A Hip Routine Named Myrtl

One of the advantages of living in the same building as 2:50 and faster marathoners is…. knowledge. Lots and lots of knowledge. And lucky for me, they like sharing their runner wisdom with those of us who are less competitive. Enter my new 10 minute hip routine.

It is a well known fact that I am prone to injuries, perhaps more so than others. In fact, I’d say 99% of my injuries are a result of something being wrong with my hips. I have no idea what I did in my life to get such finicky hips, but whatever it was, it has plagued me for many years. Well it turns out that I’m not the only runner in this world who has suffered a myriad of injuries due to weak hips. Super fast marathoner/neighbor #1 has too, and he shared with me one of the ways he has gotten past the injuries. The Myrtl routine, named so because it rhymes with girdle (and girdle = hips).

From what I remember of the story, there was a cross country team (I’m not sure where, maybe Oregon?), that always had stellar performances at the beginning of the season, but by the time competition rolled around, most of the team had some sort of injury. Well one running coach decided to tackle the problem, and he developed the Myrtl routine. It’s a very simple hip strengthening routine that can be done before or after a run, although I think after is preferred. The routine is so simple that when I first saw the video, I thought I was watching the wrong Myrtl routine. Five to eight repetitions of each exercise on each leg? How helpful could this really be?

When I wasn’t running for most of the month of October, I completely forgot about the 12 simple exercises. Then this past Friday, as I was finishing up an easy run, super fast marathoner #1 came upstairs to the gym after his run and immediately started doing the Myrtl routine. Ok, ok. Maybe I should be a little more proactive about injury prevention. So ever since my run on Friday, I’ve been doing my Myrtl routine, and I take back anything I ever said about it being ineffective or too easy. In fact, doing those 12 exercises after my run, actually make my hips a little sore and it does get a little difficult towards the end. Perhaps that has something to do with my tight hips or my titanium rod and two screws, but who knows? From what I’ve read, it’s actually quite the effective routine and I plan to keep it a part of my running ritual.

You can watch a video here explaining each exercise or there is a PDF here. I printed out the PDF and keep it near my yoga mat. It serves as a good reminder.

Happy Trails and Happy Running,

Tracie

Running/Baby Update: Running continues to be a mental and physical battle for me right now. After my morning runs, I always feel so achy. Therefore, tomorrow I’m going for a prenatal massage to hopefully help the blood flow. Baby T-Rod is almost 17 weeks!