Toe Touch Your Way To Stronger Legs

Here is a video showing The Toe Touch Matrix. This exercise really works the proprioceptors in your feet. It mobilizes your hips, knees, and ankles. Instead of touching with your hands in a balance reach, touch the 10 matrix spots with your toes. Spend close attention to the back corners of the matrix as those spots really hit difficult areas of your body. Again, this is a multi-directional, multi-joint, and multi-muscle exercise.

Take a few moments to shake up your balance and fire this one-legged exercise that you will feel way up in your glutes!

Running Stretches

In this training video, I am working with my trainer, Juan Ruiz Tagle. These are some of the stretches that I use in my post workout. After training or competition is the best opportunity to elongate muscle tissue. These exercises are not used as a warm-up, but as a cool down.

After suffering from Achilles tendinitis and plantar fasciitis in late 2008 and early 2009, I added these moves into my program.This video shows some of  stretches that I do to protect and stretch my lower extremities. I can continue to do these diligently throughout The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time. I hope these stretching exercises help you develop greater flexibility.

Push-up Matrix


Traditional push ups are a wonderful way to build upper body strength. This video shows the variations that you can do to work different upper body muscle groups. Have fun with your new push up routine!

Hot Rock Massage


One of the BIG reasons why I am recovering so well after each mile race has been the massage work of Sandra Bello at Body Destinations in Tyngsboro, MA. www.bodydestinations.com. Sandra has introduced me for the first time to the attributes of a hot rock massage. A hot rock massage quickly detoxes my muscles and heats up the area allowing Sandra to get in and do her healing work. She has been professional, dedicated, and resourceful.



Check out this video about the value of a hot rock massage. You might just recover better than ever…



Advanced Stretching (Functional Flexibility)


How should you finish any workout for any sport? The answer is Functional Flexibility! This video shows how I finish my day. Check out this video with the 3D Stretching routine. It is the best way for your body to find restoration and recovery. Functional Flexibility is against gravity, free from artificial stability, using multiple joints, multiple muscle groups, with 3 dimensions, and in 10 directions.

With the use gravity, doorways, medicine balls, dumbbells, and tubes, there is elongation without pain. It is the most incredible way to stretch your way to improved flexibility. This is an advanced stretching routine, but one that anyone can do.


Functional Flexibility is mobility and stability training that is done with a specific purpose, and it is done in a three-dimensional and multi-directional way against gravity, so we don’t over stretch and cause instability and tissue damage.

Mobility
is how effectively and efficiently our body moves throughout the range of motion.

Stability is how well we can control that mobility and our body in a three-dimensional and in a multi-directional way.


Remember: Too much flexibility will cause instability.



I only do these exercises after I am done with my training/running. When my muscles are warm and the lactic acid has been produced, I do these three-dimensional moves to elongate my muscles. I do not look to elongate my muscles before I train or compete. I use the lunge matrix, squats, and balance reaches to mobilize my muscles and joints and get them ready to fire.
I hope you enjoy this new way of finishing your workouts. It will give you the confidence before you get in your car to drive home that you have cooled down properly and efficiently.

Mental Preparation


One of the great treats at The Beach to Beacon race at the beginning of August was that so many people flew in to Maine to support reaching the half-way point of The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time. Not only did my title sponsors fly in from Minnesota (Greg Hoscheit – SmoothToe) and North Carolina (John Haigh – Invista), but also one of my One Mile Runner Consultants from Florida, Jacqueline Moore.

Jacqueline has been so supportive of me over the years. She has helped me with my mental preparation for many of my events.

Here is an interview that we did together about the rigors of our event and how we manage the mental side for peak performance.




Resistance Training (Part 2)


This is Part 2 of my resistance training program. The video is set on Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, FL. Watch how different this training is versus traditional weight training. I work on my horizontal power and strength each day that I do not race. I travel with my JC Bands, dumbbells, medicine balls, and pvc hurdles in my car throughout the event. It is my training office on wheels. I work vertical power to horizontal power as I try to stay fit and strong through the course of a grueling 2 month event. Have fun checking out this video workout on the beach:

Resistance Training (Part 1)


Part of my strength workout utilizes tubes. By using the tubes I can work lateral or horizontal power.


Here are the two main reasons why we believe horizontal resistance training is important:



1. When we are running, our bodies are opposing two types of forces, vertical (gravity and ground forces) and horizontal (air and wind).



2. When we are running, we are swinging our arms and legs powerfully to displace our bodies forward, but we are also required to work against the backward swing.



To control and dominate these forces and not let these forces control us and slow us down, we must train not only vertical resistance, but also horizontal resistance.

This is where the strength training with the tubes comes in – working that horizontal power!

Check out this video to learn more:





Part 2 of my Resistance Training Program will come next week.

What to Eat After Exercise?


Race #8 took us to Littleton, MA for the Eat Balanced Nutrition Mile. The Nutrition Consultant for the www.OneMileRunner.com website, Marc O’Meara, hosted the event on a Thursday evening. After the event, Marc made us a special “post-race” meal in order to speed up my recovery and help me heal my body for another race in a short amount of time.



Check out what Marc has to say in this video about what food is good for recovery, how soon to eat after exercise, and what our bodies need after participating in any sport:



Please visit Marc’s website at www.eatbalancednutrition.com for more information on his services.

Avoid Back Pain And Strengthen Your Core


Add this medicine ball routine to your core workouts. Using a 4-6 pound medicine ball, be certain to keep your back in neutral at all times. Remember, strong muscles do not protect the disks in your back. Great form and technique will.