BluePhoenix Fitness

Lose weight. Get stronger. Live awesome.

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Less than a year ago I could not run more than 3 kms before I would get sharp pain in my right knee and hip.

For years I succumbed to the idea that I would never be a runner. My body just wasn’t made for it.

Fast forward to today and I’m training for a marathon, with my long runs between 24-32 kms – no pain.

So what changed?

Well, a number of things. But something I credit most of the improvement is an increased focus on mobility and soft tissue work.

Being in the fitness industry for over 14 years I’ve always prioritized mobility and soft tissue work.

In fact, when I started doing dynamic mobility warm ups and foam rolling with my clients back in 2010 it was “weird”. Not many people were doing that yet. Now most people probably have a foam roller at home (even if they’re not quite sure what to do with it).

But even with that focus for years, still I had this nagging pain while running.

So when I decided to commit 100% to improving my running, I knew I needed to put an even bigger emphasis on mobility and soft tissue work so I didn’t end up injured.

Here’s what I started doing:

  1. Daily stretching in the morning while my coffee brewed.
  2. Pre-run movement prep warm-up
  3. 10-15 minutes mobility/soft tissue work in the evening

You can find my daily morning stretching routine here, and we’ll talk about my evening routine another day.

Today let’s dive into my pre-run movement prep warm-up. I go through this simple routine before every run. Sometimes I’ll add/remove depending on what needs more attention, but for the most part it stays the same (you can see a video of whole routine here):

  1. Foot compression, rolling on Triggerpoint Footballer
  2. Soleus compression, spanning, cross-friction, rolling on Triggerpoint Quadballer
  3. Quad compression, rolling on Triggerpoint Grid
  4. Hamstring compression, rolling on Grid
  5. Pike position dynamic calf stretch
  6. Runner’s stretch w/ dynamic hamstring stretch
  7. Dynamic hip flexor stretch
  8. Floor sweeps
  9. Ankle mobility + ankle circles
  10. Leg swings
  11. Run in place

The whole thing takes me 15-20 minutes, but I firmly believe this has had one of the biggest impacts on my pain-free running.

So if you’re feeling some aches and pains pop up, or if you’d just like to avoid that from happening in the first place…

Start paying more attention to your how you’re warming up for your workouts.

Nobody ever got to be 70+ years old and thought “I sure wish I did LESS mobility and soft tissue work”.

Rise stronger & live awesome,

-Cam