Fire 'em up

I learned some helpful tidbits the other day from my doc, Todd Schragen at All-Pro Health, because I asked for a warmup routine that I could do before workouts and races. I had two reasons to ask for it: 1.) Some of my injuries have come from not warming up properly and 2.) Sometimes I feel that my glutes aren't firing properly. Here's more:

1.) Injury Prevention - Most people don't warm up properly. This is especially true for any of us post-collegiate athletes who no longer have a coach and team enforcing warmup everyday. Ever hop out of bed, throw the sneakers on, and run out the door for a 5 mile jaunt around the neighborhood? I have. When we do that, our joints and connective tissue are stiff and haven't had a chance to loosen up, and it makes us prone to injury. A bunch of those little nagging injuries (that sometimes turn into full-blown catastrophes) can be avoided by doing a simple warmup before SBR'ing.

2.) Fire Up Those Glutes - Another thing a warmup can do is fix a stubborn butt. Most of us don't engage our glutes properly and it leads to less power on the bike, worse stability while running, and a slower push off the wall / less efficient kick in the pool. Just do a quick google search for glute activation and you'll see a smattering of articles talking about how big and strong the glutes are, and how they aren't used to their potential. In fact, it's the biggest muscle in the body, and is one of the most powerful engines to power a bike, yet we barely use them. Sitting as much as we humans do deactivates the glutes. Fortunately, it's possible to fire 'em up and get them working as hard as you do.

I told Dr. Todd that it's gotta be a quick routine or I won't do it before every workout, so here's Dr. Todd's 10 minute routine (with videos where Dr. T demonstrates) that I've adopted for pre-workouts that you can do too:

1.) Foam Rolling - Hop on that foam roller for 3 minutes and roll out your myofascia. I hit my calves, hammys, glutes, quads, back and shoulders (shoulders are a little tough to roll, but good to do if you've been swimming)

2.) Floor Exercises - These activate your core and encourage good posture

i.) Pelvic tilt

ii.) Bridge

iii.) Prone press up

iv.) Modified plank

3.) Glute Activation - Get the big guns fired up for your next workout

i.) Bridge with march (7 each leg)

ii.) Lunges (7 each leg)

ii.) Single leg stance (15sec each leg. You can do it on the ground or anything unstable if you don't have an Airex balance pad)

All of these videos can be found on the All-Pro Health website in the video exercise library. New Year's Resolution to do these before your workouts? It can only help you as an athlete.

Quick update: I'm being formally coached again! I'm back in action with Earl Walton looking to take on Puerto Rico 70.3 on March 19th before Baby Bach arrives :-)

In other news, my first published article is online now - Triathlete Magazine!

Train happy, train healthy,

-Matt