Archive for June 20th, 2009

I’ve finally seen the light on the injury front.  While looking at all those IT Band websites, I was spending all my attention on the rolling/stretching portion, and completely ignoring the part that would say “leg strengthening exercises”.   Because who wants to add more mundane exercise into their daily routine?

Then it hit me.  Stretching and rolling are a superficial fix, they help the injury calm down but they don’t give insurance against a reappearance.  When I looked at the anatomy pictures and saw what the exercises target (upper butt and muscle around the IT band) and how little time they take to do, I was like…why wouldn’t I do these?  Strengthen the surrounding area and get a better butt in the meantime?  Win win.

I only picked two because I know I’ll stick with them if I don’t inundate myself.  One is balancing on one leg while standing on an air cushion from this excellent blog.  It’s especially good because it’ll also strengthen my weaker ankle (last year’s bursitis adventure).

You don’t need the cushion for that one, several sites mentioned simply balancing on one leg for 3-5 minutes, playing catch with a ball while balancing is another variation, but the cushion adds a good amount of difficulty.  Plus I already own one from when I bought those stupid posture-fixing items last year which, btw, is yet another testimony to exercise – I improved my lifelong sucky posture in a few months just by doing some pushups and chinups…what further proof do I need?

The other exercise is a variation on side leg-lifts.  I settled on this one over the oft-recommended “clamshell” because I could feel it working more.  Just nevermind that my resistance band says Jazzercise on the handles.

As for running, after my day off, yesterday was a brisk 7-miler.  For the first time in 3 weeks, I had total peace about me because I knew that even if the IT band gave me trouble on this run, I’m on the road to fixing it for good.   The rest day mixed with 3 days of exercises brought a great run, the IT band was silent.

I’m about to go for 8 or 9 on this wet Saturday.  Hopefully it’ll be another uneventful journey, but if it isn’t, that’s cool – I’ve turned in my victim card for good.  This injury no longer rules me, I am going to rule it.   Proactive, that’s the word of the day.