In the second of his blog series, Riverside Leisure Centre’s (RLC) running guru Matt Plane discusses strength training.

In this week’s blog, we will explore an area of endurance training which may seem counterproductive for running faster: strength training.

It would seem logical to suggest that if you were aiming to improve your endurance, you would put resistance training to the back of your mind. Running training means clocking up more mileage, right?

However, this approach may not only be less effective, but may also lead to an increase in the risk of injury.

Video: Strength training

This one-dimensional training tactic leads to compensatory strategies by the body as we get tired. If the muscles are not adapted to this higher load of mileage, then other surrounding tissues will take the brunt. If areas such as the connective tissue and bones are being over exerted too often, this in turn may not only affect performance, but will lead to injuries / niggles including; shin splints, runner’s knee and even stress fractures.

Using gym-based strength exercises allows our muscles to stay stronger for longer, and can help to reduce the inevitable muscle breakdown that can occur through distance running.

It’s not just about injury prevention with strength training, it’s about strengthening the right areas of our body to be able to produce more force.

As runners, this is relevant to us because we need to force to propel us through our running gait or stance. And as we run quicker, our time spent off the ground decreases, meaning we need to apply more force to the ground quickly. And it’s at these moments that strength training helps us to improve that high – power demand which running alone does not permit.

This propulsion in running requires a substantial initiation of power from our gluteal muscles at our hips, unlike walking which focuses on the calf. It’s that push-off action of our posterior hip muscles that generate the extension of the hips. And if we can work on improving hip extension alongside building the foundations through a strong core (we will explore this in the weeks to come) we can start to progress our running efficacy.

If we look at this week’s exercises, we can see that we have included both bilateral (both legs) and unilateral (single leg) exercises. This combination allows us to improve not only strength but also the stability of each leg to reduce and potential variance in leg power, improving stride performance. Due to the nature of the challenging weights, rest between exercises is increased to between 1-2 minutes.

Now for this week’s tip of the week: Alongside strength, power training can be an incredible tool to improve explosiveness of movements and improve running form and economy. Try this week’s bonus bodyweight workout below to increase strength further without stressing the muscular system. The focus for this workout is a higher intensity to when run, practicing good form, without centring the workout around volume. Aim for 2-3 sets of 3-5 repititons, with higher rest periods between sets of 2-3 minutes. Attempt the following workout as a circuit, only resting after the last exercise.

2-4 sets 10 reps of

Pullups – assisted or TRX pullups can be used here
Press-ups – can be done on knees, however aim to progress to toes!
Box jumps/ step ups – start on the box, jump down landing softly, get back up as quick as possible
Square jumps / jump squats– use a large tile as a marker or an imaginary square on the floor. Jump to all four corners of that square as quick as you can, absorbing your landing on the floor. Alternatively, complete 10 jump squats, focussing on explosive movements

Next week, we’ll look at hill training.

Please note: if you are training with any pre-existing injuries or medical conditions that require specific stretches or routines, you may wish to speak to your GP or medical professional to determine their suitability.

Riverside Leisure Centre’s Run Club meets each week at 6.45pm. To find out more, please click here.