Strength Training for Runners

What are some areas of concern with runners? Often times, runners have stronger quads than the hamstrings, so those muscles need some work to keep them running healthy and injury free. Weak glutes can lead to hip drop, a swaying torso, achilles tendinitis, IT Band syndrome, and other problems. Weak core can cause instability, as well. These examples and others can be corrected to improve your running efficiency and reduce your chances of injury.  How?  Strength training for runners!

Prone to injuries? Has your doctor ever told you that you need to strengthen or stretch a specific area? We can help!  This is exactly what we’re here to do.  We’ll tailor a program to your specific needs.

Ever hear that you should only lift light weights for high reps? Well…that’s not exactly true. Now, if you are just starting with some sort of resistance training plan, then you may be lifting light weights because that’s what you can lift with proper form, and that’s ok! But lifting light weights for high reps is usually associated with training for muscular endurance. And guess what you get with running? Muscular endurance. What you want to be training for is strength. Training for strength means using heavier weights with moderate to low reps.  So don’t be afraid to lift heavier!

Just starting out?  Don’t have any weights?  That’s fine!  Body weight training can be just what you need and can give you a great workout.  There are many things we can do to still get the benefits of resistance training.

Worried about bulking up? Don’t worry, that’s going to be hard to do for you guys. Typically, runners want to stay light so that they’re not carrying as much weight for all those miles, but the thing is, with all the running you do, it’ll be extremely hard to put on enough muscle to slow you down. And if you train for strength, you’re not training like a body builder, who trains individual muscles to really get those popping.  Instead, strength training for runners should focus on strength, not just hypertrophy (the growth of muscles) or endurance, and that’ll be where you get the most improvement in performance and injury prevention.