Is it time to re-learn your ABC’s? 

Is it time to re-learn your ABC’s?

Why including agility, balance and co-ordination drills in your training program could make you a more rounded athlete and help improve your running.

As runners we love to run. That’s why we do our sport. And sometimes this means that we use every minute we can dedicate to training to just that, running.

However, if you’re looking to improve running economy and reduce the likelihood of injury, it is worth spending a bit of time working on other aspects of fitness, namely agility, balance and co-ordination, the ABC’s.

They are skills that we usually learn and practice as children, but often neglect as adults, yet they are of particular importance in the early stages of training for new or returning runners and if maintained, can prove to be of great benefit to runners of all levels.

If you already include a dynamic warm up and running technique drills in your training sessions, then you will already be working on all of these aspects of fitness.

If not, it might be time to add some agilty, co-ordination and balance work into your program. They can be fun, jumps, hops, skips, or even hopscotch. Test your co-ordination with backwards lunges using opposite arm to leg, grapevine with running arms, or try balancing on one leg…with your eyes closed if that seems easy. As you get more confident, you can start to add running specific drills, strides or sprints into the program.

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