Sometimes I sit down to write something that I think is gonna be super in depth, but then I realize that sometimes less is more. This is one of those times…
You’re Doing It Wrong!
As I was running today, I was thinking about how many people come to me with knee issues. A lot of it is caused by lack of mobility, but sometimes it’s actually self-inflicted. Today I want to talk briefly about the number one pet peeve for me when it comes to stretching.
I mean like I literally cringe when I see people do this particular stretch so I’m gonna do us all a favor and tell you to stop grabbing your foot to stretch the front of your legs after you run.
What’s this you say? You do it because your coaches taught you that?
Huh? Your workout partner does this one all the time?
I know your mom told you about doing what everyone else is doing.
Well, in this case, this is jumping off the proverbial cliff with your friends, except this is a slow and less death threatening descent in not being able to walk again.
Scare ya yet?
Ok, Ima make this quick. Take a knee.
No literally, take a knee, that’s how we’re gonna stretch out your quads and hips today.
Front of Leg Stretch
There are a ton of leg stretches out there and not every stretch is the same, but this particular stretch is the best universal stretch for your the front of your legs. It’s good because you can be flexible or not and it doesn’t matter because everyone can do it.
So are you still taking that knee?
Put your hands on your front knee and push down so that your chest comes up.
The reason why we do this stretch like this is simple. When you put your knee on the floor, you can’t put too much pressure on it. Sure, for some it may bother them to put their knees on the floor, but they can get a pad.
The problem is that with the old hold your ankle stretch, you end up putting a lot of pressure on your knee as you pull your ankle closer to your butt. All that pressure can put some serious damage on the ligaments in your knee and reduces its ability to stay in place.
That’s all I have for you today. I just wanted to get that off my chest before running season officially starts for many of you. Honestly, I want to make sure that you (Broad Street lottery winners) have this info before you start hitting the streets.
I want you to be out running one day and I want you to think about how I saved your knees. You can think about it while you brag to your friends who are forced to wear clunky shoes and have to power walk or swim for their exercise to save what’s left of their knees. Oh yeah, you can thank me then.
Jerry “fresh knee’d runner” Washington
P.S. Here’s a quick video of me doing the stretch. Figured it’d be nice to have a visual aid to practice at home. Talk soon…
