I’ve been running for almost 10 years, not a long time compared to a lot of people out there, but long enough to gain what I think is a decent amount of knowledge about the sport (hobby? pastime? obsession?) and my body.
I know that if I run and don’t take the time to stretch afterwards, I’m going to get injured. So I built a little routine after I get home from a run that I like to follow. I take off the Garmin, roll out the yoga mat and stretch for anywhere from five to 10 minutes – just the essential stretches, I don’t get too fancy. Then I sit at my desk and analyze my pace, heart rate and splits on Strava before jumping in the shower to get on with my life.
That’s the normal routine. But since I’m not perfect, I don’t always stick to it. For the past month, I’ve slacked on some of the stretches and have been paying for it in the form of hamstring issues. So I thought it appropriate to share the hamstring stretch I’ve since started doing that has helped me get back to feeling better.
Full disclosure, Ed Mathews, the therapist in the videos, was a client of mine. I worked with him to build his Facebook community and get him in front of athletes in New York to give free stretching seminars. I truly believe in what Ed does and was a client of his for more than six years before I started working with him. I credit Ed with getting me to the finish line of 15 marathons (and counting).
Every runner's problem spot, right? Thanks for these videos – I never think to do stretching with a band, but I'll give these a try this week.