Exercises to keep you healthy and training

With mileage season sneaking up before the fall races get underway, there are bound to be aches and pains starting to appear as you train this summer.

Here’s a few pains to watch out for and the exercises you can do to keep them at bay.

Stretching

It may seem basic and simple, to a point some roll their eyes when it’s brought up, but stretching is something valuable and worth spending a few minutes on each day. Good stretching is more than taking 30 seconds before a run to pretend like you’re loosening up. Take six or eight minutes after a run, when you’re already warm, to sit around and stretch your tired muscles. They will respond better and it’s an excuse to sit around your living room watching TV for a bit longer. Your body will thank you.

Foam Rolling

Foam rolling is classic running exercise that has branched out into plenty of other sports. It’s a great way to get rid of acute muscle tightness. Spending a few dollars on a foam cylinder is a great investment because it can be used for plenty of different exercises. Most know the usual IT band release exercise, but a quick look around the Canadian Running website or on other pages will bring up plenty of great uses for the simple tube of foam.

Foam rolling can be a bit uncomfortable at first, but your body will thank you later and as you get into a habit or routine it will become much easier.

Myofascial Release

The fascia, or the tissue around your muscles, and other organs, bones, nerves and such, can sometimes be the culprit to what you think is stiff muscles. Myofascial release is a type of exercise used to loosen the fascia around muscles to allow them room to move.

There are different tools an techniques used depending on what area of the body you’re having trouble with, but a few simple tools you can buy or have around the house are the stick, solid sports balls, such as lacrosse balls.