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Running is not just a sport that relies solely on your legs and feet. With each step forward, you use over 200 muscles in your body. If you want to run faster and healthier, you need to strengthen your entire muscle group. Strong core strength can provide you with the power and stability to move forward, helping to improve your fitness and endurance.
When we run, we tend to sway from side to side and our bodies become unstable, mostly because our core muscle group is too weak. Core strength training can stabilize and protect joints and injury-prone areas.
Most runners simply enjoy running. However, if you want to better reduce the risk of injury and enjoy running, strength training is an essential part. Running requires very high muscle strength, and this includes not only leg muscles but also the glutes, hips, back, abdomen, and upper limbs.
Where is the body's core muscle group?
The so-called core muscle group of the body includes not only the rectus abdominis and transverse abdominis in the front of the trunk but also the internal and external obliques, quadratus lumborum on the sides of the trunk, and the erector spinae and multifidus in the back of the trunk. In other words, the core muscle group is distributed around the front, back, sides, and top and bottom of the trunk. Training these numerous muscles falls within the scope of core training.
Simply put, the core muscle group mainly includes the following parts:
• Middle layer: Abdominal muscles, including rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse abdominis
• Upper layer: Diaphragm
• Lower layer: Pelvic floor muscles
• Gluteal muscles: Gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus
How important is core strength training for the body?
Core muscles are key to maintaining body stability and enhancing power transmission, playing a connecting role. For runners, each core part needs to be well-trained. Today, we will focus on the lumbar spine and pelvis.
If we compare the body to a tree, when an external force acts on the tree, it will break near the ground. But if you give it a support frame, it can provide strong support, and this frame is the muscles around our lumbar spine.
In addition, the stability of the ground is also crucial, and this ground is the pelvis of the human body. In sports, we often see people’s pelvis swaying from side to side, leading to many instabilities and injury risks, such as knee and ankle joint swaying and falling.
These two core muscles are very important
One is the transverse abdominis:
In running, the transverse abdominis is the muscle that is activated before any movement. The transverse abdominis always stabilizes the trunk, reducing energy 'leakage' and unnecessary force generation.
The other is the gluteus medius and minimus:
The characteristic of running is that both legs are in the air simultaneously, with single-leg landing support. After landing, the stability requirement for the pelvis is very high, and the strength and endurance of the gluteus medius and minimus are key to stabilizing the pelvis.
Core strength training should be integrated into regular training, with 1-2 high-quality core training days recommended each week. Each exercise should be performed 15-20 times for 2-3 sets.
Transverse abdominis training exercises
Pursed-lip breathing
First, inhale through your nose for 2-3 seconds, then purse your lips and exhale slowly through your mouth for 4-9 seconds. Repeat this action as much as possible without causing discomfort. If you feel uncomfortable, you can stop first and try again after 1 hour.
6-point support - 4-point support - plank variations
The six-point support exercise is relatively simple and suitable for everyone to train, including those with back pain. The four-point support is slightly more difficult and suitable for ordinary people. Those who feel back pain while doing the plank can also do the four-point support.
The plank is more suitable for experienced trainers, making it easier to master the essentials of the movement.
You can appropriately change the difficulty on the basis of the plank to improve the training effect.
First exercise: Six-point support
Key points: Keep your body in a straight line, kneel on the mat, knees at 90 degrees, hands directly under the shoulders, back and head in a straight line. Inhale through your nose, belly rises, exhale through your mouth, tighten your abdomen.
Second exercise: Four-point support
Key points: Similar to the first exercise, during the entire training process, lift your knees off the ground, about a fist's distance. Keep your back in a straight line, pay attention to core control, and ensure continuous contraction and exertion of the abdomen.
Third exercise: Plank
Keep your elbows and shoulders at right angles to your body. Enter a prone position on the floor, supporting your weight with your toes and forearms. Your arms should be bent and placed under your shoulders. Keep your body straight at all times and hold this position for as long as possible.
Gluteus medius and minimus training exercises
Single-leg touch
Key points: Stand on one leg, place the same side arm on your waist, point the opposite arm to the sky, keep your back straight, squat down on the supporting leg, and touch your toes with the opposite hand. Maintain body stability.
Side-lying leg raise - Side-lying 'V' shape
Key points: Keep your knee joint straight, lift your thigh backward and upward, about 30-45 degrees, ensure hip joint stability, and bend the other leg at a 90-degree angle.
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