In this post:

• Use this exercise to activate your glutes for better movement patterns and muscle recruitment patterns in squats, lunges, running or other training exercises.

Video Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m going
to show you how to use a rubber band with
glute bridges to activate the hips, the
glutes for better biomechanics around
the hip joint. It can take stress off of the
spine, can take stress off of the knees.
We’re also gonna throw in a little bit
of tibialis anterior shin muscle
activation with the glute bridge, so you
find a rubber band. These are looped if
you have a thera-band that’s long and
not looped, you can tie it around your
knees. Place it around the knees first.
Maybe a little bit above the knees. Lie down on your back, feet close
together. From there pull the toes up,
lift the hips up. Your head and shoulders
rest on the ground. Keep the toes pulled
up activating those shin muscles,
anterior tibialis. Then while you’re
keeping the hips elevated push the knees
out. Let them back in slowly. Push them
out, let them back in slowly. From the
side it looks like this. So you want to
avoid getting your heels too close to
your hips, a little bit of spread there,
where the knees start off at about
ninety to a hundred… hundred degrees
or so, maybe 110. Pull the toes up feet
are close together.
Squeeze the glutes, you can do a little
bit of a posterior, rear tilt of the
pelvis first to be sure the glutes are
engaging. Then from there arms, down by
the sides,
head and shoulders rest on the ground. Toes remain pulled up, knees to the side
and back in slowly. sets of ten to
fifteen are a good start with that. You
got any benefit from this video then
leave a comment below. If you’d like to get
more content not available on the blog
or the regular YouTube channel, then
click the link that’s connected to this
video you’ll have a chance to sign up
for the Run Better Now VIP Club. Thank you.

Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• Use this dynamic mobility exercise as a warm up for running or a training session.

Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m going
to show you how to do this dynamic
mobility exercise to prepare for a
workout, to improve your hip mobility,
help you get better depth on your squat,
go down into a deadlift without rounding
your spine, and also just to run with
greater ease of the movement. And it’s
called the mountain climber. So it’s
different than the abdominal workout
mountain climber you may be
familiar with, where you’re just kind of
in a plank position, push-up position,
moving your legs back and forth. We’re
actually going to go into that plank
position, push-up position, like this. But
take a breath in and on the exhale I
drive my foot forward and try to get it
even with my hands here. And at the same time once the foot is planted,
I let the hips sink like that. I’m trying
to keep my rear leg as straight as I can.
So I’m getting the hip flexor stretch
here. I’m getting hamstring, inner thigh,
hip abductor stretch on the front
leg. Inhale back, exhale, inhale, exhale,
inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. I like to do
at least 10 reps on each side, but if you
start with five, it’s a good start. Can do
several sets give that a try if you got
any benefit from this, video leave a
comment below. If you like to get more
content not available on the blog or the
regular YouTube channel, then click the
link that’s connected to this video
you’ll have a chance to sign up for the
Run Better Now VIP club.

Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• Use this exercise to warm up the inner thighs, hamstrings and hips before running or other training.

Video Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m going to
show you a dynamic mobility warm up
drill I like to call the side leg swing.
I like to use this before a workout for
a run to help open up the inner thighs,
groin. Loosen it up in a very dynamic
way. So it’s not a static stretch, very
dynamic form of stretching and all you
need is a fence, pole, or a wall. Just
anything you can grab on that won’t move.
You may get to a point where you can do
the drill without anything to hold on to.
But don’t force it. So what I want to do
is just turn and then I’m going to be
swinging my right leg. So I want to hold
on with my right hand. Then I’m just
going to swing the leg out, really
emphasizing the outward swing. The stance
leg, there’s going to be some activity
in these hip muscles on my stance leg
to help anchor my body down to the
ground and kick my right foot out. There
will be a little bit of movement in the
pelvis and that’s okay. I’m really just
trying to kick my leg out. I’m letting
gravity and the pendulum effect take it
back across so it’s not about kicking it
this way.
It’s about kicking it this way out to
the side. And then the other side where
I’m swinging my left leg. My left hand
on the fence,
or the pole, or the wall. 2 sets of 15
on each side what I like to do. You can
change it up. You do more or less, but two
of fifteen seems to get me nice, ready
and loose. Got any benefit from this
video, leave a comment below. If you’d like
to get more content not available on the
blog or the regular YouTube channel the
click the link that’s connected to this
video, you will have
chance to sign up for the Run Better Now
VIP club.
Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• Use this exercise to enhance hip mobility and warm up before running or training.

Video Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here and I’m
going to show you how to do a dynamic
mobility drill that you can work into
your warm-ups for running or any kind of
workout. Especially a full body
workout, and this drill is called knee to
chest. You do it while you’re walking and
you bring one knee up grab it with the
opposite hand. And then pull the knee up
a little bit of pull. What you can see is
that as one arm goes forward the other
arm goes back. Best way to breathe here
is to have an exhale as the knee is coming
up. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. When I’m
naturally compressing the midsection a
little bit. That’s when I want to push
the air out. I like to do this about 20
reps each side. 10 to 20 reps each side.
Or just go for a certain distance. It’s a
good bit of glute activation the higher
I bring one knee the more the stance leg
glute has to activate. So, pausing a
little bit at the top can be helpful.
Really squeezing it high at the top.
Looks like this. Got any benefit from
this video? Leave a comment below. If you’d
like to get more content not available
on the blog or the regular youtube
channel, then click the link that’s
connected to this video you’ll have a
chance to sign up for the Run Better Now
VIP club.

Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• How to warm up the quads for running or a training session with this dynamic mobility exercise.
  
  Video Transcript:
  Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m going to show
  you how to do a dynamic mobility drill.
  It’s called heel-to-butt. This one will
  loosen up the quads especially the upper
  quads,
  especially the hip flexor, the rectus
  femoris part of the quad, and also
  activate the glutes. So what you do is
  just as you’re walking you let one foot
  come up toward your butt. Grab the foot,
  grab the ankle with the hand pull the
  knee back and then switch, and switch. Do
  your best to try to keep the heel up
  rather than but you may have to do a
  little bit of… when your quads are really
  tight you might have to do a little bit
  of side flexion in your torso to get the
  angle. Once you do though, don’t stay
  there. Instead get tall, pull the knee
  back at the same time. We’re working on
  the extensor chain, the glutes, the core.
  We’re getting the body ready, full hip
  extension. If you sit at a desk all day,
  quads are most definitely tighter than
  they could be.
  If your upper quads are tighter than
  they could be, you are operating with
  your parking brakes on. You’re not
  getting full hip extension where you’re
  running, squatting, deadlifting or doing any
  kind of overall full-body physical
  activity. Give that a try, use it as a
  warm-up 20 reps or so on each side or
  just go for a certain distance like 30
  yards, 30 meters, something like that. Got
  any benefit from this video leave a
  comment below. If you’d like to get more
  content that’s not available on the blog
  or on the regular YouTube channel then
  click the link that’s connected to this
  video, you’ll have a chance to sign up
  for the Run Better Now VIP club.

Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• Warm up your hip rotators before running or a training session.

Video Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m going to
show you how to do a dynamic mobility
warm-up drill I like to call heel
crossover. What you do is as you’re
walking just bring one heel over to the
opposite hand. The front looks like this.
Want to be very sure that you’re
bringing the foot up rather than
bringing the hand down. So we don’t want
to be doing a crunch motion where I just
lift my foot up and cross it a little
bit and then do this. Head should stay up
on top of your shoulders which are up on
top of your hips. Torso is lined up and
the heel comes up the knee comes up and
the heel comes over getting that hip
rotation. I like to do 20 reps or so on
each side or go for a certain amount of
distance as a warm-up for running. Got
any benefit from this video? Then leave a
comment below if you’d like to get more
content not available on the blog or the
regular youtube channel, then click the
link that is connected to this video and
you will have a chance to sign up for
the Run Better Now VIP club.

Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• Use this exercise to warm up before a running or training session.

Video Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m going to
show you a dynamic mobility drill that I
like to use as a warm-up drill for either
a run and/or a workout, weight workout,
crossfit workout, any of those options.
And this is called the gorilla walk. So
what you do is basically just walk with
a normal kind of step, not excessive. It’s
not like a lunge. Then you place your
opposite hand either on the shin,
ankle, foot, or floor depending on how
open your hamstrings are. You want to be
sure that the front leg it’s just
slightly bent. It’s not fully extended.
There’s a slight bend there and I’m
hinging at the hips, so my torso stays
long. This is the hip hinge and this is
the spine bend. So we want to go more
towards hip hinge and less towards
spinal bending. Do the best you can. I
like to do about 20 reps or so on each
leg, or just go for a certain distance
like 30 meters or so. You got any benefit
from this video, leave a comment below.
And if you’d like to get more content
that’s not available on the blog or the
regular youtube channel, then click the
link that’s connected to this video and
you’ll have a chance to sign up for the
Run Better Now VIP club.

Author:
Nick Ortego is a health coach specializing in biohacking for runners. He integrates modern methods with the ancient wisdom of yoga to help runners get the most out of every aspect of life. He is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and fascial stretch therapy.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• Use this exercise to warm up the upper body and shoulders before training.

Video Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here and I’m going to
show you a dynamic mobility warm-up
drill for the upper body. I like to
call it the dynamic flyes. So the fly
motion is this out to the side.
What we’re going to do is cross the arms
over like this. Really going to emphasize
the backwards push. So pushing my arms
back. Emphasizing that as my arms go
back I’m turning the palms up and the
thumbs back, so I’m getting external
rotation at the shoulder, activating the
rotator cuff muscles and the scapular
retractors. I go left over right then
right over left and I’m really
emphasizing that external rotation when
I push it back and I’m really
emphasizing pushing back. So I’m trying
to push my arms as far back as I can
stretching the pectoral muscles as much
as I can. Pec tend to be really tight
especially if you drive a lot or sit on
a desk a lot or do anything where your
hands are in front of your body, which is
what most people do for work.
Got any benefit from this exercise leave
a comment below. You like to get content
not available on the blog or the regular
YouTube channel? Then click the link that
is connected to this video and you’ll
have a chance to sign up for the Run Better Now VIP club

Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel

In this post:

• Warm up your shoulders with this dynamic mobility exercise.

Video Transcript:
Hey it’s Nick Ortego here. I’m going to show
you a dynamic mobility warm-up drill for
the upper body that I call arm circles.
So basically what you do is start off
with your arms down by your sides and
start to move them in big circles like
this. Get a little bit of momentum going
and then reverse it as well. I like to do
20 each direction so I’ll do 20 where
it’s forward and then 20 backwards. As
I’m doing this I want to be sure that
I’m trying to make the circles extend as
far behind my body as I can. That’s
usually where everyone needs more
activation of pushing the arms back. So
even when I’m doing the forward circles
it’s not about making a big forward
circle. It’s about making a big backward
circle like that. If you got any benefit
from this video, leave a comment below.
If you’d like to get more content that’s not
available on the blog or the regular
youtube channel, then click the link
connected to this video, you’ll have a
chance to sign up for the Run Better Now
VIP club.

Author: Nick Ortego is the owner of N 2 Action, a wellness studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, offering personal training, health coaching, yoga, and assisted stretching.
Also find more on the Nick Ortego Fitness YouTube Channel