Off Season - Things to Repair

(HT: Ironmantriathlontips for inspiring me to blog about this)

I don't claim to be a doctor but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. One thing I have struggled with over the past few seasons has been the deterioration of my hip flexors and supporting muscles. Specifically, as I have trained for Iron distance races, my muscle imbalances have been a limiter. They have resulted in injury for the last two seasons.

About a month after Ironman Coeur d'Alene, I was ready to get moving again. I had the desire to finish the season with another HIM. I remember how tight my body was on those first few runs. I remember a sharp pain in the front of my pelvis, near my hip. And then I will always remember the day it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was on a 12 mile looped run. I was 5 miles out and couldn't run anymore. Of course I didn't have a phone. Instead, I had to walk the long five miles back to the house.

This year it was ITBS. As I am still recovering from Ironman Florida I feel the same nagging pain in the front of my hip. This time, I am not pushing the long runs...yet. But the source of the pain is the same....weak hip flexors. And the physical therapy routine is the same--strengthen the core to keep my hips from shifting/tilting.

The offseason is the best time to tackle these issues. I am currently forcing myself to conduct 20 minutes of core training after each swim. This works well in that it forces me to the pool 2-3x a week and keeps me actively strengthening this area. But I need to ensure that this continues well into the season.

The issue for most triathletes is that we operate on the same linear plane. If you think about it, swimming, biking and running all occur on the same axis. There is no cross movement that other sports experience (e.g. football, baseball). So we build up solid muscle in our calves, quads and hamstrings. Where we often fail is developing strong secondary muscles...those that support the larger muscles and help keep us in place. This is where potential for injury occurs.

So what are the solutions:

1. I am an advocate for more stretching.
2. Focus on core exercises
3. Invest in a theraband
4. Cross train. And by cross train that means move on the lateral axis from time to time
5. Focus on core exercises :)

Here are a few of my favorite reads on the subject.

1. Learn about the hip flexor
2. Beginners Guide to hip flexors
3. Plyometric Exercises
4. Runner's World-Core Exercises
5. Bosu ball exercises
6. Theraband exercises (pdf)
7. Runner's Guide to ITBS