This week on the A to Z Running Podcast we are discussing functional movement for runners. Functional movement enhances your life by strengthening & activating muscles you use. Functional movement for runners has the same benefits!

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Main Topic: Functional Movement for Runners

Some Background

What is functional movement?

According to Mayo Clinic, “Functional fitness exercises train your muscles to help you do everyday activities safely and efficiently.” Functional exercises tend to use multiple joints and numerous muscles.

Why does Phil Wharton suggest that there are basics before functional movement? 

• Because if we have a muscle that isn’t firing, a weakness, tightness, then we may do our functional movement exercises improperly. 
• So start with posture and structural aspects. 

Functional Movement Resources

• Jay Dicharry’s Running Rewired
• Functional Movement Assessment (chapter 17 from Musculoskeletal Interventions: Techniques for Therapeutic Exercise)

What Runners Need to Know

“Movement skill is critical.” (Dicharry, p. vii)

• Comparison to ball sports – technique, fundamentals (think: Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers)
• Remember deliberate practice
• “running form follows body function.” (Dicharry, p. ix)

Good movement needs to be automatic

• Three stages of building muscle memory (Dicharry, pp. 14-15)
• Cognitive (have to think about it, not smooth or natural)
• Associative (still thinking about it, but can make it happen)
• Autonomous (the movement is natural and normal)

System intelligence

• “In sports, muscles don’t act in isolation the way they do on the leg extension machine–you need to train movements, no muscles.” (Dicharry, p. 16)
• Coordination, control, and precision
• High volume, little resistance
• Practice couple times/week

What Runners Need to Do

Identify areas of need

• Start with posture/structure things
• Take a look at this Functional Movement Assessment chapter for more reading
• Implement a routine that targets specific needs, and if none that still addresses the essentials for every runner (think: running movement)

Neuromuscular training as a regular asset

• To accomplish the system intelligence
• Needs to be frequent/often
• Needs to follow postural/structural corrections (fix that stuff first)

Seek functional movement, not isolated muscle work

• Avoid machines
• Avoid big heavy lifts on isolated muscle groups

The exception: specific muscle weakness or recruitment issues

• There is sometimes cause for isolated muscle work
• This probably needs to be determined by an expert

Some examples to get you started

• Leg strength circuit (we have two variations: plyometric version and stationary version – both developed in conjunction with Adam Homolka of Endurance Rehabilitation and Athletics in Ada, MI)
• Lunge matrix we’ve referred to often on the show (video coming soon)
• Jay Dicharry’s Hip Circuit (from the book)
• Jay Dicharry’s Performance Prep Circuit (from the book)

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