When I hear a runner talk about his or her cross-training during training season, I mostly hear cycling (stationary or road), high intensity interval training classes, pilates, or yoga. While those are great options, there’s another tool that tends to be overlooked or under-utilized is strength training. I’m not talking about lifting, but heavy lifting. Heavy strength training can be an effective tool before, during, and after training seasons. Some of these benefits include improving neuromuscular function, bone strength, and muscle/tendon resiliency. But when we even think about starting strength training, how do we start? Where do we start? How heavy do we start?
I have changed the way I viewed programming a program for any individual, and runners are no exception. Even with that, there are foundational movements that everyone should have: squat, hinge, push, pull, and carry. These movements should be made competent by any runner before adding any external load or made into any sort of variation. Any extra isolated movements could be included, such as a leg extension and/or a calf raise, which should be included, but only depending on specific assessments of the individual.
Now the bigger question is: where do I start? If you have a difficult time finding out a goal of how strong you would need to be, a good goal would be to be able to get at least their body weight with any sort of squat or deadlift variation for 5 reps, but just like how we started running, there should be a steady progression of external loading and sometimes these could take weeks to progress. But just like running, don’t try to lose your gains after a race, otherwise, it’ll be just as hard to return to form!
Thanks for reading and stay strong!
- Evan
