At any one time something like 30% of runners are injured. That is quite an amazing statistic and was presented to me by world leading running coach (and POSE method inventor) Nicholas Romanov.

What causes this problem is a number of issues and too large (probably a whole books worth) an issue to discuss here.

Hands up if you run and have suffered from knee pain at some time or another!!

Don’t worry you are not on your own as I alluded to above, many people who are runners struggle with injury’s that stop them running or competing at some point.

What that means is that you are not able to do what you love or need to do (especially if you’re training for an event)!!

Most people tell themselves they’re just being ‘whimps’ and run through it. Other people don’t develop problems for a long time, but believe me when I tell you, if you don’t have the right amount of hip extension you will definitely develop some form of injury…at some point!!

Hip extension is essential for good running mechanics.

If you are not sure what hip extension is then stand up, with your feet together. Lift one foot off the floor and with a straight (or bent) knee push that foot back so that your thigh moves backwards…that’s hip extension.

If you don’t have enough hip extension then you’ll have to compensate for it some where else in the body (usually the low back, but that’s for another day).

With this lack of hip extension you are more likely to over use the muscles around the knee and this is where the problem lies.

When you start to overuse any muscles you put the body in a position where it changes the balance. Joints need balance between the muscles in order to make sure that they stay in the right alignment and no undue ‘stresses’ are placed into the joint.

I work in a busy sports injuries clinic (www.kineticfitness.co.uk) and I would have to say that the physiotherapists I work with tell me that in 90% of cases knee pain, that people report, has nothing to do with any degenerative problems around the ligaments, tendons or cartilage.

Most of these ‘presenting’ knee pain patients are actually people who have massively got their muscle balance out of kilter.

So what can you do about it?

Apart from following a corrective exercise plan, one of the first things we have these people work on is increasing their hip extension range of movement.

I know, you hate stretching!!

That’s because human beings tend to gravitate towards the things they like doing most and avoid the things they like doing least.

If you don’t stretch it’s probably because you find stretching hard and painful. Well unfortunately you are the type of people who need to do more of it.

So the key is to put the muscles like the quadriceps and hip flexors in a position that will maximally get them to stretch and relax.

This is my absolute favourite hip flexor stretch and an essential for all runners to do.

One of the first things I got her to do was this exact stretch. She now does this on a daily basis; in fact she should be doing it at least twice a day. That’s because she works all day sat at a desk.

This means that not only have her muscles adapted to the lack of flexibility at her hip, but she gets the double whammy of making them tight and short all day long at work.

You don’t need to do this stretch for hours on end simply complete it a couple of times a day to really get the muscles up the front of the leg relaxed and lengthened. You should start to feel some of the pressure and tension in the knee releasing the more you do it.

This obviously is not a panacea for knee pain but is definitely one of the easiest and simplest places to start.

Remember Train Hard, Train Smart.

www.halfmarathonfitnessblueprint.com

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NB. Before you wonder what a man could know about the following, I did a project and presentation during my MSc on pre and post pregnancy exercise.

If you’ve just given birth then you are probably very aware that your body is definitely not looking as good as it could at the moment….understatement of the year I know.

Exercising to get rid of the excess weight and fat is by no means an easy task, but it is simple (I’ll share with you a fantastic programme later on). There are a number of things you have to be aware of before you start on a programme.

Your doctor or mid wife will give you the initial amount of time you should wait before starting any type of physical activity.

Usually this is between 4 and 8 weeks for a natural birth and 12 weeks or more for caesarean births.

There is a very good reason for both these recommendations.

Firstly, regardless of the type of birth you had, your body will have produced a hormone called relaxin. This hormone has the specific task of relaxing (hence the name) the ligaments in the pelvis which allow for the birth canal to become wide enough for the baby to leave the womb.

The problem with this hormone is that it does not distinguish between the pelvic ligaments and the other ligaments of the body. This means that if you start exercising too early you run the risk of damaging areas of classic instability like the knees or the low back, where the ligaments are too lax to control the stresses you may place upon them.

Secondly, if you had a caesarean birth you will need time for your abdominal muscles to heal and knit together. Unfortunately there is no fast tracking here, it will take time for the stomach muscles (which act to control all the forces through out the body) to heal from the incisions made during the procedure.

There are certain exercises you can do whilst waiting however. Exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor muscles are really important not just for helping with post birth problems such as incontinence but for strengthening the inner unit muscles that help with spine stability.

These muscles do not work like the big muscles on the outside of the body, so squeezing them as hard as you can is not the goal here.

Deep stabilising muscles like these work at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). That means that if you were to squeeze your pelvic muscles 100% and then relax them by half, and then by half again you should be at about 25% MVC.

These muscles work like this because they need to work all day every day and are endurance based muscles.

If you don’t know how to contract these muscles already, how do you use them? Well that is quite easy, next time you are using the toilet to pass water try and stop mid flow. You’ve just used your pelvic floor!

So let’s say you’ve got past this initial 8 to 12 week period what next.

The best thing I can recommend to people is to use a plan and stick to it.

My friend Holly Rigsby has come up with the perfect programme. If you think it’s for you though I would wait until Monday 14^th to order it because she’s going to have a 3 day bonus sale where she’ll give you 5 extra bonuses to get you in the best shape of your life in 2008.

So go and check out the site, even download her great free report.

Whatever you do, do not order it until Monday or you’ll miss out on the extra bonuses. But make sure you get it by Wednesday because you’ll miss out otherwise.

Here’s the link again Fit Yummy Mummy (and she is living proof that you can be).

Just look at what one of her successful yummy mum has to say:

“I wish that I would have found Holly Rigsby’s Fit Yummy Mummy Program years ago as it would have saved me over 10k a year on my Personal Trainer! Holly has a clear understanding of how to get strong yet lean and gives you step by step advise. This the way you can change your lifestyle for it fits with your personal schedule BUT still manage time to take care of yourself. Seriously, if YOU do not take care of yourself, who will? I highly recommend the Fit Yummy Mummy Program to everyone as I have implemented her workouts into my routine and have seen great results.” ~ Posh Mama, San Francisco, CA Founder of Posh Mama Online Magazine and Social Network

Now there are no more excuses.

Until next time,

Train hard, train smart, make every rep count.

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