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Weightlifting |  |
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Runners also need to do weightlifting to strengthen their upper body, core, and legs. Running builds endurance, not strength. Running only makes muscles strong in the small range of motion in which they are used. Muscles need to be strengthened over their full range of motion.
Strong muscles help stabilize a joint so it is more efficient and less prone to injuries. Exercise can be done at home or in a gym. Check out the multitude of YouTube videos that show proper techniques.
Because weightlifting is very strenuous, you have to consider it a hard workout day and do easy runs the day before and after. Only do these once or twice a week, especially during your peak running. Between training cycles you can do more since most of your running will be slow and easy.
When lifting weights the best technique I’ve found is called a pyramid. I prefer to use machines because it is faster to go between weights. For the purposes here, define a set to be 6-8 reps for upper body, and 10-12 reps for lower body.
Each repetition should consist of a 2 second positive and 4 second negative. For example with a bench press, spend 2 seconds pushing the weight out and then 4 seconds bringing it back to the start.
Always lift the weight in a slow and controlled manner, through the full range, without stopping. Don't let the platters hit and don’t lock your joint out to rest.
Start out with a very light weight, one you could do for a long time. Do one set. Then increase to a medium weight that you could do maybe 20 or 30 reps with, and do one set. These first two sets function to warm up your muscles and get them ready for a maximum effort. Then increase to your max weight. This is the weight where you push your muscles to failure. That is, you can’t complete all the reps in that set. Do as many reps as possible until your muscles refuse to complete the last rep.
Then decrease the weight a bit and do as many reps as you can – probably only 2 or 3. Finally, decrease the weight a bit more and do as many reps as you can – probably 3 or 4. My final weight at the end is usually about the same as the middle weight on the way up.
By completely exhausting your muscles with a maximum effort, you are getting the most out of your workout.
This method allows you to go through a workout fairly quickly and not sit at a machine in between sets. It lets you get on a machine completely exhaust your muscles and move on. It is much faster than other approaches.
Work your muscles from the center of your body out. The muscles become increasingly weaker the further out you get away from your core (think upper arm, forearm, and hand). You don’t want to exhaust the little muscles before you’ve really worked out your big muscles.
So for upper body start with pecs, then do exercises that require full arm motion like pull downs and bench press. Finally do arm curls.
For the lower body do glutes first, then quads and ham strings and finally calves with toe raises.
You don't have to go to the gym to get a good workout. You can do plenty of work in your home with your body weight. When using your body weight you can't use pyramids as described above. So, I usually do 1 to 3 sets of 10-12 reps for legs; for arms and core I do as many as possible.
Some of the best body weight exercises for runners include:
In the gym for legs – leg curls, leg extensions, squats, lunges, glutes, and calf raises.
Running is a one legged sport. You are only using one leg at a time to support your whole body weight. Don’t be intimidated by the thought of one-legged squats. You do them every day. I see fit people in the gym, especially women, do two legged squats on a machine with 30 pounds. People, if you go up stairs you are doing single leg squats with your whole body weight. Don’t be afraid to go after it! Squats usually use more range of motion than stair climbing. This is equivalent to going up taller steps or taking them two at a time. You can simulate this at home stepping onto and off of a box or chair. So do some one legged squats to build up your strength. This is really helpful when making steep climbs. Rest a hand on a wall or other piece of furniture for support if you need it.
What has worked pretty well for me is doing an upper body and core workout on my easy days. On hard days after my run, I'll do some leg exercises like lunges and squats and calf raises at home; doing one to three sets of about 10 reps each. My legs actually seem to appreciate these since they are a little stiff from the limited range of motion that running gives them. I try to do some core exercises most every day.
The more time you spend training for endurance the less time you have for strength training. Try to do more weight training in the off season when you are not training for a goal race or early in your training plan.
During peak running season, I find it hard to do any lower body workouts at the gym. Instead I do 1 to 3 sets of some of the above leg exercises five or more times a week. A lot of these can be done at home. This only takes a few minutes and is less intense. In doing them so frequently it becomes what my body is used to doing so it really doesn't count as a workout. I call these my maintenance workouts. I also try to do core exercises almost every day.
Running doesn’t build your core muscles. You need to do extra exercises to strengthen your abs and back. There are a huge variety of exercises for your core. Just do a search for videos and find some that work for you.
If you do trial running, you should work more on strengthening your legs and core. When you are running on roads, your legs only bend a little. With the frequent up and down hills that you encounter on a trail, you use a lot more of the range of motion of your legs. Weight training for your thighs and calves will make your joints stronger so you can better handle the varied terrain more safely. It will also help you tackle the up and down hills more easily. Your core helps stabilize your body so that you can run more efficiently.
