Be Well Workout of the Week: Jump-Start Your Broad Street Run Recovery 


Since many of you ran the rainy Broad Street Run this weekend, let’s do a nice recovery workout to help ease your achy muscles. Now, I know you’d like to recover by laying back on the couch forever (and you totally deserve it), but one of the best ways to help your tired muscles feel better is actually to move.

But instead of working for speed and power, we’re going to slow things down and make your movements more about stretching and strengthening. So, start with 20 reps of each exercise below, then decrease by five reps each round, for a total of four rounds, until you’re just doing five reps of each exercise. For the sprints, just stride it out to get those muscles moving again. Even though working out might be the last thing on your list this week,  your body will thank your afterward — promise.

Be Well Workout of the Week: Jumpstart Your Broad Street Run Recovery 

Reps: 20-15-10-5
Reverse lunges with knee pull
Push-ups with knee drive
Wide plie squats
Supermans with arms in a T
Straight-leg sit-ups
Twisting lunge
Downward dog to upward-facing dog (start in downward dog, drive your chest through to upward dog-that’s 1.  From upward dog slide back through to downward dog-that’s 2.  Do 20 total)
1-minute sprint stride

Explanations of exercises:
Click links for how-to videos.

Reverse lunge with knee pull: Do a reverse lunge with your right leg, drive your right knee up and hug it to your chest, stretching your glutes, then glide your leg back out to a reverse lunge position. Do all reps on right side, then repeat on left.

Push-up with knee drive: Do a push-up and when you return to a high-plank position, drive your right knee under your torso toward your chin, engaging your core. Return to a push-up position and repeat on your left side.

Wide plié squat: In a wide stance, turn your feet out and do a squat.

Superman: Start laying on your stomach with your arms extended. Lift your legs and arms of the ground and upward. Hold for two seconds. Return to the starting position.

Straight-leg sit-ups: Lie on your back with your legs straight. Pull torso up, engaging your core, as though you’re doing a sit-up and reach your arms out to touch your toes. Lie all the way back down and repeat.

Twisting lunge: Start standing with your feet together and your hands together at your chest. Step forward into a lunge with your right leg, twisting your torso to the right. Return to a standing position and repeat on the left, twisting to the left this time.

Downward dog to upward-facing dog: Start in a downward dog position, with your hands placed shoulder-width apart on the ground in ahead of you and your feet hip-width apart behind you. (Your body should be making an upside-down V shape.) Lower your chest and drive it forward, straightening your legs so that they are parallel to the ground with your the top of your feet on the floor, and your head up and back, so that you are looking up at the ceiling. Return to downward dog position and repeat.

» Did you complete this week’s BeWOW? Tell us how you did in the comments! Or, feel free to tweet at us about it using the hashtag #BeWOW. Check out all the BeWOW workouts here.

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Audrey McKenna Hasse is the owner of A.M.Fit, a personal training and healthy consultation business on the Main Line. You’ll find her workouts every week right here on Be Well Philly.

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