To work on those marginal gains, you should assign time for weight lifting in your schedule. It’s time to pick up a larger dumbbell!
When runners lift weights, more often than not they lift for endurance, opting for lighter weight and higher reps. This sounds logical, but is it the best way to train in order to improve your running? Runners shouldn’t be afraid to lift heavy with a weight lifting routine.
Heavy Weight Lifting for Runners
Hit the gym to strengthen your muscles so you’ll be stronger and more powerful while you’re running. This will make your body more resilient to avoid injuries. Running already does a far better job at enhancing endurance than lifting weights. Opting for high reps and lightweight may not improve your endurance much more. In order to build strength, you need to load the tissue enough to challenge the body and force it to adapt.
Progressive overload is a key component of an effective strength weight lifting program. This means making gradual changes to the strength training plan to progressively challenge the body over time. This is accomplished by changing the volume, intensity, exercise selection, or time.
Start small and build, don’t compromise on your running performance.
Reducing the volume allows you to lift a heavier weight, helping to increase the strength of your muscles. This can be very beneficial for runners, but it must be properly measured so you can reap those benefits without compromising your running performance. Start small and build!
Start small and build
Once you feel confident and understand how your body will react to the workout, you can increase the frequency. Twice per week is usually a good compliment to a heavy running schedule. You to seek guidance from trusted resources and coaches (like JM Online Coaching) to help you build a proper foundation and empower you to make strength a key component of your training.
If you don’t have access to a gym, you should use the time to work on the foundational movement patterns. This includes the squat, hinge, lunge and press-ups. See my post here for some recommendations. This will go a long way in cementing good habits with your movement patterns.
Strength training specifically lifting heavier weights, can make you a stronger and a faster runner. This should will translate into longevity without being sidelined by an injury or burnout. Since consistency in training is the number one key to success in running, lifting weights should be a high priority in every runner’s training program.
