Read Video Text Below:
Hi, David Weck here.
Today, I'm going to teach you an exercise that's going to improve your squat and improve the carryover from the squat to better running.
You're going to need a piece of elastic. Any elastic is going to do, just needs to be the right tension. You don't want it to be too light or too heavy of a resistance. I just wind this one around a couple times and now I've got a nice tension.
The key is abduction; that's bringing the legs out. I'm going to drive the knees out, feet will be pointed relatively straight ahead in this exercise. What I'm going to do is I'm going to drive the knees out, pull down and I'm going to feel that work happening in the hips. Driving out against that elastic resistance is the key. From the bottom position, where I get to the bottom (I'm defining the bottom by the lower back, I want the lower back to stay as good as it can) now I come up onto the toes. I want to sink in but maintain height in the toes but get more flexion in the hips, and bring it down to the heels. Get it up onto the toes, find that balance, feel the hips and then see if I can deepen it. Maintain it and again, up on the toes.
That's only three repetitions and then come up, take the elastic off. Now, first thing you want to do is test it on the ground. Did it improve? That's our goal. And now right here, pull in a nice squat, feel that nice power and depth. Got it, improvement.
Coming up on the toes, that's going to improve the mechanics of running by shifting center forward in the base, giving you better balance and strength through the feet and giving you the proper mechanics [and proper running technique], which is foot coming up and knee going forward.
So foot starts the up, hands it off to the hip flexors, foot keeps on coming up. By doing that toe lift, I'm starting to increase the flexion in the hips with the raising up of the foot and it leads to good mechanics where the foot is coming up and knees going forward. I'm using the foot and Achilles, calves, plantar fascia, everything down here to send it up to the hip flexors and I leave the hamstrings in reserve for extension. That elastic exercise will improve your squats. Give it a test and do that little toe raise onto it and it'll carry over to better running function.
