According to Vanderbilt University, running yields significant health benefits, including lower blood pressure, improved elasticity of your arteries, improved lung potential and a cardiovascular system that's efficient and strong. Both competitive and recreational runners can benefit from running-related exercises, which prepare your body for the rigors of running and help prevent sprains, strains and repetitive use injuries.
Yoga
According to Runner Girl, although yoga and running exist on opposite ends of the exercise continuum, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. Practicing yoga on a regular basis can be a helpful and effective way of balancing the tone of your body's muscles, and it will help increase your range of motion, agility, flexibility and muscular endurance and strength. A significant number of running-related injuries are caused by muscle imbalances and improper footwear; running itself is not the problem. Yoga, will help align your joints and tissues, and it will decrease the amount of pain or discomfort you experience while running. If you're a runner, Runner Girl suggests the following yoga poses to help balance your body and improve your performance: downward-facing dog, triangle and tree.
Ankle Rotations and Point and Flexes
Pete Egoscue, an anatomical physiologist and author of "Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain," touts ankle rotations and point and flex exercises as a way to restore your ankle flexibility and strengthen your foot flexor and extensor muscles. Perform ankle rotations by lying on your back with your head, shoulders, lower back and hips contacting the floor. While keeping your left leg extended, draw your right knee up toward your chest as far as you can, using both hands, with fingers interlaced, to cup the back of your bent knee and hold it in position. Your lower leg should be parallel to the floor. Using only your ankle, rotate your right foot in a counterclockwise direction a total of 20 times. Perform 20 more rotations in a clockwise direction, remembering to keep your left leg flat on the floor, toes pointing straight up.
Ankle point and flexes can be performed from the same position: your left leg extended and your right knee drawn up toward your chest. Keeping your knee still, and using only your ankle, point your toes away from your body, then point them back toward your body, as far as your foot will go. Perform 20 point and flexes before switching legs and repeating these exercises on the opposite side. Perform these exercise five days a week, and before and after a run.
Calf Stretching
Stretching your calf muscles and Achilles' tendon is an important running-related exercise. McClanahan suggests you should perform calf stretching to improve the flexibility of the structures in the back of your lower legs; they endure a significant amount of stress during running. To stretch your calf muscles and your Achilles' tendon, face a wall, stand tall and position your hands against the wall at approximately shoulder height. With your hands pressing lightly against the wall, place your right leg behind you. Keeping your right leg straight with your heel to the floor and your toes pointing directly ahead, carefully lean forward by bending your left knee. As you lean forward, you should feel a light stretch throughout the posterior portion of your right lower leg. Hold this stretch for 20 seconds before switching the directions and stretching your opposite side. Perform three repetitions of this exercise on each side of your body, five days a week.
