Strength and Flex... what's that????

[Oldfloss]

Well...besides being what we advise our runners to do alongside their running, it is one of our sister forums and it is brilliant... and if you have not visited it yet... you should have!

Great tips and advice for the strength and stamina work that many of us find so, so useful to do alongside our running.

Also great, if by some twist of fate you have an injury... the ideas for keeping up our strength and stamina are very useful.

The rest of our body needs to keep up with our legs! So, on some of our rest days, non impact work is essential. That is what the forum is all about... and you don't need a gym to be able to participate!

I have been fortunate enough to have the chance to act on there for a while and I have posted my first post today!

It is all about ...guess what???

Mother Nature connected them dry bones

Mother Nature connected them dry bones

Mother Nature connected them dry bones

Now listen to the tips from the Floss !

Well, your toe bone's connected to your foot bone

Your foot bone's connected to your heel bone

Your heel bone's connected to your ankle bone

Your ankle bone's connected to your leg bone...etc etc...

Yes, you have guessed it, my first post is about FEET... I will be working upwards as time goes on!

So... if you have not visited the forum.. go take a look... take a look at the past posts, and links and watch out for some new ideas in the near future...!

If nothing else, you can smile at some of my ideas... but you may find some useful.. after all they got me to a Half Marathon

Floss xx

[Katnap Graduate]

Hi Floss! Definitely a good idea to direct trips to the IC via the Strength and Flex forum. 😁

[Katnap Graduate in reply to Katnap]

Is it in the newbies guide to C25K?

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Katnap]

It is... and hopefully, all the useful stuff is going to be far more visible soon!

[Annieapple Administrator Graduate]

Thank you. Will take a look 👀

[Annieapple Administrator Graduate]

Thank you. Will take a look 👀

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Is there a link on the S&F site to the videos?

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Yes.

[Tbae]

Visited Floss, Brillant, and signed up.👊💥🏃‍♀️⭐️👏👏

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Tbae]

Brilliant

[LiisaM Graduate]

I love these new posts of yours!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to LiisaM]

Thanks you!

[Jazzyrunner Graduate]

Floss, can I ask something? I’ve not yet done any of the Strength and Flex, but I do mean to start. What confuses me is that I feel like on rest days between run days, my body needs to use its efforts to mend the muscles I’ve worked on the run. So if I do S&F stuff on the rest days, doesn’t that mean my muscles don’t get to recuperate? I’m not being critical - I’m asking as I believe you know the answers, and I want to understand! I want this running thing to go on for ever, so I want to look after this body of mine 😁 Thank you for your patience 😘

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Jazzyrunner]

You do need actual rest days... you most certainly do... proper rest...

This is why we suggest that you do some non impact work, on just some, of your rest days.. and particularly when the runs get longer.

The fact that the exercise is non- impact... means that the important running muscles, and those micro tears, do get time to heal.. and repair

Much of what I shall post will be simple, and often quite short routines... yoga or simple 10 minute stretches etc... things you can build into your day.

For example, I may do a 10 minute upper arm routine linked with some standing stretches for my core.

I hope I could eventually put a short routine plan in place or folk to try... it will not be intensive enough for many, but will be useful for those on C25K maybe

Nothing to high power, but all helping.

When we reach the 30 minute runs and beyond, we do need our body to keep up with the legs

Hope this helps a little? x

[Jazzyrunner Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Ah, I do understand now, thank you! 👍🏻 It’s so helpful, all that you post, I do really appreciate it. And I’ve done some of those foot massages with the ball that you posted the link to - love them! x

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Jazzyrunner]

Doing non impact exercise on rest days improves blood flow to your muscles, improving recovery without doing any harm.

By adding strength work you keep your muscles in balance, otherwise your leg muscles can develop without proper support from adjacent musculature.

For anybody in their sixties it is essential to do extra strength work as there is a natural decline in muscle strength from that decade onwards.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks you .. you always put it so much better than I

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Oldfloss]

Nonsense! Just a slightly different perspective.

Where are the videos links on the S&F site?

They don't seem prominent on my tablet view.

Combining this is such a good idea!!!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

... ah .. confusion on my part.. I thought you meant were there links in my post.. sorry.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Oldfloss]

No,they need to be on the top, like the How to.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

I have no idea where that is.. I am not seeing half of what i should be I don't think!

[Jazzyrunner Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Ah yes, thank you, I understand about increasing blood flow, makes sense. Not quite in my sixties yet 😅 but my upper body strength has always been pathetic 😂 so it’ll do me good!