NO RUN POWER WITHOUT FULL HIP EXTENSION
Hey runners! I’m not asking you to drop it low or learn the latest TikTok dance! I’m merely challenging you to check your hip extension especially for triathletes who find running off the bike a challenge.
Your primary hip extensor (what allows you to bring your leg back behind you) is the glute, the peach, the junk in the trunk. I’ve said this before and I will say it again: YOU CAN’T HAVE FULL STRENGTH WITHOUT FULL MOBILITY!
Take this to the hip joint: if you sit for long periods of time throughout your day (YEP, I’M TALKING TO ALL THE DESK WORKERS OUT THERE!!!), you most definitely have tightness in the iliopsoas muscle, the muscle that connect the trunk to the legs. When this muscle is restricted and shortened like it is in a chair or bent over on a bike (for all my Peleton junkies) you teach your pelvis to maintain a tipped forward position which puts excess strain on the low back and over time, weakens your glutes and your abs aka the “lower cross” syndrome in Osteopathy.
If you want power on your run or even power while walking, you need to make sure that the front of your hip is not limiting the ability to fully allow the glute to do its job with authority.
Try this challenge on both sides to see how much you are limited. If you find it near impossible to flatten out your back or you feel an excess amount of pulling in the front of the hip or thigh, YOU’VE GOT WORK TO DO!
Releasing the front of the hip will allow your glute to FIRE UP again and you might just find it easier to extend that hip to find the power in your running and walking gait.
Comment below where you feel it and let me know if one side is harder or easier than the other!