Improving Hip Internal and External Rotation: Hip Mobility from Z-Health

If you sit a lot or have tight hip compressed hips, you might find that this hip mobility mobilization from Z-Health gives you more space in your hips and help get you out of pain of stiffness. I felt great after doing these the first time through, so they are spot on for me. The movement and rotations make it easier for you to find your tough spots and work on those carefully.

Inverted Heel

I am putting up a few posts basically for myself as I try to figure out things I am learning about my feet. In this way I can check back and see what works and doesn't work and keep track of my thinking. Please skip over if you are not interested, but sometimes people find my stuff on the web and offer really good suggestions or are also looking for similar answers to biomechanical issues.

Last night I posted what I am learning from the Active Release doctor who I am currently working with. My left foot is a problem foot and he gave words to the strange things that my foot does that affects my stride, hip, and back.

Basically he said the left foot has an inverted heel, which causes the foot to suppinate and then I have something called functional hallux limitus which means the forefoot goes into a severe pronation because the bog toe and metatarsal do not work and contact the ground correctly. Thus I have problems.

Here is what I have found on inverted heels (besides some crazy dance step). It comes from Carson Boddicker, whose blog I have been reading for the past few months (see "My Blog List" to the left). He gives some exercises and drills (some using a wedge that I have not tried as I am relying on the therapy I am undergoing now).

Following ankle injury, a positional fault is often observed in subtalar joint position, which is locked into inversion known as rear foot or subtalar vars Rear foot vars is when the position of the foot is inverted relative to the ground in subtalar neutral.

Given the body’s remarkable ability to adapt, it can attempt to shift the position of the talus to compensate for an inverted calcaneus. In observing the rear foot, a compensated rear foot vars will appear perpendicular in subtalar neutral but averted in standing (left). Uncompensated, it will appear inverted in both ranges of motion (right).

With the subtalar joint in inversion, the foot must pronate more to clear the heel from the ground. Once clear, the foot is forced to rapidly supinate to be effective in propulsion, creating a whip-like effect, which has been implicated in Achilles’ tendonopathies. Additionally, the first ray of metatarsals becomes an inadequately stable base for propulsion (remember the joint by joint approach) and the big toe begins to lose mobility.

Finally, remember that the subtalar joint translates this rotation (pronation) to the tibia and the tibia translates rotation higher in the body. Excessive relative internal rotation of the foot, tibia, and subsequently femur can cause femoral head position changes and scarring of the deep hip rotators. This can ultimately lead to a grab bag of pain and pathology of the knee, hip, and low back.

I don't know if this is an accurate description of half of my foot's problems, but it sounds right.

Next up is an excellent descriptive video from "The Gait Guys" which descibes rearfoot varus, which I think is the same thing as an inverted heel.



Finally, I am putting up (hate to do this) some videos the chiropractor wanted of me running. It shows my stride Tuesday (after one day of ART treatment) and after an 8 mile run. It shows the weird things my left foot and leg does even at a slow jog. I would guess it looks much worse at a faster pace.







Now you can see why running is so much fun for me!

Here's a link to the stretches for my feet and ankle that the chiropractor says I should do. The first is pretty much a Z-Health Toe Pull. I now have better informed instruction on how to do it. The tops of my toes are really stiff.

Now about jammed joints and how I seem to get relief from hip problems when the joints in my feet are mobilized. Here is a video on the arthokinetic response showing how a jammed foot joint affects the glute medius muscle (the muscle that the postural restoration therapist said was one of my weakest muscles on the left side).



I also posted about Z-Health and jammed joints here, where Dr. Eric Cobb (Z-Health) demonstrates the affect of jammed joints here. Mike T. Nelson of Extreme Human Performance (blog on my list to the left) wrote about jammed joints here.

Jammed Joints Equal Weak Muscles: Z-Health Videos

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Last weeks running = 44 miles: Monday- 8 miles, Tuesday- 8 miles, Wednesday-8 miles, Thursday- 8 miles, Friday- 0 miles, Saturday-4 miles, Sunday 8 miles. At the last moment I realized that there was a race at Mine Falls Park on Saturday and so I entered the Otter Run 5K put on by 3C Race Productions. I ended up finishing in 3rd place overall in the unremarkable time of 20:16 (results). My left hip felt so much more balanced then it has the past few years running so many times on this course. It was a much better race then the one on Sunday and a better starting point for the season. I am very much looking forward to the Gate City Striders track workouts starting this week.

What can you say about another entertaining Boston Marathon race. A new course record for the men and a dramatic finish for the ladies. Lots of Striders and other friends ran super races! Robert Cheruiyot ran a super race for a new course record. The most ridiculous news report on the race suggested that he may have cheated by stepping up on the sidewalk. Oh really? No this is silly and is certainly no Rosie Ruiz move. View the video here.

I saw some interesting Z-Health videos today where Dr. Eric Cobb demonstrates the Arthrokinetic Reflex. According to his thinking. a jammed joint equals weak muscles. I find the Z-Health joint mobility program interesting. It never solved my problems, but I did learn about the movements of the joints and probably just never became proficient in learning exactly how to utlilize the movements in the precise way and manner to effect the changes I needed. One problem I had with the program was that it never fully explained why things were supposed to work. These videos show a little more of the "why" about jammed joints.

This video shows how a jammed joint in the foot affects the hip flexor on the same side by weakening it. This intrigues me because I have had a weak left hip flexor along with misaligned joints in my left foot. The middle toe-pull move is supposed to fix the joint in the foot and thus strengthen the hip flexor. I can't always make it work, but last month it did work perfectly when my hip flexor was gimpy. If you scroll down this page you will see how to do a toe pull.



This video show how the limited motion of the heel in running shoes can impact the heel and create weakness in the hamstring.



This video explains the arthrokinetic response.



This one explains Z-Health in 3 minutes.



This video explains active vs. passive care. The body learns and responds best when it fixes itself not when someone else does the work. Of course it only shows the passive care with joint manipulations. If you look down this page a bit, you will see the outside toe-pull that is supposed to be the self-care for for the cuboid joint.



These final two videos explain more about Z-Health.





There is supposed to be a new Z-Health video coming out next month that explains more about the science of why Z-Health works. You can find out more about Z-Health here. What I would like to see from Z-Health is the "which" and "when" videos. They have some on the "how" and will be putting out the "why". It would be most beneficial to know which exercises to do for certain conditions, so you can use the correct joint mobility routines instead of hunting on your own for the right one which may or may not work. Seeing how quickly Dr. Cobb could manipulate a joint to jam and unjam it makes you wonder how a wrong movement pattern may be jamming joints and creating havoc in your body on a daily basis just due to bad movement patterns.

Carson Boddicker has an interesting blog post on the hip flexor muscle today regarding stretching and strengthening the psoas muscle. You can find it here  on his blog (also found under my blog list on the left of this page). He suggests doing moves like bridging before doing hip flexor stretching to fix dysfunctional movement patterns in the hips.

Bone Rhythm: An Interesting Way of Looking at Movement

I have been thinking about the skeleton a bit in terms of my posture and mechanics. Is it my bones and skeleton that produce my imbalances or is it the muscles, tendons, fascia, or even the neurological way I have wired myself for movement that create the imbalances? As I relearn movement patterns through Feldenkrais lessons, I have been applying some of the movements and pacing to joint mobility work through Z-Health. I have found that I understand and can use the Z-Health joint mobility work much more successfully and in a more targeted way than I could previously. I recalled some interesting lessons from the more advanced Z-Health S-Phase DVD I got earlier this year. I basically watched it from a curiousity standpoint as much of the DVD was too advanced for my body. If I was a young athlete I would find it very useful particularly if I was playing sports with lots of athletic moves. I am not young and just want to run straight ahead so I just keep it in my collection. I did find one concept very interesting and that was something called "bone rhythm". It is an interesting way of looking at the skeleton when performing movements like lunges and squats. The idea of bone rhythm is to get the timing of the joints down so that they work together. You don't concentrate on the muscles, but on the movement at the end of the bones.

Here can see a quick video off the Z-Health DVD that explains bone rhythm with squatting that focuses in on the femur.



This video shows bone a rhythm variation using the lunge. Bone rhythm can be used with other joints.



I don't know how or if it will improve your running, but it gives an alternative way of thinking about movement when exercising. If you start out with Z-Health you should start with the R-Phase DVD unless you try the Quick Start DVD which is an introduction. This is the only DVD I don't have so I don't know what four exercises are highlighted. I have had the Z-Health R Phase DVD for almost two years now and still find it useful as I refine my use of the drills.

The Value of Play: No Matter Your Age

I wrote this post for my education blog Simply Teaching. I decided to also place it here as I believe movement and learning go hand in hand. Maybe someone will find it interesting or offer up some other ideas!

As a long time and "aging" athlete, I have been interested in the concept of "play" as part of sports. It started when I was involved in a discussion on LetsRun about "aging and feeling good while running". A bunch of competitive runners were offering up ideas on maintaining fitness and health as well as enjoying our sport to the levels we had when we were younger and doing so without injury or loss of interest. One thing that kept popping up was keeping running "playful.” The idea is that we should continue to act like the kids we were; running, jumping, climbing, crawling, and just doing things in the outdoors rather than running a set distance or time and returning home. In fact, the discussions are what first led me to create this blog.

I have not had enough time to study "play" as much as I would like, but I see the need for playfulness not only in our adult lives but in the lives of our children. I predict that in a few years fitness activities will move away from gyms and machines and we will see more activities being performed in the natural outdoor arena as adults learn to play as they used to when they were children. Some websites already promote this type of natural play and fitness, such as Erwin Le Corr's Movnat (Move Naturally) and Frank Forencich's The Exuberant Animal.


"All the science that we've come up with backs up what we used to do as kids."

As an athlete, I have been challenged to undo the effects of too much running and biking and having to spend years trying to unravel the damage, it has done to my body. I am learning that it is not strength training or stretches that is going to rebuild the balance in my body rather it is a retraining of the brain. I am doing this through Z-Health joint -mobility exercises that target the nervous system in order to produce movement that is more efficient and through Feldenkrais exercises that retrain neuromuscular patterns so that I can move more correctly and naturally. Interestingly enough both movement therapies deal with how the brain relates and controls movements. I am coming to understand how the brain, thinking, and movement are wonderfully connected.

And then we have school!

Students become mini-adults and sit in uncomfortable chairs and work on written assignments, many times quietly and by themselves without any movement or fun. Teachers often appreciate the “quieter” and "still" students over those with energy to spare. Then we notice the tendencies of children to act up or lose concentration in many ways as they become bored and restless. I have been challenging myself to find ways to bring play into the classroom as well as movement, without losing the goal of giving my students a superior education. Responsive Classroom activities, greetings, and games bring in some element of play, but it certainly is not enough. The question then is how do we allow and advocate for movement without losing control of a class, particularly when we know that it allows for thinking that is more creative and invigorated minds.

I am still looking. Brain Gym is a program I have heard about that integrates play, movement exercises, and learning. I have not taken the Brain Gym courses, but the movements remind me somewhat of some Z-Health exercises. These movements are supposed to stimulate learning through movement. There are many Brain Gym books such as Hands on: How to Use Brain Gym in the Classroom that I would like to order some day to explore the concept more closely.

I was investigating another Scholastic book earlier this week called Brain Breaks for the Classroom: Quick and Easy Breathing and Movement Activities That Help Students Reenergize, Refocus, and Boost Brain Power-Anytime of the Day! and I may order this one some day, as it seems to be a possible take-off of Brain Gym, but I am not sure. It looks like it may have some good ideas on helping children concentrate and learn better through play and short activity breaks. While I was looking at this book, I noticed another book that I did order and I received it yesterday.

The book, Silly Sports and Goofy Games, contains many games and activities that look like fun and would be useful mainly outdoors. We did play one game as a greeting this morning as we tossed imaginary objects like an egg, a very hot "hot" potato, a slimy snake, and even a Volkswagens at each other. However today was an end of month Fun Friday for the fifth grade at New Searles School so we went outside to a playing field and a group of students hung around with me and played many versions of tag that I found in the book as well as some balance games. My favorite of the balance games we played looks just like one of the games in the Exuberant Animal video above. It was a lot of fun trying out games and there was a lot of laughter and cooperation. I look forward to trying more ideas from this book and finding away to integrate play into the daily work of my 27 fifth graders.

Finally, here is a wonderful and thought provoking TedTalks video presented by a pioneer in research on play, Stuart Brown, called "Why Play is Vital, No Matter your Age." Have fun watching this and then get outside and play!

Learning about "Running With the Whole Body"

I am looking forward to trying the Feldenkrais Method to try to get proper movement and running patterns back and to learn to run with my whole body. What is the Feldenkrais Method? (from their faq)

The Feldenkrais Method is named after its originator, Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (1904-1984) [about], a Russian born physicist, judo expert, mechanical engineer and educator.

The Feldenkrais Method is a form of somatic education that uses gentle movement and directed attention to improve movement and enhance human functioning. Through this Method, you can increase your ease and range of motion, improve your flexibility and coordination, and rediscover your innate capacity for graceful, efficient movement. These improvements will often generalize to enhance functioning in other aspects of your life.

The Feldenkrais Method is based on principles of physics, biomechanics and an empirical understanding of learning and human development. By expanding the self-image through movement sequences that bring attention to the parts of the self that are out of awareness, the Method enables you to include more of yourself in your functioning movements. Students become more aware of their habitual neuromuscular patterns and rigidities and expand options for new ways of moving. By increasing sensitivity the Feldenkrais Method assists you to live your life more fully, efficiently and comfortably.

From what I have learned there are two branches to learning movement through Feldenkrais. You can go to Awareness Through Movement® classes where you explore movement in a group setting or you can go to Functional Integration® lessons with a practitioner who guides you through a more hands on form of movement lessons.

I have stretched, strengthened, mobilized, massaged, and done everything possible to try to get myself to run correctly and without misalignments. I just can't get the correct movement patterns down anymore. Running poorly with bad rotations and movements seem normal to me. I am hoping that this type of movement will help bring back an awareness so that I can run and function more smoothly and effortlessly. I intend to work with a practitioner: Charlie Murdach at 4seasonsfitness in Portsmouth. Charlie is a Feldenkrais practioner but also a marathoner, an Ironman, and an Ultramarathoner (Western States 100) so I am happy that a runner will be working with me. I also intend to study up on my own.

The way I am going about this is by going back to a book I used a few years back called "Running with the Whole Body" by Jack Heggie. The lessons in this book are based on the Feldenkrais Method. I first tried using this book in 1996. I remember doing some of the exercises at the time I put up one of my best races ever as a Strider (59:46 for 10 miles at the Yankee Homecoming). It was one of my best summers of racing. Of course I was younger, but maybe the book helped contribute.

I took out the book a month ago and did one lesson. Yesterday I took it out again and did the ninth lesson on the feet. A couple of things jumped out at me. First was the recall of doing these before. Second, it was hard to do the lessons and find your place in the book. Third, the movements are very similar to Z-Health but on a different level. I found some links suggesting the resemblance to Z-Health. Both are mobility (or movement) programs, but also both work on retraining neuromuscular patterns. Finally, the repeating of proper movement patterns reminded me of the SAID principle used in Z-Health. The acronym SAID stands for "Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands". In Z-Health it is defined as, "The body always adapts to exactly what it does." In school, I use the term, "Perfect practice makes perfect" with my students. If you practice something the wrong way, you are just training yourself to do that in the same way. I am continually practicing running wrong.

When I teach vocabulary at school, I don't just give my students a word and tell them to look it up in a dictionary and write down the definition and put it in a sentence. I know many teachers do this, however the students don't "learn" vocabulary this way. I use and define the word in as many ways as I can. The general rule is that a person has to be exposed to a word over 30 times before they "own" it. During the week my students and I will try to use the vocabulary words as often as we can (we even keep tallies at times) to reach that goal of getting them to own the word. It takes my guidance and their practice. I noticed that there was a lot of practice of the movements when doing the lessons in the book. I think the guidance and the "perfect" practice are pretty important.

Here are some links that mention Z-Health and Feldenkrais:
"A Year of Feldenkrais Training" Mike T. Nelson is mentioned here. I read his blog (see over on left). I would like to know more of his thinking on this.
"To Go Harder, Go Easier"
"Movement Precision"
"Learning Feldenkrais Exercises at Home"
Interesting comments on understanding joint mobility and joint coordination.

I think Z-Health has a lot of potential. I have all the Z-Health DVDs, but I have yet to visit a practitioner. A lot of the Z-Health exercises are done (particularly in the beginning levels) with the person standing with a straight posture. I know when it gets up in levels there is more movement involved, however as far as I can tell, Z-Health for the distance runner has not been done yet. I am talking about the coordination of movements, not just the movements around a joint. I am seeing that Feldenkrais seems more focused on the coordination of movements around full body movements. I think this coordination is exactly what I need. Maybe a Z-Health practitioner can teach you similar things, but it is not just one joint, or one muscle, or isolated movement that is my problem, it is how all the movements relate to each other.

Anyhow, I didn't like looking constantly at the book (I have an earlier version than the one Amazon sells). So I went online to see if I could find a video or audio lessons from the book. There was no video but I found you can buy the CD at Amazon: Running With The Whole Body™: Your Guide to Running Faster and Farther — Based on the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. I wasn't sure if it was just a rereading of the book or if it was the actual lessons, but I downloaded the lessons onto my iPod. I did one lesson yesterday and one today. This is the way to do it! It is perfect! A video would take your concentration off what you are doing and you don't need it. The audio, particularly now with iPods, allows you do do the lessons in private (my family couldn't figure out why I kept walking around the house). These are lessons and the tone and pacing are perfect. You "are the video" in a sense as Jack Heggie gets you to pinpoint in your body what you are supposed to be looking for, feeling, or doing. When reading the book you tend to rush through the examples and exercises trying to get to the "payoff" moves. On the audio, there is no rushing and you become very aware of what you are usually not very aware of. I was surprised at some of the things that I noticed. There are 7 lessons that are about 40 minutes each. I have done two. The audio is defininitely the best way to follow the movements. I still read the book for additional thoughts before and after each lesson, but it just doesn't flow as well when you try out the movements as you read.

The first lesson was on the feet, the hips, and shoulders. You do a lot of walking around noticing what your hips and shoulders do as you walk. My right side wasn't bad except my hip did not do much. However on my left side, I could feel the hip twisting (I knew it did that) but strangely enough my shoulder moved the wrong direction. Instead of moving opposite of the left hip, it moved forward when the leg and hip moved forward. Weird! This helps explains how my left side always feels rotated forward of my right side. Then I was guided through exaggerated motions of walking with the legs, hips, and shoulders working in the proper way. It was very revealing and I also flashed back to doing these exercises (although not understanding the precision so well) thirteen years ago.

I did not do any running yesterday as I was banged up from my tumble during the race on Monday. Today I did the second lesson on connections in the back. This concentrates on the lower back (where I am very tight and stiff). By doing slow and gentle movements and explorations, I was able to get a better understanding on how movement of the legs and arms come from the torso. My back also loosened up an awful lot. It was a couple inches closer to the floor when laying flat after the exercises than before.

I wanted to try out what running would feel like so at exactly 12:00 on this very hot day I went out for a run. I tried to put some of the learning into place. I noticed a lot of things. My left side needed a whole lot of concentration, and I was running very differently trying to engage that shoulder. I felt very fluid (but not my normal) when I got things closer to correct. When I did, my stride became longer and more balanced. My hips were sitting completely different in their sockets (or it felt that way). I wasn't collapsing on my left side, in fact it felt like it was elevating. It was hard to keep this form and it took some concentration. If I didn't get things right with the left shoulder I could feel the pinching in my inner hip flexor against the bones of my hip. When I was done, I looked at my watch and I had my fastest time on this (my normal 8 mile loop) in the past couple months (and it was the hottest weather I have run in this year- getting all sweated up felt great!).

It looks like I may be on to some positive ways to get my stride back. It will take a long time I am sure, to relearn what I have forgot, but it makes more sense to work on how I run than just working on specific muscles, pains, or movements in isolation. I guess this is why it is called "running with the whole body".

What I want to picture is a straight backbone with arms and shoulder coordinated and the legs, torso, and arms rotated around that backbone. There is a tall and balanced posture that I know can be much more efficient. Strangely enough my posture has improved when I am standing or sitting. My parents used to be all over me because of my poor posture years ago. Last week they told me I need to teach one of my kids better posture like I have learned. So I guess it is noticeable to at least my mom and dad. But that is a standing static posture. I need to get the coordinated posture for running.

Speaking of which, I always watch the great European track meets (and American meets) when they are on TV or the internet (where you find them most often-at least until the World Championships). American women's middle distance running has been the revelation this summer. Maggie Vessey has been the biggest surprise (out of many). It was fun watching her win the Prefontaine classic 800m and then this "nobody" won her first major European race. But she was still chasing the A Standard to make the World Championship team. Yesterday, with two days to spare, she ran the fastest women's 800m in the world this year. Watch how tall she is when she runs and how straight, tall, and still her head is. She is a kicker who magically appears on the inside behind Christine Wurth-Thomas near the end of the race. That is some fine running and a super time of 1:57.84 (7th fastest American ever).

Moving Naturally: Play Your Way to Fitness

I am a 50 year old wanna-be athlete with a falling apart body and a determination not to feel so old. I am trying everything possible to hold my body together to not only run, but to run fast. I love the idea of running and my history as a runner (not meaning being a real fast guy-but as someone who has continuously competed for over 35 years). Unfortunately doctors told me to give it up over 20 years ago and my body seems to want to agree, but I refuse. Things don't often work right and running is usually not fun, but it is what I do.

I have not yet found the magic formula to keep me running, but I am willing to explore all avenues. However as I sit and contemplate this aging body and its refusal to run efficiently, I think back to when I was young and the outdoors was my world. I liked to run, but I liked to do a lot of other things too. I played. I climbed trees. I swam at the beach. I wrestled the other guys in the neighborhood. I ran through the woods jumping over downed trees. I played the current sport of the season: football, baseball, street hockey or whatever with all the neighborhood kids. I was constantly moving and at play. Indoors was not fun (well unless we were tearing apart the house)!

Nowadays, I find I avoid other movements because it may throw out my back and hips or throw off my balance and keep me from running. I have been thinking that maybe I have it all wrong. Sure I have been willing to try new adventures through the years: I was a triathlete back when no one really knew what a triathlon was (1983). I picked up the biking and swimming on my own and my third triathlon was an Ironman distance race. I got into bicycle racing for a few years. I also picked up kickbiking almost 10 years ago, and even tried snowshoe racing this winter (even though I had bought my racing snowshoes about 10 years ago). You might notice a problem with all my activity. It is all straight ahead repetitive motioned movement. While I may have developed a great cardiovascular system and competed with great endurance, I really am not athletic in my movement patterns. I try to go one direction as fast as I can, but there are so many more movement patterns in being an athlete. I no longer "know" those patterns.

As I view the Z-Health S-Phase DVDs on perfecting precise athletic movements, I realize how little I know about movement. I also realize how little I do to move athletically or functionally in all directions.

I have been reminded after reading some posts on Matt Metzgar's blog, about movement and play. I also recall when I started this blog over a year ago after my participation on a thread on Letsrun.com called "Aging and Feeling Good While Running"' It was a great thread (I am TDF). With all the advice given, one thing was clear, get back to "playing". Hey, young guys, if you want to know what it will feel like in a few years when you hit 50, read that thread, there is some good stuff in there.

While Z-Health has you working on precise drills to move athletically, another interesting movement idea out there comes from MovNat.com (Move Naturally). MovNat sums up there basic philosophy with, "MovNat trains you to become a well-rounded natural athlete, ready for a wide range of practical actions in various kinds of situations." You don't work out in the gym, you work outdoors in nature (Men's Health article here). Another article.

The 12 key movements of MovNat are:
Walking
Running
Jumping
Balancing
Walking on all fours
Climbing
Lifting
Carrying
Throwing
Catching
Defending
Swimming

(I liked to jump as a kid. I would climb up in a tree and jump down from as high as I could. I remember the numb feeling in my legs when I would do this. I sometimes wonder if those jumps could be part of the problem with my hips.)

Here is a MovNat video showing these movements outdoors in nature. It sort of reminds me of a grown up kid outdoors playing. It looks like fun and I would love to have a backyard like that to play in! It also reminds me a bit of doing Parkour (free running) but out of the city.



I was also interested in one of Matt Metzgar's posts on quadrupedal movement enough to see what it was. Here is a video. I am curious as to how it would feel on my back and hips. I have the sneaking suspicion that it might feel very good as it is a natural movement. Now, I need to find a place to go play. My neighbors might think I am certifiably nuts.



The point is that maybe my body is breaking down because I have always been so sport specific and as I got out of college and into the real world (or was I leaving the real world), I stopped playing in all the various ways that I did when I was younger and running around wild. The answer may be to get out there and move in all ways possible. I will have to try to incorporate these ideas in my workouts and my daily life. I posted a previous MovNat video on barefoot running here.

Running off on Tangents: Z-Health, Vibram Five-Fingers, and Opposite Joints

I have been way off on tangents doing all the things that need to be done and have lost a bit of focus on my training and running. My son graduated from high school, I am ending the school year and packing up my classroom for a new school, and it has gotten very busy. It is time to restart and reboot myself. I am looking forward to getting back on track now that I should have a bit more free time for a change.

It is also time to get back to healthier dieting and eating like I was doing months ago. I miss eating properly as I have slid into enjoying too many celebratory eating experiences as well as cookies and ice cream again.

Two weeks ago I got an email that I did not get into the Falmouth Road Race through the lottery. I have been running this, my hometown race, most years since 1975 and still get a seeded number to run in the front pack when I am entered. I sent off an email asking to be reinstated. I didn't hear back so I sent another. This time I was reinstated into the race and am thrilled to give it another go this summer. Returning to Falmouth every year is just a continuation of something I do every summer since I have been running and I would hate to miss it. Thanks to the road race committee for allowing a long-time loyal Falmouth runner back into the race.

I received my S-Health S Phase DVDs and have viewed the the first DVD. It is different from the joint mobility work on the R and I Phase DVDs. This one seems really geared toward learning how to move quickly and appears geared for learning the speed and mobility needed for sports competitions of all kinds. I have gleaned some bits of information that may be helpful in thinking about and practicing how to move properly. I look forward to giving it more of my attention and just wished I had some coaching like this when I was much younger. Some of the visual drills are very interesting: throwing tennis balls with letters printed on them and saying the letter out loud as you catch the ball. I don't know how that translates into running but it looks like fun!

When you are really good at movement as well as visual acuity, your sporting performance would look something like this:



Here is an article I found on birthdayshoes.com related to Z-Health and Vibram Five-Finger shoes. In it the author postulates that the Vibram Five-Finger shoes help your feet to be feet. Then Z-Health optimizes that freedom to help you move and feel better. Here is the author's summation of the 3 phases of Z-Heath.

Z-Health provides an approach to enhance the neurological signals that a freed foot can send to the nervous system. It does this in several phases: the first phase, R-Phase, teaches the drills I've described to get all our joints to move as they're designed. If folks only do R-Phase they find huge benefit - including reduced pain and improved function.

The second phase, I-Phase, takes these movements that have been done "standing in neutral position" and runs them through more postures that increase demand on the body. If we move from standing to a lunge position, with 80% of our weight on a lunging leg, we feel that muscle being used more; we're also in position that requires more balance. Being able to perform precision movements of joints in these postures fires up more of those nerves to signal position in space; it also means that we are practicing moving our bodies in more positions that we will find ourselves in in real life.

Practice, as with anything, prepares the mind and body to better cope with the real (Here's a long digression on practice and lots of it). If you do ankle work in a lunge position with your foot turned in, your body will know better how to respond to that position when in encounters it running on a trail at speed. And speaking of speed, S-Phase is the "Run Forrest, Run" of Z-Health — but not just linearly; it zigs, it zags; it stops; it starts. Just like life.

In the article, another Z-Health tenant is mentioned in that "the site of the pain is not always the source of the pain."

If we look at the neuromechanics of running, when our lower body moves, and torques say to the right, the upper body counter-torques to the left. Indeed, since the early twentieth century, scientists like Sheriton (1910), Janda (1963) and Gracovetsky (1988) have looked at how the body links in terms of various cross overs, such that someone with a right shoulder pain may also have a sore left hip. Similarly, pain in the right knee may be approached by doing work with the left elbow.

These connections underpin interdependencies of the body: if one part of us can't move normally (say the action of our toes or ankles), other parts start to come into play to try compensate in ways they weren't necessarily designed to do. That compensation sets up it's own problems, which pushes on other parts, and eventually ]that cascade of effects causes a pain signal (or a few) to be sent up to the brain for attention. But again, here's where at least from the Z-Health perspective, it's critical rather than focusing on a site of pain to the person moving ("It hurts when I do this") to look at a more holistic approach of the person in motion. These same assessment heuristics apply to those who have restricted mobility, too: getting any limb to move more freely will enhance overall well being.

Mike T. Nelson has a similar blog post on opposite joints found here. Also he reports here on how he helped an elite female marathoner using Z-Health by working on opposite joints.

I find this stuff fascinating. I really should go to visit a Z-Health practitioner to see what he or she would say I need the most work on so that I don't have to try to figure it all out on my own.

What is Better For the Core?

There is an interesting New York Times article today found here: "Is Your Ab Workout Hurting Your Back?" by Gretchen Reynolds on core strength. It tells a bit about the history and popularity of many of today's core workout routines, particularly the emphasis on the transversus abdominis and "sucking in the belly button". It explains why this might be the wrong approach to developing a healthy core. Stuart McGill offers a more balanced approach to core stability. There is also an informative video on the web page that shows three good core exercises.

Here is a visual guide to some other core exercises: some like the crunches do not agree with the NYT article, at least as performed here. Others seem like extensions to some of the exercises that are recommended in the article. The article "Hard Core - Exercises to Strengthen Your Abs For Better Performance" by Justin Maguire can be found on beginnertriathlete.com here.

I haven't tried these routines yet, but I look forward to exploring new exercises as the school year ends on Monday. I was really tired tonight and exited the track workout halfway through. I was a bit lethargic and stiff from earlier in the weak. I did three 11 mile days in a row before Monday's Mine Falls Trail 5K. I am also tired from the end of the school year. I thought it better to stop than to push through to an injury. I was probably stiff from doing tons of kettlebell swings last night too, as I was workout until about 11:00 pm and didn't have a chance to run, but needed to get some exercise.



Some other things I hope to give a try after school is out is the new Resistance Stretching DVD I got two weeks ago, but have only viewed once. It is the second DVD by Bob Cooley, author of "The Genius of Flexibility". It is the intermediate self stretches DVD and more information can be found here. I also ordered and am looking forward to recieving the third Z-Health DVD. It is called S-Phase: The Complete Athlete. Here is the blurb from Z-Health:

Introducing the Newest Z-Health Educational Product
We're incredibly excited to announce the release of the latest Z-Health Performance Solutions Educational Training DVD and Quick Start Guide.

We love it and are certain you will as well. Featuring Dr. Cobb and seven advanced-level Z-Health trainers, this instructional two-DVD set is a goldmine of information about the Z-Health approach to optimal athletic development. Here's a quick peek at just a few of the topics covered:

Static and Dynamic Stances. It all starts with a good stance
6 Visual Training Drills designed to improved field vision
Plyometric Training for developing explosive movement skill and speed
4 drills for creating explosive Linear Speed
3 Ground Speed Drills. Losing your balance or being knocked to the ground is part of the game. Learn to recover quickly
6 Athletic Transition Steps for maximum speed and quickness

We've also included a handy, pull-out Quick Start Guide for you to take to the track or gym with general training tips and two sample training programs to jumpstart your practice and creativity.

Since my movement patterns are so messed up and I still am working on the Z-Health Joint Mobility R and I phase DVDs, this one makes me just more curious about where these drills and movement patterns are going. I am sure it is meant for better and more effecient athletes than me, but I am curious as to where this approach to movement leads. You can check out Z-Health here:



Before today's workout I took my Vibram Five-Finger shoes out for a warmup run on the trails of Mine Falls. They worked OK. I felt the rocks through the bottom, but there wasn't really rough going on the run. I like this observation by Matt Metzgar on changing running speed and stride length when running over different trail conditions. This relates to barefoot running. Here is a video of Erwen LeCorre of MovNat. Even if you don't want to run comletely barefoot-I don't want to either, this video is a lesson in how the body runs over different surfaces when unshod.



I did receive great news yesterday. After 21 years of teaching at Mount Pleasant School I have finally graduated from the fourth grade! Next year I am switching schools to New Searles Elementary School and will be a fifth grade teacher. I am very excited for a change of school and look forward to my new position. On a side note, this may even help my running and fitness. The school is about 2-3 miles from my house and I can bike, scooter, or run there and I won't have to get on a highway or go through a traffic light. It also starts an hour later than my present school, so maybe I can learn to be a morning runner next year. Most of all, I am just looking forward to the change and a new challenge.

Finally, here is a marathon that I would have loved to participate in. At this years Utah Valley Marathon they had a footbike (kickbike) scooter division. You can read about it here. Here is a video:

I Am Not Missing the Eating of Ice Cream!

Day two on The Warrior Diet was terrific. I have no sugar cravings and only limited times when I feel hungry during the day. I like feeling good throughout the whole day. I enjoy the tastes of the healthy food I eat at dinner. Tomorrow we will see how this diet translates when I am at school. I am just bringing in water, cashews, sunflower seeds, a bit of cheese, an orange, and an apple. I will see if that gets me through the day. Now listen to me, previously the only food I enjoyed talking about was ice-cream.

Today I tried running on the treadmill. My hamstring is still sore and tight. I only did 2 miles slowly. I am looking at it as a good sign. I have my hip flexor feeling so good and loose that I think it changed my stride a bit (hopefully for the better)and that stressed the way I use the hamstring. Either that or I am just getting old and falling apart in new ways! I guess it is better to think positively though!

I did some more Z-Health drills today along with some work using kettlebells. I ordered a DVD from Sara Cheatham at Red Star Athletics and just recieved it yesterday. She is a top rated kettlebell instructor and Z-Health coach. If you want a DVD to get you started in kettlebells as well as Z-Health joint mobility this is a good one to get. I have learned a lot just going through the instructions to improve my kettlebell form. She offers good tips as well as top notch instruction. I was particularly interested in getting another perspective on doing the Z-Health drills. I did learn some good tips and different ways to do these movement drills and I am more clear on how to target the joints on several of the movements. Of coure there are more drills on the official Z-Health DVD's, but it is good to get a different perspective and to pick up hints on how to better perform the drills. By the way, there are warm up and warm down joint mobility drills.

How to Recover Your Stride: Recommendations #3-5

Previously I announced my first two picks of new ideas or methods I have tried this year that have helped improve my running. Now for my next three choices.

Number 1 The Ming Method as learned through the book "The Permanent Pain Cure" by Ming Chew

Number 2 Resistance Stretching

Number 3
Z-Health Joint Mobility

I have never really paid attention to the way my joints work and move. Who does unless they are injured? I came across Z-Health right before I started this blog. This was some very new thinking for me. I learned about it when I was searching outside the typical solutions that runners try when they are dealing with injuries or a loss of ability. I learned about it as I was exploring kettlebells and strength training.

My first blog post was about Z-Health. At first, upon ordering and trying the Z-Health DVDs I noticed an instant improvement in my how my body worked. I thought I had finally found the long sought after answer to my stride and imbalance problems. It worked for awhile, and although I did the exercises diligently, they stopped having the full effect that I anticipated. Yes the joint mobility routines helped my body, but the imbalances in my body were too overpowering and joint mobility work on its own did not restore my stride to an acceptable level.

I continued to use the Z-Health routines, but not as often, and tried other joint mobility programs to see what results I could get (see pick #4 below). Eventually I realized that my body needed more than just joint mobility work if I was to fully recover my stride.

In the past couple of months as I have seen significant improvements in my body, running, and stride due to resistance stretching and some of the Ming Method routines. I have begun to slowly reintroduce some of the joint mobility routines (or even just a few of the exercises). I have found them beneficial and a great compliment to the stretching I am doing. I think they work well in conjunction with the other work I am doing: they may help the stretching take hold better and when the stretching helps loosen the muscles the Z-Health drills help my joints relearn correct movement patterns.

I have also learned that you don't have to do all the drills standing up like on the DVDs. Dr. Eric Cobb, the inventor of Z-Health, has sent out some e-mails and one was to try some of the routines sitting or lying down. I have found that this lets me focus better on some of the drills. He also advocates doing the routines at different speeds. The DVD shows the being done quickly, but this is not always the best way. I know the manuals said to do them slower, but wrongly I figured "quicker was better". When I do them much slower I realize now that I find the results can be much more impressive.

What is Z-Health? It is a joint mobility program that helps you use proper joint movement patterns. It re-educates your joints so they function as intended. There are exercises for every joint in the human body from the toes to the head. The exercises are very brief with limited repetitions, but you are training for perfect movement, not for quantity of repetitions. The other aspect of Z-Health is that it claims to retrain the nervous system so that it will function more efficiently. I don't find the exercises hard or tiring. In fact I feel much better after doing them. Sometimes an exercise will result in an immediate improvement. The interesting thing is an exercise for one joint may have an effect in another place on the body. For example freeing my right shoulder can often result in a freeing of my left hip. I have taught some of the exercises to my fourth grade students. They love doing them. For example, before writing we may try some finger mobility drills (which they found hard to do) or when "joint" was a vocabulary word, I taught them some joint mobility drills with their legs and shoulders. They had fun and I often see them repeating a drill on their own.

If you are interested check out the Z-Health website to learn more. I know one person (Paul are you still out there?) who bought the introductory DVD and found it valuable. I bought the package deals. At first I bought the R-Phase with Neural Warm up package and this may be all you need. I then bought the I-Phase package much earlier than I would have needed it just to see what the new drills would be. These are more advanced versions of the drills with different positionings that mimic some of the positions athletes may find themselves moving in. It is interesting, more advanced, but not that essential. I think I tried to work too hard at the Z-Health at first and, as recommended by Dr. Cobb, you should spend a lot of time on the first routines and change them up by altering the speed and your position rather than rush into more advanced drills.

One important tenet of the Z-Health system is the SAID principle. It is an acronym used in human physiology that means "Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand". In other words your body gets better at exactly what it practices. In education terms I often call this "perfect practice makes perfect-imperfect practice makes imperfect". In other words if I have been running for years with a body with poor movements patterns that makes continuous compensations to keep running (which is what my body does for whatever the reason) then I will continue to run and move with those same patterns until I practice other movement patterns and get the nervous system to recognize and utilize these new patterns. So I am an imperfect runner because I keep running imperfectly- that is what I trained my body to do. The Z-Health neural training and joint mobility work alongside other methods of freeing and releasing tight muscle and connective tissue can be an important part of getting back into proper running form.

To find out more about Z-Health you can go to their website here:



Here are some of my posts that refer to my experiences with Z-Health. I should mention that the people at Z-Health are very friendly and helpful . They will even talk to you over the phone and answer questions and give some advice.

Aging and Feeling Good While Running

Joint Mobility Through Z-Health

Z-Health I Phase: Joint Mobility with Athletic Movement Drills

Some Reading to Explore on Joint Mobility and Z-Health

Why fast runners need good hip mobility

Ankle Mobility Drills: Can they Improve Hip Function?

Number 4
Ageless Mobility

After working on joint mobility with Z-Health I explored joint mobility exercises further. I came upon the of Scott Sonnon and his DVD "Ageless Mobility". When I ordered and tried this DVD for the first time I was amazed at how thoroughly it worked my entire body. In fact I remember finishing it and being so relaxed and refreshed that I immediately lay down and took a wonderful nap right in the middle of the day. While the joint mobility of Z-Health seems easy on my body and works the joints through their movement patterns, the "Ageless Mobility" worked the tissues around the joints. You will hear Scott Sonnon continuously say that you are "lubricating the joints" or "feeding the joints" as you do these exercises.

This long DVD (over an hour workout) sort of mixes yoga style positions with stretches and worked the muscles around the joints for each joint in the body. The neck movements were fabulous and my neck is no longer sore and tight like it had been for years. I always had a hard time looking to the left and over that shoulder and it was often tight and uncomfortable. After doing this DVD and other work since the beginning of the year, I realize that my neck is no longer a problem area for me. The best way to describe the program is that it "wrings out" the body. That is exactly how it feels. I know I feel so relaxed and loose after I take the time to go through the DVD. It is almost like getting a massage from the inside. Sometimes I only do the first 45-50 minutes and skip the floor exercises if I do not have the time. When you think of all the stresses that running places on our bodies, doing a program like "Ageless Mobility" makes a lot of sense as it seems to debug and destress all the tightnesses that build up.

I should probably do the routine every week or two, but lately have only done it about once a month. I also bought the "Intu-Flo: and "Flow-Fit" DVDs from Scott Sonnen. The "Intu-Flo" DVD has shorter routines at 4 levels and was well done, but it doesn't seem to give the same "wrung-out" feeling as the "Ageless Mobility" DVD. "Flow-Fit" had even shorter routines that are interesting, but not as useful to me.

Not only is this DVD my favorite of Scott Sonnen's DVDs. It is also the cheapest.

Here are my related posts.

Ageless Mobility: More Training for the Joints

Getting in the Flow: Joint Mobility Re-Education

Number 5
Get Out and Try Something New: Relieve the Pressure!

My fifth recommendation actually is my favorite. Just when I was ready to give up on my running because nothing seemed to fully work for me I got a mountain bike. I have done triathlons and bike racing in the past. I have road bikes. I love cycling and was actually a better cyclist than runner (even though my background is in running). I also have had fun with my Kickbike scooter. Unfortunately, when I ride my road bikes or kickbike I get in training mode. I want to go faster and farther. It just becomes another workout.

When my mountain bike arrived I took it out to wooded paths. I had no worry about time and pace. I was just having fun. I enjoyed every minute on my mountain bike. It was such a change of pace for me. I noticed my running felt better after cycling and started to ride it to Wednesday night track workouts as a bit of a warm-up. The mountain bike helped me relearn the "fun" of being outdoors. I was riding trails just off my daily running routes and I had no idea what cool trails were there just steps away from my daily runs. I can't wait until Spring when I can get on the mountain bike again and just enjoy being out in the woods.

After one fun day this Fall I remarked to my wife that not much has changed in the 40 years since I was a fourth grader. I wake up, go to school (I teach fourth grade), come home, go ride my bike around the woods, then take it to the track for a workout where I hang out with my friends doing sports. Life is pretty good!

Never underestimate the power of just having fun and being a kid again, no matter how old you are!

Now that was Fun!

Feeling Like a Kid Again!

Good Stretching for the Hips

Here is a resistance stretch that I really like although I don't have the flexibility that Luther from flexiblestrength.org demonstrates in this video. This is called the gall bladder stretch but it stretches the hip and outer leg.

Here is an interesting and similar stretch that may be modified to use as a resistance stretch. I like how the non-stretching leg is held against a wall to keep the hips from rotating. Dave Schmitt calls it the #1 stretch to eliminate low back pain.

Here is a fascinating video of Bob Cooley author of "The Genius of Flexibility" doing some pretty hard-core and advanced resistance stretching. The stretches are on the arms and fingers. I would like to see him perform some work on legs and hips. It looks unusual, sort of like working on human clay, but that is because the person being stretched resists against the stretch. When the person pushes back against Bob's stretching then they are getting a strength workout. One direction is a stretch, the other is a strengthening workout. It is pretty interesting, but I don't know what he is talking about the first minute or so; I guess he is referring to positive results from the stretching because he links stretching to personality awareness.

I have only done my Z-Health drills sporadically lately. I did receive my weekly training tip from Dr. Eric Cobb of Z-Health and it was something new that I never heard or noticed before when doing these joint mobility drills. He writes,

"If you are struggling with any particular Z-Health drill, have a seat. One of the things that many people overlook in Z-Health is that you are not required to perform the exercises standing in neutral stance.

You want to begin to think about the Z-Health drills simply as templates -- you can perform them seated, lying down, on your stomach, on your back, or on your side. Make sure that you explore the exercises in different positions because they will have very different effects.

Many of our happiest clients feel that the greatest benefits from Z-Health drills came about when they began applying the drills to their everyday situations. The office worker who practices Z-Health while seated will often see a fantastic effect from that during the course of their normal day.

Keep Moving,

Dr. Cobb"

Maybe I will take a second and new look at some of the drills and see if a seated or lying down position will help. At least it will give some variety. You can sign up for the weekly tips at the Z-Health website. You can listen to an interview with Dr. Cobb here. Here is an interesting article called "The Body is a Unit" that tells why Z-Health focuses on mobilizing and coordinating all the joints in the body. You can find out more about Z-Health here:

Ankle Mobility Drills: Can they Improve Hip Function?

My ankles don't hurt. They are pretty solid and rarely give me problems, but can freeing up some mobility in them help my hips? As I read and understand more about joint mobility and how the body works, I am finding that there is a strong relationship between the ankle and the hip. Mike Nelson answers a question about ankle mobility on the Precision Nutrition website with this:

"There are specific points in the ankle/foot that refer up to muscles in the hip due to the gait (walking) pattern. So if your feet are all gummed up, it messes up muscles further up the kinetic chain."

I had a really awful track workout on Wednesday night. The workout was 200, 400, 800, 1200 and then repeat. I guess my awful days are the days when something feels "stuck" and my hips or leg cannot more correctly and everything is out of whack. I cut out of the last 1200 and tried to stretch and knock the "stuckness" out of my hip. I couldn't but I didn't want to quit the workout so after about 15 minutes of work just went out and did the last 1200 by myself: more as a mental effort than for a physical benefit.

Thursday I didn't run, more because I was at school or doing school related interviews from 7:30 am- 6:00 pm with only about a 20 minute break. I was bushed. Friday my hips were still off. Before running I came upon a different ankle mobility drill. I felt a release and when I went running I felt good. Nothing was "stuck" anymore, although things were not in alignment. I could shift around my stride and try to balance things out. Today's run was just the same, again after concentrating on the ankles. So two decent runs in a row and I am happy.

Here is where you can find the ankle mobility drill. It is on page 2 of a great article called "The Ankle Paradox: Building Indestructible Ankles" by Jimmy Smith, CSCS. Be warned it is on the Testosterone Nation website so be careful where you open it! The drill I did is under the dart board picture on page 2: It says,

"Another option is self-nerve flossing techniques designed to reeducate our nerve firing patterns. This movement is a reminder that any muscle stretch will likely be a nerve mobilization, especially if the movements that place load on the nerve are included. The flossing movement is a body weight-supported mobilization.

In this movement, you'll be standing with the injured ankle close to the opposite leg and rotated inward. Make sure the injured ankle is behind the opposing leg. Push the toes into the floor and twist the foot inward to begin the mobilization. To strengthen the movement, flex the low back and neck slightly

When performing this mobilization, be sure to hold the position for at least ten seconds, as you would during any stretch."

I also found these two ankle mobility drill videos on Youtube. It is easy to see how to do the drills and they are very similar to the Z-Health drills (or are they straight out of Z-Health?). The instructions are clear and the drills are done slower than on the Z-Health instructional DVDs (although it is suggested to do them slower at times). The first clip are beginner drills. The second clip is of intermediate drills. I suggest you look into Z-Health if you like the drills and want to learn more.







When I was learning Egoscue ankle rotations last year. I found that my left ankle could not rotate freely. It was still that way when I started doing Z-Health drills this year. They have restored some mobility and movement beyond what I previously could do, but they are no way as free moving as this guys ankles!

Besides making my stride so I can run more balanced and free, maybe someday with all these drills, and work on mobility, stability, flexibility, balance, and coordination I can do something like this:

Stretching the Hip Flexors (Psoas)

Today's run went pretty well. My hips felt very well balanced (compared to normal) and I enjoyed the run because of it. I have changed a lot of things (even in the past week) so here are things that could be helping.

#1 My body is adjusting to using the sof sole inserts. They don't bother my feet - in fact my feet feel more solid and strong in them, but the changing of angles during footstrike and I think a lessening of pronation has changed the angles of legs, knees, hips, back and how they relate to each other. Whether this is good in the long run has yet to be seen. It could just replace one pattern of disfunction with another.

#2 I have been doing the "indigenous squat" for a couple of days. I think this is loosening up things in the hips and back. My hips felt more "in the socket" (I know that is not what is happening - but they seemed to be moving more in sync with each other. I also noticed that my lower back was tight, not in the muscles but more near the surface. I think this is the fascia that may be adjusting to changes in movement and balance as I readjust things.

#3 I noticed the other day that while doing the "FlowFit" DVD that my quads were tight. Today when running they felt like they were working better. Maybe I am strengthening and loosening them a bit.

#4 Maybe I just had a good day of running and it will all fall apart again tomorrow. Today I did use a pair of lightweight Saucony Kilkenny Shoes. I always enjoy running in minimalistic shoes the most. I have only done a few runs in these but they are similar in weight and profile to the Puma H-Streets that I like. They are a bit tighter around the forefoot however. I have also continued doing the Z-Health Neural Warmup before running.

#5 I did a some overhead lunges yesterday. I like the explanation on this site.

Hip Flexor Stretching

I like the reasoning on LaurensFitness.com for doing overhead lunges. Lauren writes:

This is possibly the best exercise you can do for opening up your hip flexors. It is basically a normal lunge, but you hold a medicine ball, or a light plate above your head. Out stretch your arms, keep them straight, directly above your head, and complete the lunges. You have something that is called fascia; it’s basically a sheath that runs over your muscles. Your fascia is a big issue in hip flexor tightness, and often when that is loosened, the muscle is too. Holding something above your head whilst lunging stretches this fascia out, and you get the added hip flexor stretch.

I know the fascia is an important and overlooked part of what holds a body and its workings together. Rolfing works on the fascia system. I had never heard that doing an overhead stretch can help the fascia of the hips and if so that is an extremely tight area on my body and if I can ease the tightness of the fascia maybe the hips will loosen up too! There are some other good stretches for the hip flexors on Lauren's website.

So I have lots of stuff to add to my arsenal and to continue to work with.
Here is another stretch I have not tried that I saw today on the Slowtwitch forums today. It is posted by someone from New Hampshire (yeah!)named "chief". I'll give it a try some day as it sounds like a killer so heed chief's warning to go slow.

The world’s greatest hip-flexor stretch.

WARNING: DO THIS SLOWLY

Start on your hands and knees with your feet against the wall. Slide your right foot straight up the wall, toes pointed to the sky, while letting your right knee slide back against the wall. Place your left foot flat on the floor for leverage and lean your torso back toward the wall. Your torso should be close to vertical (maybe not the first couple of times). Your left ankle, knee, and hip should be at 90 °. This is where it starts to get uncomfortable. During the entire stretch suck your bellybutton toward your spine. Slowly reach for the sky with your right hand and hold the stretch for 20 – 30 seconds. After this, switch hands and reach for the sky with your left hand and hold for 20 – 30 seconds. Finally, place your right hand on your right hip and allow your hips and left knee to move forward, all the while keeping your torso vertical, hold for 20 – 30 seconds. Repeat for opposite side.

Why fast runners need good hip mobility

Matt Fitzgerald, the author of Brain Training for Runners, a book I highly recommend writes about the importance of hip mobility in his blog. He answers a question from a runner concerning why some runners seem to push-off more with their toes using extreme ankle flexion when running. Does a strong push-off create a faster runner?

Matt states that the ankle push-off is more a passive reaction to greater posterior hip extension. He writes that:

"Runners who exhibit extreme ankle plantar flexion at faster speeds are typically faster runners than those who exhibit moderate ankle plantar flexion, but it’s not because they push off the ground more forcefully through active calf muscle contraction. Rather, it’s because they have greater hip mobility. Indeed, a high degree of hip mobility, which enables runners to make large strides efficiently when running hard, is an often overlooked biomechanical characteristic of faster runners."

His suggestions to improve hip mobility include working on joint mobility exercises and a few all-out sprinting efforts during the week. I would also recommend getting a kickbike to work out the range of motion in your hips (as well as to have the most fun possible on two wheels!).

There are a few programs out there that focus on joint mobility. Most of these programs work on improving joint mobility. I use Scott Sonnon's "Ageless Mobility" and "Intu Flow" as well as Dr. Eric Cobb's Z-Health program. Z-Health is recommended as it works not only on joint mobility, but on reeducating the nervous system to use correct movement patterns.