One of the great things about running is its relatively low cost. Churning through shoes can get expensive, of course, but if you hold running up to something like cycling, you’ll see that spending eight hundred dollars a year on shoes is preferable to coughing up a quarter million just to loiter outside a café every weekend looking like a frog from outer space.
Photography & Video: Ben Murphy
The other great thing about running is the minimal cost of the requisite strength training—it’s almost non-existent. You don’t need to join a fitness club, engage a personal trainer, or purchase a Superflex FuckMaster 3000 Home Gym to stay strong. All you need is a large rubber band.
Resistance bands cost next to nothing. In fact, a twenty-dollar investment in resistance bands will set you up for life. They’re cheap, effective, and, when rolled up and put away, they take up about as much room as a donut. The most important thing, though, is that resistance bands will strengthen your ability to withstand injury, and that’s why in this issue of POSSESSED, we’re going to look at four basic resistance band drills.
Disclaimer: As always, if you fold yourself in half and make your eyes pop out of your skull while doing these drills, that’s 100% your fault.
Lateral Sidesteps
First cab off the rank is Lateral Sidesteps. This one will strengthen your butt and hip flexors and improve that area’s overall mobility, stability, and endurance. Take a ‘medium’ strength resistance band (depending on your size and strength, this could be anywhere from 5–15lbs to 15–35lbs of resistance) and loop it around the outer ankles like a belt that has fallen from your waist to your feet, and position your feet hip-width apart.
Now, put a slight bend in your knees and slowly take a controlled step to either the left or right (stretching the band and creating resistance). Then follow with the other foot so that your ankles are hip-width apart once more. Repeat. You can go left to right with this movement, or you can choose to travel about your home like a crab. Either way, be sure to complete at least one set of 8 to 10 reps two to three times per week to begin with.
Clamshells
This is another one that targets the all-important glutes and hip flexors but in a different way. Get down on the floor, put your legs through your resistance band (possibly a lighter one, but see how you go), and bring it up to just above your knees. Lie back and roll onto your left or right side and prop your head up with your arm like you would while having a romantic picnic with that special someone who makes you feel like life is worth living; bend your knees and stack them on top of each other—do the same with your ankles.
You should be laid out like a kid watching TV on the floor. Now, engage your core and slowly open your legs at the knees as far as you can while keeping your feet together. Hold... hold... HOLD! Now, slowly bring the leg back down and close the clam shell. Again, you need to complete at least one set of 8 to 10 reps with this one and try to find time to do it two to three times per week.
Glute Bridges
You’re probably thinking, ‘Glute Bridges? How much butt action do you need?!’ Calm down, dudes and dudettes. Glutes Bridges don’t just tackle your ass, they also get to work on your hamstrings, and they help strengthen and stabilize your core. Get back on the floor with the band around your legs just above the knees like before, but this time lay flat on your back with the soles of your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Place your hands palm-side down beside you, engage your glutes and core, and slowly raise your hips off the floor while pushing down with your heels (your forefoot can come off the floor).
Once you’ve reached what feels like the limit on how far your hips can go without popping something in your pelvis, release and gently bring your butt back down to the floor. If that feels too easy, you can straighten one knee, extend a leg toward the ceiling, and then raise your hips from there. Be sure to do this with both legs equally (massive duh) and knock out at least one set of 8 to 10 reps.
Single-Leg Hip Extensions
Single-Leg Hip Extensions are excellent for overall stability and balance, and we really recommend you give these a shot. Take your resistance band and wrap it around your ankles like you did for the Lateral Sidestep (feet hip-width apart), and then, while standing tall (chest out, shoulders back), slowly lift and swing one foot back behind you as far as you can while engaging your core and maintaining excellent posture. Hold... Hold... I SAID HOLD! And then gently bring the foot back to its original position.
Repeat on the opposite side. Don’t worry if you can only bring your foot back behind you a small way—as long as you can feel resistance, you’re doing good work. That goes for all the exercises we’ve listed here.
After even one week of doing these four Resistance band drills, we guarantee you’ll notice an improvement in your form, power, and endurance. If you don’t see any improvement, write to us at:
Highway to Health
c/o POSSESSED Magazine
123 Elf Road
North Pole
88888
