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W e run with our whole body. Keep this in mind when you’re training and while reading this book. If any body part isn’t working at 100 percent, then we’re not the most optimized versions of ourselves. So how can we all work toward reaching that 100 percent and striding toward the goal of optimization? Rather than thinking about your entire body at once, focus on making smaller, more manageable improvements one at a time. After scanning yourself from head to toe, create a checklist for restrictions and limitations. Now, devise a plan to tackle each of the items on your list, incorporating exercises to enhance mobility, stability, and strength in the places you need them most. Each of these elements will help prevent injury and put you on the path to becoming bulletproof in your training for decades to come.

In this chapter, I’ll share exercises and movements with you that are designed specifically to build the mobility, stability, and strength required to keep running at your best, no matter your age. Mobility is defined as “the ability to move or be moved freely and easily.” Just think about the 33 joints in your foot—if you had enhanced mobility in this area, you’d be able to bounce out of bed and hit the road running immediately. And stability keeps us all on our feet, steadying our every move so we don’t fall over constantly. It’s defined as “the ability to maintain control of joint movement or position by coordinating actions of surrounding tissues and the neuromuscular system.”