Exercises for Runners

Labor Day—From Summer Adventure to Year-Round Strength

Adults working out in a fitness studio and then in fall and winter activities for Labor Day fitness routine

Labor Day fitness routine isn’t about forcing a big “reset”—it’s about transforming all the gains from your summer adventures into strength, mobility, and vitality for every season ahead. Summer fills the calendar with hiking, long days outside, spontaneous games, and late-evening walks. But as Labor Day draws near, it’s time to move with intention. At SolCore, we know the secret isn’t in trends or quick fixes. It’s a holistic, fascia-focused approach rooted in osteopathic science that prepares the body for fall’s best adventures—and next year’s too.

Ready to Move Into Fall?

The weeks after Labor Day aren’t about doing less, but about moving with intention. Fall in Santa Fe is its own invitation: the hiking trails call, the aspens change, and soon enough it’s time for skiing, snowshoeing, or simply enjoying crisp mornings. But to actually enjoy these activities (and not get sidelined by pain, tightness, or fatigue), the real difference comes from building a program that understands the body’s structure—how it actually moves, adapts, and needs support as the seasons change.

A traditional routine might throw you into generic circuits or treadmill marches. But a holistic, osteopathic, and fascia-focused approach looks at your entire body as an integrated system. This means:

  • Restoring balance where summer’s adventures left some areas overworked and others neglected.
  • Addressing fascial tightness from drives, hikes, or even lounging.
  • Building functional strength and mobility directly to support what you love outdoors—so hiking, skiing, or a simple walk is easier and more enjoyable.

For a deeper dive into how a holistic program can transform your movement year-round, check out our Holistic Exercises and Fitness Program guide.

Building Strength for Every Adventure—Beginning Now

What you start this September sets the table for every bit of joy, freedom, and resilience you’ll feel in the coming months.

  • Want to feel great on snowy trails? Start by opening hips, knees, ankles and core now.
  • Planning long hikes under golden aspens? A strong, supple back and a breath-aware routine are your best gear.
  • Eyeing travel or winter play with grandkids? A holistic, fascia-first regimen will carry you through it all, helping you move better for longer.

By focusing on intentional structure, awareness, and practical mobility—rather than punishing reps or empty “grind” routines—you give your body the tools to keep saying YES to life, no matter the weather.

For guidance on staying fit no matter the season, check these Mayo Clinic tips for staying active year-round.

How to Transition This Labor Day

Labor Day isn’t just the end of summer—it’s your invitation to move into fall and winter with purpose, building the underlying strength and mobility that powers every hike, ski, or backyard game ahead. If you’re ready to make these months your foundation (and not just a “reset”), the SolCore approach is distinct: holistic, osteopathic-driven, and fascia-focused—all designed for real people, real change, real fun.

Follow the Thread—Where Movement, Fascia, and Freedom Align
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Strength and Proprioception: You Can’t Strengthen What You Can’t Feel

Strength and proprioception are more connected than most people realize.
You’ve been told to get stronger. And maybe you’ve tried…
But here’s the thing no one tells you:
You can’t strengthen what you can’t feel.

If your body’s sensory map is fuzzy — if the nervous system can’t accurately locate joints, muscles, or tension — then you’re not building strength. You’re reinforcing confusion.

When the Signal’s Off, So Is the Output

That means:

  • The wrong muscles doing the work
  • Extra tension where you don’t need it
  • And a body that gets tighter, not stronger

This is why traditional strength training often fails people with chronic pain or poor posture. It piles output on top of dysfunction.

The nervous system is always prioritizing safety. And it won’t let you generate real force from an unsafe map.

Real Strength Starts with Signal Clarity

That’s where proprioception comes in — your body’s sense of position and movement. And it’s not just in the muscles… it’s in the fascia.

Fascia is one of the body’s most proprioceptive organs — a network of sensory receptors, both introceptive and extroceptive, woven throughout your entire structure.

To train it, we don’t start with load. We start with input.

That’s why methods like:

  • Segmental strengthening (precise isometric loading to re-educate joint control)
  • ELDOA (decompression to create space and normalize tension)
  • Myofascial Stretching (length + tension reset through fascial chains)
  • Proprioception exercises (low-load, high-precision training to refine joint feedback)

…form the foundation of intelligent strength development.

They wake up the system. They create clarity. And that’s what allows true strength to build.

From Signal to Strength — The Science Behind the Shift

Real strength doesn’t start with muscle. It starts with mapping.

According to Hill’s Muscle Model, force output depends on more than just fiber length and tension — it also relies on neural coordination and proprioceptive input. If the body can’t feel itself accurately, it can’t produce efficient force.

Your introceptors (internal signals: breath, organ tone, intra-abdominal pressure) and extroceptors (external cues: joint angles, balance, spatial orientation) work together to create a somatic map in the brain.

When that map is distorted, strength gets sloppy and injury risk climbs.
But when the map is clear?

  • Your system becomes more efficient
  • Force transfer improves
  • Strength becomes sustainable — not just performative

Fascia doesn’t just surround muscles — it interweaves with them.
It wraps around every muscle fiber, including actin and myosin, and envelopes the proprioceptors themselves — like muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs.

So when you train fascially — through decompression, tension normalization, segmental loading, and lengthened isometrics — you’re not just building strength…

You’re upgrading the entire system that strength depends on.

Related Resources:

📎 Internal Link: What Makes Holistic Fitness Actually Work
📖 External Source: FASCIA AS A SENSORY ORGAN: Clinical Applications (Schleip)

Ready to train from the inside out?
👉 Book your free 30–45 min strategy call and learn how to build sustainable strength from your structure up.

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Unlocking the Power of the Squat Exercise

The squat exercise is one of the seven primal movements. But unlike the others, a properly executed squat is the only one that can directly improve your posture.

Most people learn to squat the wrong way. Fitness classes, trainers, and online videos often pass down bad form like it’s tradition. Challenges like “100 squats a day” only reinforce poor patterns. They don’t teach you how to move—they teach your body how to compensate.

That’s a problem.

Click the image to watch the full video.

Why the Squat Exercise Matters So Much

A squat isn’t just for building legs or glutes. It’s a global movement that involves your whole body working together. In fact, it’s made up of multiple smaller systems working in harmony—from your pelvic floor to your jaw.

Done right, it’s one of the most powerful tools you have for long-term strength, mobility, and posture.

Done wrong, it becomes a slow leak—wearing down your body over years until the damage is finally too loud to ignore.

Most People Are Taught the Squat All Wrong

When I started training back in my teens, I was told to arch my back, stick my butt out, and look up. It felt powerful—but it placed massive stress on my lower back and neck. I didn’t feel pain for years. But by the time I hit 35, that form had helped cause a spinal issue and sciatic pain.

That’s how compensation patterns work. You don’t feel them until they’ve done damage.

And unfortunately, a lot of fitness systems still teach that exact form today.

The Squat and Posture: A Unique Relationship

Unlike bending, pushing, or pulling, the squat uses and improves your posture—if done correctly.

Your postural system is made up of:

  • The Plumb Line (ear, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle alignment)
  • The Gravity Line (a 4-degree cone rising from your pubic bone)

The squat interacts with both. If your plumb line is off, squatting can make things worse. But if you squat with awareness and alignment, it actually helps reinforce your posture inside that gravity cone.

What It Takes to Do a Proper Squat Exercise

The squat is built from many parts. Each part needs to function independently before it can function together.

Here’s what that means:

✅ The Beam Phenomenon

Your torso needs to move like a solid beam—no wobble. That requires training your:

  • Pelvic floor
  • Abs (especially lower abs)
  • Diaphragm
  • Lats
  • Pecs
  • Fascia in the mouth and throat

✅ Foot and Ankle Mechanics

Your feet are your foundation. A weak or collapsed arch (especially at the navicular bone) throws off everything above. You may need arch support or proper shoes when lifting heavy.

✅ Pelvic Tuck and Knee Drive

A good squat is knee-dominant. That means knees move first—not hips.

At the same time, keep your pelvis tucked and chin tucked to stay in the beam. This requires both abdominal strength and fascial flexibility in the back.

If your soleus and calves are tight, your heels will lift and stop your knees from driving forward. So you may need to stretch and strengthen your calves to get full range.

Learning to Squat Means Slowing Down

If you’re constantly focused on performance or fat loss, you’re not giving your body the time it needs to learn proper form. And in a class environment, correcting your form often isn’t the priority.

That’s like trying to learn typing by mashing keys as fast as possible without learning the keyboard.

It’s not a matter of willpower—it’s just bad input. And bad input = bad output.

Good Squat = Good Life

Learning how to do a proper squat gives you a relationship with your body.

You’ll learn where you’re tight, where you’re weak, and where you’ve been compensating without even knowing it. And when you address those things, your body responds.

You get stronger. You feel better. You age slower.

Want Help With Your Squat?

I’ve helped thousands of people reconnect to their bodies through correct, holistic training. Here’s how you can start:

You’ve been given a body that can last 90+ years. The squat exercise is one of the best ways to take care of it.

Let’s make sure you’re doing it right.

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Knee Pain After Running? Don’t Forget These 3 Areas!

Knee pain after running

Is knee pain after running slowing you down—or keeping you from your favorite workouts altogether? Are you frustrated because you’re diligently doing the preventive and corrective exercises you think you “should,” yet the pain keeps returning?

You’re not alone, and you’re not wrong in your effort. You’re just likely missing three specific, essential areas every runner must address to stay truly pain-free your Patellofemoral Joint, Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO), and Articular Genu.

Why Does Knee Pain After Running Happen?

Knee pain during or after running is incredibly common, and often strikes when you least expect it. Maybe you’re feeling great on one run then, out of nowhere, that familiar ache or sharp pain flares up. Most knee pain from running is due to overuse and improper distribution of force not necessarily a traumatic injury. Common causes include weak muscles, alignment issues, worn-down cartilage (patellofemoral syndrome/chondromalacia), or tight fascia and tendons.

The reality is: Running is a dynamic, full-body movement. Every stride sends tons (literally!) of force through your legs, up your hips and spine, and across your entire kinetic chain. If your muscles, ligaments, and critically your fascia and joint structures aren’t working optimally, that force gets lost or stuck at the knee, causing pain and, eventually, injury.

The Common Mistakes

Standard “solutions” typically target the symptoms instead of the source: ice, pain meds, generic foam rolling, or a few basic stretches. While these may help a little short-term, they don’t address the deeper mechanical misalignments or the most important stabilization muscles and connective tissues.

The 3 Areas Every Runner Needs to Address

1. Patellofemoral Joint
This is the joint between your kneecap (patella) and your femur. It’s responsible for smooth, efficient motion every time you bend or straighten your knee. When it gets “asleep” (i.e., isn’t actively engaged or well-lubricated), pain and tracking issues become inevitable. Training the Patellofemoral Joint through specific balance and mobility exercises “wakes it up,” helping it communicate with your brain and spinal cord so each stride aligns and functions correctly.

2. Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO)
The VMO is a part of the quadriceps that attaches to the kneecap and is largely responsible for holding the patella in the right position as you move. Most traditional leg workouts and stretches miss the unique activation needed for the VMO. For running, this small, oblique section is critical—its proper firing pattern keeps your kneecap tracking smoothly and prevents it from drifting to the outside, which is a root cause of runner’s knee. Think: targeted, soccer-kick style resistance or functional movements—not just generic quad extensions.

3. Articular Genu
This lesser-known but vital structure sits deep in the thigh and attaches to the synovial membrane beneath the kneecap. Its role is to generate fluid movement under the kneecap (critical for nutrition, waste removal, and shock absorption). Standard knee routines will never touch the articular genu. Specific exercises are needed to activate this area—typically by fixing the kneecap and using isolated, precise tension to target only the articular genu fibers. When this muscle is strong and flexible, your knees recover and function properly after every run.

The Power of a Specific, Holistic Approach

Fixing knee pain after running isn’t about one stretch or trendy treatment. It’s about a targeted, holistic program that addresses not only the muscles and joints, but the connective tissue and the hidden stabilizers and fluid channels.
If you’re stuck in the pain–rest–relapse loop, or you’re always trying a mix of magazine or YouTube workouts, you’re missing the specific, lasting solution your body needs to thrive as a runner and stay active as you age.

Here’s Your Action Plan:

  1. Warm Up the Right Areas: Before you run, activate the ankles, knees, hips, and spine. Use dynamic movements and gently increase internal body temp and mobility.
  2. Stretch and Normalize Afterwards: After running, use myofascial and specific chain stretches to address shins, calves, hamstrings, deep hip rotators, glutes, and trunk—all crucial for knee function.
  3. Target the 3 Key Areas: Add corrective, focused exercises for your Patellofemoral Joint, VMO, and Articular Genu. If you’re not sure how, don’t guess—this is where specialized coaching makes all the difference.

Real Results Happen With the Right Focus

Remember, pain doesn’t disappear from generic advice or random routines. One client—a dedicated runner plagued for years by “patellofemoral syndrome”—saw her pain vanish completely within three months of following a true corrective routine. Best of all, her overall mobility and confidence soared, proving that targeted training builds more than just pain relief: it’s the foundation for lifelong activity and enjoyment.

You are only as strong and mobile as your weakest area. Instead of letting knee pain sideline your progress, address the real drivers. Your daily routine should empower you to not just manage but transform your running experience.

If you’re ready to stop cycling through ineffective fixes and finally address the root of your knee pain, the next step is simple:
[Book a free consult] to get access to individualized evaluation and a proven, practical path forward so you can return to running, exercise, and the activities you love with lasting comfort and strength.

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Just Running Doesn’t Get Your Legs Strong.

The Common Myth Of Running

I recently talked to somebody during a free consult, going over his goals, and he mentioned that he was good with his legs as he ran and hiked. Many people have the mistaken idea that running and hiking will get you strong legs. You see, the body will respond to the different directions that you move and the various ways you load it. To keep it simple: running uses one way of moving and one way of loading your body. This will lead to not fully training your body, overuse injuries, and eventually other injuries. If your goal is to fully prepare your body for a long and healthy life, you have to hit your body in many different ways.

What General Exercise Running Is

Let’s go over the above example and show you how. I am going to keep it simple, so all you nitpickers chill homie. Running is a global move done mainly in two planes of motion and can be done for endurance, some strength, and power. This means it incorporates all the body to move in one of the three planes of motion and 3 of the 6 bio-motor abilities (body actions).

Because it is global, it doesn’t target each muscle because to do so takes training that muscle segments and focusing on it. This is important. Because your body moves as one and because you are only as strong as your weakest link, if you have a weak or tight segment, it will compromise the entire movement and hence your whole body. To prevent this requires segmental strengthening and myofascial stretching of the muscles you need and then incorporating them together.

Running, walking hiking is mainly working in the sagittal plane and transverse plane but in only one type of activity. There are three central planes of motion and a tone of combinations. There are also 7 major primal moves, and your legs are used in 4, but this doesn’t count when you work the primal movements together. This is important because if you don’t work with all the available plains of motion and primal moves, you will be off-balance and increase (in a bad way) the gradient of strength between the weak muscles and strong muscles.

Check out the basic pics below of just the legs. They don’t show all the muscles of the legs nor the different directions each muscle can move, but we’re keeping it basic.

And finally, people generally do distance running, and that type of loading will mainly give you endurance and some strength. To get more complete strength, speed and power, different types of running speeds and different activities and intensities need to happen.

All these aspects need to be considered when thinking about “training your legs” or whatever area you desire. And the above list is not exhaustive. There is also proprioception work, circulatory work, respiratory work, and oh yeah, THE REST OF YOUR BODY.

I know this is a lot and is only slightly less confusing than the number of galaxies in the constantly expanding and contracting universe, but that is why you ask for help.

If you are interested in a free consult and want to talk to little (I’m not little) ole me, then use the link below. I will expound on this or any topic that you need to help make your program more well-rounded and hence better for keeping or getting your body in a place where it can keep up with the life you want to live. All I ask is to let me ask you a couple of questions to better understand my audience, exactly like a conversation.

https://calendly.com/ekemba_solcorefitness/ica-interview

This offer is limited, so if you are even thinking about it, book now. Have a great day!


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