Get strong, run faster - have you been neglecting strength training?
Why weight training is good for your health and can boost your running
What did you dream about when you started running?
Smashing new PBs, joining a fun running group and getting your hands on more and more bling?
Or maybe lifting weights or whirling kettlebells above your head…
Some runners instinctively love strength training, but plenty of us see it as something to shun - the preserve of body builders or gym show-offs.
But while adding tempo runs, long runs, hills or Fartlek to your training plan will help your speed, endurance and efficiency, it is strength training which so often helps runners reach their goals.
And you don’t have to be lifting heavy weights to achieve success. Working on your hamstrings, glutes, quads and core through Pilates or yoga, as well as through targeted strength training, will help you become a better runner.
As well as improving your running, strength training is also vital in lowering abdominal fat levels, increasing muscle mass and boosting your heart.
In this article, we explore how, and why, strength training is good for your health - and your running.
Improved cardiovascular health
Low exercise levels and poor diet can lead to fat building up around your vital organs, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Visceral fat build up leads to the release of proteins and hormones, causing inflammation, damaging your blood vessels and increasing blood pressure.
Fortunately, strength training is a really good way to combat such fat, working to improve cholesterol levels and lower your blood pressure - allowing you to truly run with your heart.
Wave goodbye to fat
You might think running will enable you to stay trim, but while it won't do you any harm, strength training is a really important component to seeing off fat.
Studies have found strength exercises are actually more effective at preventing abdominal fat than cardiovascular exercise.
Adding strength training into your exercise regime will not only burn calories, but increase lean muscle mass. This is turn stimulates your metabolism.
Reduction in injuries
A strong muscle base is vital for balance, coordination and movement - all vital factors if you want to improve as a runner.
If a muscle is too weak, it puts more stress on connecting tendons. Strength training solves this problem, making people less susceptible to injury.
Give your mental health a helping hand
Running is well known for its ability to improve people’s mental health - but strength training also boasts the same lifestyle benefits. It has even been found to reduce symptoms of clinical depression and anxiety.
As well as boosting endorphins, strength training helps people increase their mental resilience.
And this isn't about lifting huge weights - using low to moderately heavy weights has been shown to have the greatest effects on countering anxiety.
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How often should runners do strength training?:
It depends!
The amount of strength training runners need or can do will vary based on what event they are entering, the amount of time they have available, or how far along their running journey they are.
What is definitely true is that even taking part in one strength training session per week will boost fitness and performance.
Ideally, runners should be doing two or three sessions per week, lasting somewhere between half-an-hour and an hour.
If you’re looking to be an Olympic athlete or take on an ultra marathon, you may want to reassess those numbers.
However much you decide to do, it’s important to remember not to add so much stress to your body that you get injured.
Runners often have the need to feel the burn, causing them to not only go too fast or too far when out running but to overdo it in the gym.
Before taking any step on your strength training exercise be sure to get the form right.
How ‘Mr Slow Easy Comfortable’ qualified for Boston
David Abbot is an expert on the benefits of strength training and running.
The running coach and popular Twitter commentator offers reams of advice on everything from how running slower helps you go faster, the benefits of weight training and what to do if you’re a new runner.
Listen to our Running Tales Podcast chat with David, and read his story in full, by clicking the links below…
Some basic strength exercises to boost your running:
It’s important to work your whole body when strength training. As such, there are a whole host of exercises that can bring benefits.
Here we look at four - two lower and two upper body - simple exercises.
Lunges
Lunges - along with squats - are a great way to boost your lower body strength.
Reverse lunges and walking lunges, using dumbbells to add resistance if you want to, use the same muscles you will need when running.
Walking lunges are the best type of lunge for runners as they are a dynamic movement, effectively being an exaggerated form of running.
Lunges also have the benefit of being simple to practice, while they can be done anywhere getting rid of the need for a gym membership or expensive equipment.
Single-leg deadlift
This is another simple but highly effective leg exercise, which really works your glutes.
Single-leg deadlifts will improve your strength, stability and power, conditioning your hamstrings, core muscles and lower back.
Lat pull down
Upper body strength exercises are also really important for runners, not only through the benefits of strong arms helping to propel them forward but by ensuring they have good shoulder strength, and a strong spine and neck.
Lat pull downs will really work your back muscles and shoulders, helping your form and boosting your overall strength.
They are best done on a cable pulley machine, although light weights or a resistance band will also do the trick.
Press ups
The thought of them might make you wince and bring back memories of sadistic school PE teachers, but the humble press up remains a great way to build upper body strength.
They work the triceps, chest and shoulders, improving the core stability that is essential for runners.
A strong core allows for the maintenance of good posture and running form during a run.
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