This exercise is a favorite amongst many coaches and runners and a good way to exercise and warm up the hamstrings in particular. It’s also a nice way to stretch out one of the major hip flexors the rectus femoris, which runs down the front and middle of the thigh.
Coordination and running. While it’s important to get the hamstrings firing we want to get them working early and in good coordination with the glutes. This means pressure must be applied with the glutes as the hamstrings load. As a coach I’m most concerned with hamstring strength and activation as it relates to preparation for and contact with the ground.
In faster running you want to recover the leg very quickly, the heel will get closer to the buttocks as the thigh is tracking through under, up and ahead of the body. For tempo pace running the heel of the swing leg getting to or just above the horizontal is adequate for many runners.
There are some coaches that maintain running well only involves a process of lifting the foot off the ground with the hamstrings, drawing the heel in a direct line from the ground up and under the buttocks. The theory goes that this will remove support and allow you to fall forwards without having to put any force or strength into your running stride. If only it were this easy!
A variant of this approach as a mental cue of pull through has a better chance of coordinating the hamstrings and glutes together in running, which provides a stronger and longer stride.
The reason for making this point is that this drill is mostly concerned with modeling the recovery of the swing leg, not drawing the heel only to the buttocks, nor is it designed to be reflective of a complete running pattern as are the A and B drills.
If you literally tried to adopt this lifting of the heel technique into your running (unless you were standing on a steep slope) you would go up and down on the spot. Here are six successive images that show what happens to the swing leg after a fast runner (Olympian Tamsyn Manou Lewis) has propelled herself forward in space.
1. Swing leg (left) and hip fully extended as
the runner leaves the ground
2. Swing leg recovery, thigh moving forwards.
3. Swing leg fully recovered, thigh moving forward & up.
4. Swing leg and knee drive forwards.
5. Swing leg about to contact the ground.
6. Force applied to the ground, hip extends to propel the torso
forwards.
Bum kicks how to:
Caution: Don’t do this exercise if you have a hamstring injury. Be careful to start slowly and easily to reduce the risk of injuring a hamstring while doing this exercise.
1. Start out slowly and deliberately.
2. Lift and pull through the swing leg thigh up (engage hip flexors
and hamstrings).
3. Allow the lower leg to load on contact and send some pressure
down with the glutes as you quickly pull through with the
hamstrings and hip flexors.
4. Don’t slam the toes into the ground - contact towards back of
the forefoot if possible.
5. Engage the glutes and hamstrings as you contact (pressure down)
and pop forwards.
6. Pump the arms to increase leg turnover speed.
Tip: You can cut the hip extension phase a little short in this drill; this helps recover the leg faster. Keep your cadence or stride rate high - this is a faster movement.
Tip: Think about pulling through with the hamstrings and hip flexors.
Do: Two sets of 20 meters.
Try not to: Let your hip collapse. Keep your butt working and hips strong. Don’t allow your knee to start tracking too far towards the centre of your body.
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