Be your own personal trainer
I’ve always thought that strength training was complicated.
And I definitely used to feel that I didn’t belong in a gym.
The truth was, I really didn’t know where to begin. Looking online, I’d find so many different exercises and so much conflicting information. If you Google ‘best exercise for runners’ now, you’ll get a cool 74 million entries.
Plus it all looked so effortless when someone was doing it. It definitely didn’t look or feel like that when I tried it.
It took my completing a personal training (PT) course to realise strength training is actually simpler than I’d realised.
And more importantly, realise that we all move differently and that we all belong in the gym as much as the next person.
So why should runners strength train?
I did the PT qualification because I wanted to offer more to the wonderful people I coach.
In so doing, I realised many runners would really benefit from strength training alongside, or even instead of, traditional running coaching.
Many of us are be let down by our mechanics rather than our fitness. Simply put, we can’t run as fast as we’d like because we don’t move as efficiently as we’d like.
Runners should also strength train because it reduces injury risk right?
Well here’s the controversial bit. A recent review suggests that, while there’s sound logic, anecdotal evidence, and evidence from other sports that strength training reduces injury risk, we can’t say this for sure. At least not 100% at this point.
But, there is strong evidence that strength training can make you run faster.
(And that it’s also good for your long term health.)
Here’s how…
Many coaches will say that runners self-select their most efficient form.
But there’s a nuance here that’s important to keep in mind, and that is runners select the most efficient form based on the condition their body’s in.
If your body’s not in great condition, you’re probably not running as efficiently as you could if you were in better shape.
Sometimes runners are given a cue like ‘run with a higher cadence’ to improve form. But the reality is, no amount of cues will change change any weaknesses the body has.
Only by working on areas of tightness or weakness, will you see improvements to running form.
Take an example of a runner who overstrides; that is, lands with their foot well out in front of their body. This is typically viewed as bad as it overloads the muscles on the front of the leg. To ‘cure’ the issue, they’re usually given a cue like ‘run with a shorter stride’.
But what if the problem is caused by tight hips?
No amount of cues will fix tight hips; instead you need to work on stretching your hip flexors and strengthening your glutes.
For the record, I’m not saying that there is only one way to run with good form. We’re all different so we should expect our running form to be different. But we can all probably be more efficient.
Unless you’re Eliud Kipchoge that is…
For the rest of us, the route to improved running efficiency is stretching, strength training and drills. Not running cues.
So, where to begin?
It’s all so complicated! Or is it?
I’ll let you in on a secret. There are really only six functional movements that compose all our daily movements, targeting specific muscle groups:
Squat (Lower body, quad focused)
Lunge (Lower body, single leg)
Bend e.g. a deadlift (Lower body, glute & hamstring focused)
Rotation / anti-rotation e.g. plank (Core muscles)
Push e.g. press up (Chest, shoulders & triceps)
Pull e.g. row (Back, biceps & forearms)
Admittedly there are nearly an infinite number of variations you can make to these movements but if you pick a workout that covers each movement, you can’t go far wrong.
On top of these you can exercise individual muscles.
For example ,calf raises are a great one for runners. Personally, strengthening my calves was a godsend as I no longer get painful and tight calves after wearing running spikes or running up hills.
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, the internet has a habit of making the simple seem complicated. But just focus on what you want to achieve with your strength training and don’t be afraid to go back to first principles.
Technique is king and queen
We live in a world where we want to do things quickly. Strength training isn’t like that.
You won’t get the full benefit if you don’t have the correct technique, and worse than that you could get injured. Before you go heavier or quicker, you’ve got to get the technique right.
How do you know if you’re getting it right?
Well you can obviously ask someone, but how do you know within yourself?
This is something I’ve always struggled with. I can’t immediately do a movement correctly if I’m TOLD how to do it - my awareness of my body in space isn’t brilliant. I have a tendency to walk into door frames.
But I can replicate a movement once I know how it FEELS and which muscles are working.
So how do you find out what works for you?
I’d start by thinking what type of learner you are. In that I mean, do you learn by watching something, listening to someone, reading something or trying it out? Knowing how you learn will help you understand how you can check you’ve nailed the technique.
And all times, remember that technique has to come before weight or speed.
Technique nailed. What’s next?
You make things harder of course!
The technical term is ‘progressively overload’.
And that’s it. Seriously, it’s as simple as that.
As a runner, you probably already know that in order to improve, you need to make your training harder. Whether that’s running faster, longer or more.
And surprise, surprise, the same is true of strength training. You won’t progress if you use the same exercises and the same weights.
Instead you’ll need to increase the number of times you do an exercise, or increase the weight, or reduce the recovery, or change the exercise itself to a more challenging one.
An obvious example is moving from doing an exercise using both legs to where you’re only on one leg. Once you know what you’re looking for, that big bad internet can actually be a great resource when looking for exercise progressions.
But surely it’s more complicated than that?
Of course it is. Working with an expert* who really knows their stuff will help take it to the next level.
But don’t be afraid to start!
First, pick a well balanced workout based on the six functional movements. Then master your technique before adding weight or speed. Finally make your exercise routine gradually harder.
And don’t forget those calf raises….
* If you need any help, just drop me a message or click here to find out more about my Strength Plan offering >