Clay Holton, The Running DPT

Clay Holton, The Running DPT I help runners, in Augusta, GA, manage pain, get stronger, and race faster.

4 Thoughts about Lifting Belts (also check my quad trying to show out)Anyone going to the gym long enough has encountere...
06/10/2026

4 Thoughts about Lifting Belts (also check my quad trying to show out)

Anyone going to the gym long enough has encountered someone who says lifting belts are cheating or make claims about how they make your core weaker. Thankfully neither of those are true and I wanted to provide some thoughts about why they’re fine to use.

1. Lifting belts don’t make your core weaker. This has always been based entirely on plausibility and not facts. Research has looked at this. It’s not a mystery. Lifting belts do not make your core muscles weaker.

2. Belts do help support your back but, more importantly and applicably, they provide a type of feedback for your core musculature and bracing technique to be more effective. Try it out. Try to brace hard and squat with and without a belt and I’d be willing to belt you feel your core is more active while using a belt. This is confirmed by EMG studies as well.

3. Belts are not cheating unless you’re competing in a format where they’re not allowed. Many different powerlifting and strongman regulations allow use of belts. Belts DO allow you to lift more but the amount is frequently exaggerated and also varies between individuals. Like super shoes in running contexts, if everyone at the higher level is using them and are allowed to, it isn’t cheating.

4. Your legs, which are the primary region you’re attempting to work with squats, are STILL lifting the heavier weight that belts allow you to do. Similarly with lifting straps for deadlifts. Your legs are lifting or pulling more weight. It’s not like your back or forearms being more supported means your legs are lifting less weight

06/09/2026

How do you track your strength workouts? In this video, I show two very basic ways I do it myself and for some clients

One day a coach, physician, or therapist is going to tell you knee extensions are bad for your knees or they’re not func...
06/02/2026

One day a coach, physician, or therapist is going to tell you knee extensions are bad for your knees or they’re not functional and should be replaced with squats. But PLEASE don’t listen. A basic seated leg extension machine, which nearly all commercial gyms have, is one of the easiest ways to build quad strength and has advantages over many other commonly assigned exercises.
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The leg extension allows you to focus only on the quadriceps muscle group, which is among the most prominent muscles that attenuate impact forces while running, without technique, fatigue of other muscles, or cardiovascular demand limiting performance. Contrast that with a split squat where both the quads and glutes play a large role in the movement (irrespective of the variation which can bias the load towards the quads or glutes), the movement has balance requirements, there is potential for upper body fatigue if holding the weights, and will have you gassed after even performing 5 reps per side. The split squat is an amazing exercises but all the other components limit its ability to solely train the quads.
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If your quads are weak, you should consider supplementing your weekly program with 4-8 sets of leg extensions (2-4 sets per session) along with performing other compound movements like squats and deadlifts

05/12/2026

Single Leg Progressions for Runners: Opposite Lower Body Movement

Running involves reciprocal movement of the opposite lower extremity and incorporating movement of the opposite leg during single leg activities can increase balance demands and enhance its transferability to the running gait cycle.

Adding opposite leg movement can be performed in a static standing position and progressed to slow marching and squat clock movements
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The main focus of my practice is providing runners with the tools to prevent/manage injuries, improve their strength, and run faster. If you’re a runner in Augusta, GA, I can help you develop an individualized strength and injury prevention program to optimize your summer training

05/10/2026

Single Leg Progressions for Runners: Hip Hinge
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Adding a small hip hinge movement, like with a single leg Romanian deadlift (RDL) can increase balance demands and also provide a great muscular stimulus to the hamstrings and glutes. Many people attempt this as a strengthening exercise before they’re proficient enough at the movement pattern. If balance is the primary limiting factor when performing single leg deadlifts, I recommend going through a period of time where the focus is on improving control of this exercise.
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The main focus of my practice is providing runners with the tools to prevent/manage injuries, improve their strength, and run faster. If you’re a runner in Augusta, GA, I can help you develop an individualized strength and injury prevention program to optimize your summer training

05/08/2026

Single Leg Progressions for Runners: Partial Squats

Adding a dynamic partial squat movement can increase the balance and movement control demands of single leg exercises. Various forms of single leg squats and step-downs are some of my staple exercises for both a runner’s rehabilitation and strength program.

Single leg squats approach the ranges of motion used for running at the ankle, knee, and foot making this a progression highly applicable to the running gait cycle.
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The main focus of my practice is providing runners with the tools to prevent/manage injuries, improve their strength, and run faster. If you’re a runner in Augusta, GA, I can help you develop an individualized strength and injury prevention program to optimize your summer training

05/08/2026

Single Leg Progressions for Runners: Uneven Surfaces

It’s very common in physical therapy practices to utilize different types of foam pads or unstable surfaces to increase balance demands. However, I’m not a big believer of the actual surface being especially soft or highly variable as there is research showing this type of training not only doesn’t improve balance in functional situations of overground running, which is significantly more firm even on trials or other softer surfaces, and can actually decrease power output which is essential for an efficient running gait.

I’m not saying using a foam pad is entirely contraindicated but, if it is used, should only involve a small portion of a runner’s balance training, be used briefly in specific situations such as following an ankle sprain, and always be followed up with activities to improve power output such as strength training and plyometrics.

Instead, I like to firm surfaces that are uneven, such as the off-set step-up platform used here, so that each leg is resisting increased inversion or eversion movement. This adds extra balance and stability demands while still being on a firmer surface which is more applicable to running and will be less likely to decrease power output.
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The main focus of my practice is providing runners with the tools to prevent/manage injuries, improve their strength, and run faster. If you’re a runner in Augusta, GA, I can help you develop an individualized strength and injury prevention program to optimize your summer training

05/06/2026

Running primarily involves a forward movement in what’s called the sagittal plane but also requires stability, and some mobility, in the rotational (or transverse) plane of motion.

This single leg progression involves full body rotation both clockwise and counterclockwise to stress the foot, ankle, tibia, pelvic and trunk into providing dynamic balance while outside the standard base of support position. This can provide a very unique stimulus at the knee, tibia, and foot that’s hard to emulate with other exercises.
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The main focus of my practice is providing runners with the tools to prevent/manage injuries, improve their strength, and run faster. If you’re a runner in Augusta, GA, I can help you develop an individualized strength and injury prevention program to optimize your summer training

05/05/2026

This post series will cover 10 ways to progress single leg balance exercises. This first progression involves upper body movement.
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Running involves synchronizing upper body, trunk and lower body movement efficiently. These three single leg progressions (reaching, reciprocal arm swings, and behind the back passes) aim to increase balance and control demands on the lower extremities by including dynamic upper body movement.
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The main focus of my practice is providing runners with the tools to prevent/manage injuries, improve their strength, and run faster. If you’re a runner in Augusta, GA, I can help you develop an individualized strength and injury prevention program to optimize your summer training

05/03/2026

What’s your favorite strength exercise? Mine’s barbell back squats

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Augusta, GA
30904

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