Race speed is one of the main concerns of both professional and amateur runners who want to advance and improve their performance. To do this, they need to run faster.
The only way to run fast is by doing some speed training from time to time, this way you will not get stuck in your usual rhythm. Adding one or two sessions per week to your exercise routine will help you notice the improvements.
A strong core, the central part of the body that includes strong abdominal and lumbar muscles, improves the performance of your runner body as it can reduce the risk of injury. The following are basic exercises that strengthen your core muscles that work while running.
Being passionate about running, whether amateur or professional, we always seek to run faster and improve our PBs. Therefore, in the following article, we share 3 core exercises to run faster:
Supine March
How To Do Them
Lie on your back with your legs bent, place your hands either on your hip or on the floor. The exercise consists of slowly raising the legs (one at a time), you can do it in several ways, either by raising them only a few centimeters or raising them almost to the height of the hip, but always flexed, depending on the height at which you want to lift them, you can also raise your pelvis a little without taking your hands off the ground.
Perform between 20 to 25 repetitions per leg.
The Best Kept Secret to Avoid Injuries and Become a Better Runner
Benefits For Runners
It provides stability in the abdomen, generating tension in the muscles of the core, avoiding excessive movement between the legs, spine, hips, and pelvis, thus providing a balance to the body and facilitating specific movements while running.
Standing Trunk Rotation With Cable
How To Do It
You´ll have to go to the gym to do this exercise.
Stand on the side of a cable pulley station that is at shoulder height. Hold the handle with both hands and fully extend both arms. Separate a little from the device, the weights should be a bit high while you are in the initial position.
Start with the torso turned towards the handle and the tension in the cable. Turn your torso to the opposite side while keeping your arms fully extended and the handle aligned with the center of your chest. Keep your eyes focused on the handle while turning and your hips close forward.
Return to the starting position without allowing the weight stack to rest.
Complete 12 repetitions, then reverse the position and repeat the exercise.
Benefits For Runners
While you are running, your body performs different jobs, and one of the most important is what your central muscles do since they are responsible for controlling the rotational forces. Of all the energy your body uses during a run, most of it is spent on excessive rotation of the hips, pelvis and/or spine. Permanent rotation with cable isolates and intensifies this particular challenge.
Suitcase Deadlift
How To Do It
You will need a dumbbell for this exercise.
Stand up with your legs shoulder-width apart. Placing your feet pointing outward will give you more balance. Bend your knees, keeping your back completely straight, as if you were trying to sit down.
Begin to descend using the hips, trying to keep the thighs parallel to the floor. The lower part of the legs should remain vertical. The foot and lower leg area must form a right angle.
Put your back straight and look forward at all times. The head must be completely aligned with the back.
To ascend, lift your shoulders and hip while keeping your back straight. Once you have reached the starting position, repeat the movement again.
Complete 10 repetitions, rest for 30 seconds, then repeat the exercise while holding the dumbbell in the opposite hand.
Benefits For Runners
It is an excellent exercise for building muscle mass, it is a complex movement to carry out, but once the ideal posture is achieved, it helps correct the back. It is an exercise that works in the dorsal and lumbar area keeping the torso aligned with the legs while running.
