By Elizabeth Towe
In any training plan, you want to increase strength and improve instability before you add volume (number of miles). The goal of this exercise, another variation of a lunge, is to improve your ability to rotate the torso, shoulders and arms while holding stability on one leg. Having adequate rotation in the upper torso is critical for maintaining a stable body in running. Insufficient rotation or inability to balance while rotating requires extra work that diminishes gait efficiency. This exercise tests and improves your efficiency.
Exercise:
- Start in a single leg stance, with knee lifted just below the hip, holding a medicine ball or dumbbell in front of the chest; shoulders are relaxed.
- Rotate the shoulders, spine and ribs towards the lifted knee; let your gaze follow the medicine ball.
- With the lifted leg, begin to step back into a lunge, simultaneously rotating the torso to the other side. Keep the spine long and bend slightly forward at the hip joint. Let your gaze continue to follow the medicine ball.
- Bring the back leg back up to a knee in front while simultaneously rotating the torso towards the lifted knee.
- Repeat this movement on the same leg 10-15x, and then switch to the other side. Perform 2-3 sets on each leg.
For an increased challenge, increase the weight of the medicine ball or dumbbell.
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Elizabeth Towe is a runner and a cyclist and the owner of Balanced Movement Studio in Carrboro. She graduated from East Carolina with a degree in exercise and sports science and has been personal training for over 20 years. Her ultimate goal for all of her clients is to help them realize and achieve the optimal quality in their life – and to remember to have fun doing it.
