget to hydrate.
Emmanuelle Lambert - A French thirty-something (the "something" part is key here) living in Brussels, Belgium, yoga teacher trainee, social change advocate, ...
