Monday Moves: Boring but effective

I am back in Georgia and still working on my conclusions from my 10 week trip to the South Pacific.  I really did not want to leave (I am sure this is a common feeling) and had some wavering about changing my return flight.  It was pretty hard to get on the plane, but I felt that at this time it would be best to come home.

Being back in South Georgia has been great.  I am working on the first ever Martin yard sale.  Also,   some opportunities have opened up for me to share about what I learned during my time volunteering with YWAM Medical Ships.  These opportunities will force me to continue to process and reflect on my time in what I feel was another world.  So stay tuned for my closing remarks about PNG and Australia!

I'm excited about continuing to post "Monday Moves."   As I have been catching up with friends, I have learned that two of my close friends are training for a Fall half-marathon.  Yes, some people pay money to run 12.1 miles.  I'm super proud of Bronwen and Kelly - so these next few Monday moves will be dedicated to the female long distance runner.

Today's exercise is boring but effective.  It reminds me of Jane Fonda and cheesy aerobic outfits.  It is so simple that we tend to want to skip right over it.  Yes, it is the ever simple and traditional side-lying hip abduction exercise.  Go grab your 80's sweatband and let's get started!

I'm getting the feeling that you will need a few more reasons to add this exercise into your routine.  First of all, this exercise activates the ever so pesky gluteus medius muscle which function to stabilize the pelvis (aka - saddle bag muscle).  Also, so much of our life - and all of our long distance running - is performed in the sagittal plane (I like to imagine a soldier marching to get a good image of sagittal plane movement).  Muscles in the frontal plane can be forgotten as we just don't do snow angels and other frontal plane motions enough.  The stronger you can make these hip muscles the less chance you have for injury and pain further down the chain (yes, even that pain in the front of your knee).  Finally, who doesn't want a firmer hip and booty?

For all of those that need a little more scientific convincing, this study in the Journal of Athletic Training found that side-lying hip abduction activated the glut medius more than any other exercise.  And since weak glut medius muscle is associated with anterior knee pain and other common overuse lower extremity injuries, what better reason to add this simple yet boring exercise back into your life? Jane would be so proud.

Now that you're motivated, let's assume the position.  Lying on your left side with your chin tucked so that your head is in a neutral position, raise your right leg to create just one bottom half of the snow angel.  Initiate this movement with the outside of your right heel.  Keep your left hip and core firmly grounded with your belly facing the side wall.  A way to add resistance to this exercise is to strap and ankle weight to your right foot.  Complete 3 sets of 10 to 15 adding repetitions as you increase your strength.

Here is a YouTube link to that does a great job describing this exercise.