The truth about your “tight hips”

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TRAINING BREAKDOWN

“You can’t fix the chink in your armour with more mileage”

By Emma O’Toole

Hello, happy Sunday!

Today’s newsletter is about the weak links in your training; not the “I skipped a run because I couldn’t be bothered”, that’s a different issue (but one which happens to us all and is fully fixable too!). Today, we’re diving into a deeper, more subtle kind of issue. The kind that keeps showing up as tired legs, tight hips, lower back pain or that same old niggle that never fully disappears.

(Before we get into it, a quick reminder that my FREE 7-day run & ride stronger challenge starts tomorrow to those in my free coaching group! Each day, you’ll get quick, powerful routines and techniques from targeted workouts to smart nutrition all aimed at building your Endurance Performance Toolkit. Click here to join!

Back to those tired legs, tight hips, lower back pain and annoying niggles!

Ok, so you warm up, you stretch, you foam roll (most of the time), but something still feels off and as a 30+ runner and cyclist who is training week after week, this isn’t just about wear and tear and the quirks of getting older.

It’s not a “new-normal” that you have to accept, and it’s definitely not fixed by more stretching or another recovery tool, like a massage gun. Your body is trying to tell you something, to tell you that there is a chink in your armour somewhere. One that isn’t going to smooth out by foam rollering harder. Rather, you need to stop managing your symptoms and start fixing the cause of them and that starts from the bottom up with building a stronger suit of armour.

I recently attended a coaching mastermind last Sunday and the key takeaway message was this:

The real reason you’re still feeling tight or fatigued isn’t your training load, it’s the gaps in your strength that your body keeps trying to work around.

Basically, you can’t stretch, or foam roll, your way out of an issue caused by lack of strength and you can’t fix the chink in your armour with more mileage.

So how does this apply to you?

Well, as you probably gathered it’s not another 10 minutes on the foam roller, and it’s definitely not just pushing through and hoping it all just “loosens up” and resolves on its own. The answer comes back to strength, absolute, focused and consistent strength training and here’s how this can seamlessly fit into your training plan:

1. Identify your strengths and weaknesses:

Most runners and cyclists are pretty surprised when they struggle with these 5 exercises, (especially exercise number 1 for runners and exercise number 3 for cyclists!); but just like with our training, once we know where are strengths and weaknesses lie we can play to our strengths and work on our weaknesses and the same goes for your strength training.

If you’d like your eyes to be opened in less than 10 minutes, then please enjoy the follow quiz:

Quiz for runners: Are you strong enough to run?

Quiz for cyclists: Are you strong enough to ride?

2. Be consistent.

The biggest key to success is consistency and that’s true to pretty much anything in life and is very much the same with our sports. You get better at running by running, and you get better at cycling by cycling. But strength training is the jigsaw piece that holds it all together helping you move more efficiently, drastically reduce your risk of injury to keep you running and riding stronger for years to come.

You don’t need 2 hour-long gym sessions, or complicated programs with excessive equipment. You need something that fits into your life, something that you can follow and that actually gets done. This is the quickest and most sustainable way to help keep those tired legs, tight hips and lower back pain at bay.

Two short, 30-45 minute, structured sessions a week can build a stronger foundation, reduce those recurring issues, and help you recover faster from the training you're already doing... as well as helping you run and ride stronger.

If you struggle to find the time for 2× 30-45 min dedicated strength routines, please reply to this email as I have just the routine for you that’ll I’ll send you over for free.

3. Focus on progress, not perfection

1. Progress with your consistency,

2. Progress with your programme.

Going from zero to hundred with your strength training, and training in general, is a sure-fire to fast-track yourself to an all-or-nothing approach, burnout and be a red flag for those niggles. It’s unsustainable because your body, mind and life schedule haven’t had the chance to adjust to your training load. The good news is that you don’t need a lot of stimulus for strength training to improve your running and cycling, so if you miss the odd session here and there because life happens, think of the other 50 weeks in the year where you have been consistent.

2. Your body needs progression to adapt depending on where you are with your training: different rep ranges, different ranges of motions, more volume, less volume, heavier load, lighter load… new challenges for strength growth.

If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, you’ve heard me say this a few times, but without that progression you might as well be running the same 5km loop at the same pace, or riding the same 20 miler at the same intensity only ever in light winds and expect progress. Progress comes from change and the right dose of challenge.

I really hope you’re enjoying your running and cycling at the moment and encourage you not to settle for tired legs, tight hips, or a sore lower back as a runner and cyclist over 30. You have the power to change the way your body feels and a cornerstone of that is solid strength training.

Don’t forget to also check out our fantastic free community for ongoing support and help with your training last week we dived into the “10% rule” and how to build your mileage safely.

Have a great Sunday!

Emma

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