As careful as I have been to pace my training plan properly, to allow my body to adapt to the extra stresses and not to overexert myself. Thanks to my bathroom door I am have had to skip a running session this week! And my habit forming approach to my current stage of training was going so well too. I even had started a little streak! Until I smacked my foot into the bathroom door on Monday morning, 7am and dislocated my little toe in the...

Maintaining a good level of flexibility is important for our overall fitness and health. It doesn’t matter how far we can run, or how much weight we lose. If we end up not being able to touch our toes, I am sure that we would feel that we’d  missed out on something. If you are already running regularly and clocking up a couple of hours a week of run time, then you should definitely be including these basic stretches and more. If you...

This stretch targets the muscles in the lower leg; the larger surface muscles that you associate with you calf (Gastrocnemius) and the deeper Soleus muscle. The stretch also applies to the Achillies Tendon, although it is not the most effective stretch for the Achillies. The Stretch Stand a stride  length away from a wall. Take 1/2 a stride forward with your left leg Lean forward and place your hands flat on the wall. Keeping your right leg...

This stretch targets the large Quadriceps muscle group at the front of your thigh. Like the Hamstrings, this group activates the knee (extension) & the hip, and are given a good workout each time you run. The Quadriceps also play an important role in knee stability and knee cap alignment. Maintaining flexibly and balance in the Quadriceps is important to avoid overuse injuries, like runners knee. The Stretch Stand close to something you...

This stretch targets the Hamstrings. The hamstrings are the muscle group at the back of the thigh, responsible for bending your knee and extending your hip when you are running.  This can be a quite deep stretch. If you are not that flexible yet, simply don’t raise your leg as high. Either stick to the basic Hamstring Stretch or just find a slightly lower surface to use to begin with and increase elevation over time. The Stretch Find a...

This basic stretch targets the Hamstrings. The hamstrings are the muscle group at the back of the thigh, responsible for bending your knee and extending your hip when you are running. They get a serious workout on each run. The Stretch Find an elevated surface e.g. a door step, a small wall (1ft or 30cm high), a paint tin, anything. Place the heel of your left leg on the surface. Keep the foot at 90 degrees to the leg. Lean your body forward at...