Mobility for trail runners
The relationship in the flexibility of the athlete and the risk of injuries is something that you always have to consider.
Even though within scientific literature there are dissenting results in many studies that conclude that greater flexibility does not provide a lower risk of injury, there are also studies which says that the athlete must present some minimum values of flexibility to be within a safe mobility range.
Most of the muscle ratings that we made last year on athletes who came with injuries, sometimes chronic, reflected important muscles with excessive tension, that were located in some key joints for running, outside the safe range. Those shortenings where generating a cropped mobility that overburdened its muscle system with unwanted compensations. In the end they were athletes with limitations and that presented an inadequate running pattern in all its phases.
Obviously, these athletes do need to stretch, not only to gain flexibility but also to keep it once obtained these profits.
Mobility required for Trail running, Skyrunning and Ultra-trail
Mobility required is also depending on the sport that you do practise. The recommended mobility of a Skyrunner should be such that it allows the Skyrunner to take advantage of more efficient angles while running on all types of mountain terrains. Therefore, we strive to get the running step as efficient as possible and to be able to work in a natural movement pattern, which also decreases the risk of injury.
A complete Skyrunner should have adequate mobility in several muscle groups and should, for example, be able to:
- Absorb and compensate for uneven ground during running.
- Be able to pass ground obstacles smoothly without having to lift the centre of gravity unnecessarily high.
- Mobility required for steep uphill and downhill running.
- Have adequate mobility throughout the movement, so that any stiffness does not cause unnecessary load/damage on exposed places and thereby increase the risk of injury.
To check if you are within the safe ranges of motion, please check out Arduua tests for Trail running, Skyrunning and Ultra-trail.
Below some of our favourite mobility routines…
/Katinka Nyberg
Good luck with your training, and please contact me for any question.
/Katinka Nyberg, CEO/Founder Arduua