restore: the legs program
The Fascial Stiffness Cascade
Building fatigue resistance from the feet to the core and hips via the Deep Front Fascial Line.
Remember that this and virtually all run warm-up exercises should be done barefooted to enhance small nerve proprioception and intrinsic strength and integration.
Step 1: Grab your RAD Round and place it between your heels. Your feet should be parallel and your pelvis in neutral.
Step 2: Grip the ball between your heels with moderate pressure as you lean forward onto the balls of your feet. Maintain straight posture and a neutral pelvic position. Check your breathing – make sure it’s 3D!
Step 3: Start to grip the ball more firmly. Build a “tension stack” from the ground up by externally rotating your thighs and squeezing your glutes.
Step 4: Start to rise higher onto the balls of your feet as you grip the ball at near maximum effort. Radiate tension throughout your entire body by pinching your shoulder blades together and continuing to squeeze your glutes as you rotate your thighs in an outward, external fashion.
Step 5: Rise up as high as you can, cascading and stacking the full-body tension – feel it in every part of your body. Hold for ~15 to 20 seconds before lowering.
Include this exercise in your training at a convenient point in time or as part of a run warm-up, once or twice every 7 to 10 days.
The more you practice it, the better you will get at it, both in terms of “feeling” it and how to perform it as well as benefitting from doing it!