I've been doing core workouts pretty religiously and have seen some relatively fast improvements, but unfortunately, I'm still not in the shape I was pre-pregnancy. I also began the 100 Push Ups Program again and look forward to reaping the benefits from that. Earlier this week, I found something that piqued my interest. Okay, I didn't find it, per se, another runner shared it with the community at Run the Ville. Anyhow, I'm referring to the 100 Up, 30 Day Challenge. This is a challenge to do the exercise for 30 days in an effort to discover if there is any impact on your running form. At first, I wrote it off as pointless but then I actually started paying attention. One big thing happened to change my mind and helped me decide to actually participate in the challenge--I practiced the exercise as I saw it on the video. After doing it, I FELT it. In my mind, even if it didn't impact my running form at all, the exercise itself was going to help me strengthen my core and hip flexors. Actually, I'm a little afraid of doing the challenge because I have a feeling I'll be quite sore...but a little soreness never stopped me!
The challenge begins on Friday, November 11, 2011--join me! I plan on doing my 100 Ups just before a run as a sort of warmup, or on my scheduled days off, whenever the baby says I can! I'll keep you posted about how it goes for me!
Oh, and just to be safe, here's a link to some common hip flexor stretches and the pigeon pose--this is where I'm feeling tight after doing just a few practice "Up" exercises!
