|
Physiorun
The Classroom
Your Weekly Running Strength Class
|
|
This Week’s Class
Getting It Done
No wasted time, no fluff. Six moves that roll, load and power the hips, hamstrings and calves — straight from foam roller into real strength.
6 exercises · 3 rounds each · ~25 minutes
|
|
Some weeks call for exploration. This week calls for getting it done. No lengthy warm-up, no isolated drills for their own sake — just a session built on one simple principle: prepare the tissue, then immediately put it to work.
We start by foam rolling straight into active movement — releasing tight areas of the hip while training control through the new range at the same time. From there we load the hips and posterior chain under single-leg balance, teach the legs to absorb force safely, and finish by building the calf and Achilles endurance that keeps your push-off strong late into a run.
Six exercises, three rounds each. Roll it, load it, get it done.
|
|
Section 1 — Foam Roll & Mobilise
|
Mobility
|
|
|
1
|
Groiners — Four-Point Kneeling Foam Rolling into Abduction × 30 seconds × 3 each side
On all fours with the roller under the inner thigh, roll the tight adductor tissue while lifting the leg out to the side into abduction. This pairs self-myofascial release with an active strengthening movement, releasing the groin and immediately teaching it to work through the range you’ve just freed up. Runners with tight adductors often compensate with excess hip drop — this drill tackles both the restriction and the control in one move.
|
|
2
|
Foam Roller Rotations — Long Sitting × 1 minute × 3
Sitting long with the roller trapped between the ankles, draw big slow circles with the legs. This takes the hip through internal rotation, external rotation, abduction and adduction all in one continuous movement, while the weight of the roller forces the deep hip stabilisers to work to control it. One drill, every direction of hip mobility a runner needs.
|
|
|
Section 2 — Load & Power
|
Strength
|
|
|
3
|
Single Leg Hinge with Weights (Row) × 1 minute × 3
Standing on one leg, hinge forward at the hip and row a weight toward the ribs as you go. This builds single-leg balance, posterior chain strength through the hamstring and glute, and upper-back pulling strength all at once — closely mirroring the single-leg stance and arm drive that happens every stride of a run.
|
|
4
|
Sinky Jumps × 1 minute × 3
Bound laterally from left leg to right leg, sinking into knee flexion on landing to absorb the impact. This trains the legs to accept and control lateral force safely, building the eccentric strength and joint stability that protects the knees when the stride gets fatigued or the ground underfoot gets uneven.
|
|
5
|
Runner’s Drive Calf Pulses × 1 minute × 3
Small, rapid pulsing calf raises held in a driving running position. This builds calf and Achilles endurance under a high-rep load, training the engine room of your push-off to keep firing efficiently deep into a run — exactly when fatigue tends to make the calf and Achilles vulnerable.
|
|
|
Section 3 — Finish & Activate
|
Posterior Chain
|
|
|
6
|
Foam Roller Hamstring Bridge × 1 minute × 3
Heels balanced on the foam roller, bridge the hips up and hold. This finishes the session by loading the hamstrings and glutes through a full bridge pattern, while the unstable roller surface demands extra work from the deep stabilisers — activating exactly the tissue you’ve just mobilised and loaded throughout the class.
|
|
|
Watch the full class
Follow Along on YouTube
▶ Watch the Class on YouTube
|
|
Weekly Blog
Why “Roll Then Load” Beats Foam Rolling Alone
Ask most runners about their prehab routine and you’ll hear about foam rolling — a few minutes on the sore or tight spot, done. That’s a good habit. It’s just only half the job.
Foam rolling on its own creates a temporary window of reduced tension and improved tissue quality — but that window closes again within minutes unless something actively uses the new range. Left alone, tissue drifts right back to where it started, and the benefit barely outlasts the session.
This week’s class — Getting It Done — closes that window immediately. Roll the groin into abduction and hold. Roll the hips into circles and feel the joint open. Then straight into single-leg hinges, lateral jumps and driving calf pulses that load exactly the tissue you just released. This is “roll then load”: foam rolling followed immediately by a strength or power demand through that same area.
The benefit compounds. You get the acute relief of foam rolling, plus the lasting adaptation of loaded strength and control work, in one efficient session — rather than two separate habits that most runners never manage to stick to consistently.
Getting It Done isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s a genuinely efficient way to prepare tissue and then immediately teach it to work — six exercises, three rounds, and a stride that feels noticeably freer and stronger by the final rep.
|
|
Top Tip of the Week
Roll Slow. Load Fast.
It’s tempting to rush through the foam rolling to get to the “real” exercise — but the two roles are different, and rushing either one costs you the benefit.
On the roller, slow down. A slow pass over tight tissue gives the nervous system time to register the input and actually reduce guarding — fast, aggressive rolling often does the opposite, tensing the muscle up rather than releasing it.
Then, when you move into the loaded work — the hinge, the jumps, the calf pulses — flip that switch. Move with intent and speed within control. Roll slow, load fast. That contrast is what actually teaches the tissue you’ve just released to become useful at real running speed.
|
|
Six exercises, three rounds each, about 25 minutes — and one of the most efficient ways to roll, load and power up before your next run. Do it, feel the difference, and get out the door.
James
Physiorun
|
|
No responses yet