Are your jogs falling to the wayside? Try sideways running.

September 2, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

Running for the sake of weight loss (or just ’cause you’re addicted to it #likemoi) is great.

So is stretching to keep limber. But you know what else is awesome in the midst of your yoga and aerobic addiction? Later on down the line, I mean? Not ending up in the O.R. because your body joints are disintegrating like biblical salt pillars after you turned your back on your strengthening game.

(“No, Barbara, I’m afraid we don’t offer full body replacements here.”)

A lot of runners, myself included (and by “included”, I mean “especially”) have made the the mistake of hitting the road or trail and trotting along with terrible form. Why? It’s generally a lack’ve knowledge on A.) the fact that it’s a problem and B.) how to fix it, usually. Until I found the wonderful world of strength training, I ran like the lovechild of Tinman and formative years Forrest Gump. The problem is, when we’ve got our sacrum swinging around, it puts a strain on our lower back, hips, and especially the ol’ knee joints. Why? A lack of lateral stabilization. (Meaning, how steady we are on each side.) A lot’ve times, one side’s stronger than the other, throwing us off. And what’s the fix? Exercises that help correct these imbalances. I, for example, have a scoliosis which throws off my spine and ultimately causes one side to be stronger than the other. So, apart from the obvious corrective P.T. I have to do to self-realign, I also require movements that fortify both the right and left sides of my flesh machine for stronger body mechanics.

And how do I do it?

While there’re lots of exercises, something called “sideways running” has become a fave.

(Not exactly what I mean…)

What I mean, rather, is a variation of a side plank move with high knee, kicking motions. What I do is get on my side, prop my bod up with my elbow until I’m (hips ‘n all) off the floor and in a straight line, with only my forearm and feet on the ground. The kicker (pardon the pun), is that my alternating kicking feet begin on the ground with my back foot behind my front one, making this tougher than it looks. And each time I kick upward, I bring the top of my knee toward my ribs, hold a couple secs, and then come back to the initial position. The trick? Proper posture. (Which is easier to work on when you’re stationary – versus trying to nail yourself in the cans with your patellas.)

(They say to do about two sets of six on each side, although I try to aim for 20 or 30 total before swapping.)

What this does is bolster all those body parts that’re often neglected (but oh so necessary) for keeping your form on “fleek” when your feet hit the pavement. (Or treadmill… Or trail…) Not only is your core getting an excellent strengthening sesh, but your obliques and even glute medius get in on the action so you can kick that lack of stability to the curb. Literally.

The hardest part? Well, I can’t say what that’ll be for you. But for me, it’s avoiding the forward and back wobble, doing the hunchback cheat (AKA letting my nips try to meet my knees at a halfway point – versus using my abs to bring ’em up), or rushing through the whole hateful thing to get it over ‘n done with.

And the easiest part?

Well, that’d be the run that followed when my body finally began evening out after doing this daily.