Strength and Core

I have previously discussed that the American College of Sports and Medicine (ACSM) lists the five components of fitness to be cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition and flexibility. Does running alone meet all of these five components? Frankly, no. However, a properly designed training program can easily incorporate them into your daily life.

Running can have a high rate of over-use injuries: Shin splints, plantar facitis, palellofemoral pain,  commonly referred to as runner’s knee, and Achilles tendonitis. All of these injuries can be avoided by taking the five components of fitness and incorporating them into training plans.

There was a time when “strength training” was looked on as almost taboo for the runner. Some runners today still avoid the weight room as much as possible for fear of weight gain through additional muscle mass. Do not make this mistake!

I incorporate a muscular strength, muscular endurance, and core strength plan in every training program I design for every person I train. I am convinced beyond a shadow of doubt, through personal experience and by monitoring the results of my clients, that runners who adhere to the simple strength programs I have designed, (and are contained in my book) suffer 95% fewer injuries. In fact, a recent study of runners that introduced a weight program to their training reported not only a reduction of injury but also an increased time to muscle exhaustion on their runs. The people in this study ran farther at a measured intensity level following a strength program for just a few weeks.

Your slow twitch muscles, or your endurance muscles, gain strength from weightlifting allowing them to carry more of the workload than your fast twitch muscles. Since your fast twitch muscles burn more glycogen and produce more lactic acid, your endurance benefits from the increased strength of your slow twitch muscles. The most recent studies show that runners who added a strength program to their training regimen show endurance improvements ranging from 10-35%

In short, adding a weight training and core strength program to your training and race preparation will increase your endurance, greatly reduce your risk of overuse injuries, give you overall body fitness and add a nice variation to your weekly training routine.

“Unleash Your Potential”

Be Healthy, Train Smart, Have Fun

Coach Jeff