In pre­par­a­tion for the Ultra X Vir­tu­al Race World Series we have teamed up with Han­nah and Emily from Twice the Health, along­side their coach Brad Welch. Togeth­er, they make up the #Run­Strong team, a run­ning pro­gramme that incor­por­ates run ses­sions and strength workouts to enable cli­ents to run strong and race hard.

Han­nah took on and smashed Ultra X Jordan last autumn, so she knows all about Ultra X and our com­munity. TTH have cre­ated three workouts and pre-run pre­par­a­tion ses­sions, each to be released on the Wed­nes­day before each Qual­i­fi­er.

We are great believ­ers in mak­ing time for the non-run­ning part of your train­ing pro­gram. Reg­u­lar strength and con­di­tion­ing, stretch­ing, and mobil­ity work will not only make you a bet­ter run­ner, it will also reduce your risk of injury.

Have a look at the workout and run-pre­par­a­tion exer­cises for Qual­i­fi­er 2 below. The team have made a video to cor­res­pond with each workout so if you’re unsure of the dif­fer­ent exer­cises, give the videos a watch.

Workout 2

This workout begins with hip and spin­al move­ments to prep the body for some intens­ity. The focus is on the pos­teri­or chain with upper body strength sprinkled in for pos­ture gains, and improved trunk strength, which is key for run­ning strong.

2 rounds
Bear IR x 10/10
Frog pump x 20
Cat/cow x 30sec

3 sets
KB RDL to row x 12/12
Gob­let reverse lunge x 15/15

3 sets
Ham­string walkouts x 30sec
Lat lunge to knee drive x 6/6
Yoga press up x 8–12

Run-Prep 2

The aim of these mobil­ity sequences is to loosen up the main prob­lem areas spe­cif­ic to run­ning. We’re keep­ing it pretty gen­er­al­ised so that you can use these ses­sions at any point dur­ing the day. Brad encour­ages the girls to do them first thing, to wake up their bod­ies before a morn­ing ses­sion but the main thing is to make them a part of your routine so whenev­er works for your body is just fine. Com­bin­ing act­ive end range move­ments and body­weight pat­terns makes them access­ible for every­one.

2 rounds
Half kneel­ing ankle pulses x 10/10
Toe taps x 20
Frog IR* x 10/10
Iso hip bridge 45s
Cat/cow x 10
Lat­er­al lunge + over­head reach x 8/8

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