My New Early Morning Core Circuit

Well, since it's the new year and I've been riddled with foot and knee pain since returning to running in early December, I figured it was about time I re-incorporated some core strengthening exercises into my running routine.  This is an area of my running I chronically neglect until I can't ignore it anymore, much like this time.

Will I finally turn that around and be more proactive? Maybe. I'm not sure if I can just turn the switch on instantly...I need to build up a routine, a schedule, a simple habit.  Then it will be damn easy to just keep doing it.

I could make the following statement: "I will always follow up my runs with 30 minutes of core strengthening." But we both know that is not likely to just start happening.  So I decided to take my core strengthening in strides and have devised a weekly program that is simple, quick and easy to do.  The challenge? Getting up 30 minutes earlier than I normally do.

So I've decided to do 20min core circuits three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday Morning at 6:30am. I had my first session this morning (I know, it's Thursday, w/e) and in 20 minutes time I managed to pump out the following circuit:

• 3x15 declined (25 Degrees) sit ups
• 3x15 straight legged deadlifts
• 3x15 pushups
• 3x10 lunges (each leg)
• 1x30 leg raises (against wall, targeting gluteus medius) (each leg)
• 1x30 leg lifts (on stomach, gluteus maximus trigger) (each leg)
• 1x30 wall squats (tension band around knees, target outside of leg)
• 3x1 airplanes (some yoga pose, held for 5sec) (each leg)

And yup, 20 minutes is all it took for me to complete this circuit and it felt great!  Now to get this to the point of simply being a habit and I'll be laughing! You might be wondering why I chose to do it in the morning before work. The reason is quite simple....I feel too tired after a run at night to want to do core work. Putting it in the morning separates the two separate activities enough that I won't forgo the core work.