NEWS

Knees sticking out negatively impacts on a number of performance areas for any athlete.

You've probably seen those cyclists who ride with their knees sticking out to the side and athletes who run with their knees out to the side, but did you know that poor leg tracking such as this has a number of negative impacts on an athlete's performance?

Poor leg tracking can be seen when knees point out rather than tracking in line with the hip and foot. Poor leg tracking can also kick in when athletes become more fatigued and their form starts to deteriorate.

Why does this matter?

For cyclists, correct leg alignment is important to a good pedal stroke. While some cyclists will have slight variations, generally your foot, knee and hip should all track inline.

This alignment enables the most effective application of power down through the pedals, puts less strain on the knees and also happens to be more aerodynamic.

So, if someone is pedalling with poor leg alignment, this means they are los...

The importance of breathing cannot be overemphasized.

On average, we breathe about 24,000 times per day, but how much attention does the average athlete pay to their breathing?

In order to perform at their best, athletes needs to be able to efficiently and effectively breathe oxygen into their bodies and exhale the waste products out.

Here’s how Pilates For Sports can help athletes develop this process.

THE BREATHING PROCESS

When we breathe in we expand our chest and lungs, and our diaphragm contracts and is pulled downward to make room for the lungs to expand. Outside our body, the air pressure is greater and air is drawn in when we inhale. Thus, the diaphragm lowers the internal air pressure and increases the volume of air in the chest cavity allowing us to expand our lungs.

When our diaphragm relaxes, it moves up, the rib cage contracts, the lungs collapse, the cavity inside your body gets smaller the air is pushed up and out your body – we exhale.

So, if we fully inhale a...

How does sitting for long hours at your desk weaken your glutes and impact on your running?

Weakness in the hips and glutes is common amongst those of us with a sedentary lifestyle. If our glutes aren’t working to their full capacity, then other muscles will have to overwork to pick up the slack.

Because of this, many runners I’ve met are told by their Physical Therapist that they have a ‘lazy butt’. So, why is this such a problem if, by evolution, we are actually designed to run?

 Let's take a minute to refresh our knowledge of the glutes. 

The gluteal muscle group consists of the gluteus maximus, minimus and medius. All three of these muscles have different yet very integrated roles in the lower body in relation to stability and mobility.

In summary, the gluteal muscles as a whole are responsible for:

• Hip extension – think take off phase in running
• Hip abduction – external rotation and internal rotation of the hip
• They are important for Femoral, patellar and tibial alignme...