Lift Heavy, Run Far - Strength Training for Runners

With the ever growing popularity of running and adventure races, I thought it would be a good time to write about the relationship between running and strength training.  Running is a part of our evolution as human beings.  That’s how we travelled, hunted, and sent and received messages.  Recall the story of Pheidippides who ran the first ever recorded marathon from the city of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks victory over Persia.  These days we run to lose weight, feel good, as part of a training program, and to catch the bus that’s pulling away.

You might be asking yourself, “What does lifting weights have to do with running?”  I will get to that in a moment.  However, the only way to become a better runner is to run.  The same thing goes for any sport.  If you want to get better at tennis, then you need to play more tennis, plain and simple.

So, how does lifting weights, particularly heavy weights, translate to becoming a better runner?  Activities done at a higher intensity, in this case lifting heavy weights, will benefit an activity done at a lower intensity for a much longer time.  Strengthening your muscles will give you the ability to produce more force which translates to a more powerful stride.  A more powerful stride will propel you faster and farther.  You can read more about this here in an excerpt from the NSCA’s Performance Training Journal.

How about your posture, this seems pretty important, right?  Yes, posture is extremely important when running and doing anything really.  Maintaining good posture while running will make breathing more comfortable and efficient.

So how does weight lifting improve your posture?  The postural muscles of your trunk will immediately fire when you pick up something heavy in order to protect your spine and internal organs.  The key is to learn how to properly brace your midsection when picking up something heavy.  You can learn how to do that by imagining that you’re about to get punched in the stomach; your midsection should automatically tense up.  If you prefer not to be punched in the stomach, then you can practice what’s called a back pressure crunch.

Lie down on your back and lift your legs up into the air with your knees bent at about 90 degrees.  Press your lower back into the ground.  You should feel your entire midsection tense up and your ribs get closer to your hips.  This is how you brace your midsection while lifting heavy weights.

So, by learning how to tense your midsection properly while lifting weights you will strengthen your postural muscles.  Strong postural muscles will also prevent your form from deteriorating when you get tired while running and ultimately allow you to breathe much more easily.

Have you ever heard of the term “running economy”?  No, not what our economy is doing right now.  It’s simply a measure of how efficiently you use oxygen while running.

A direct result of strength training is muscle hypertrophy, or more simply muscle growth.  Muscle growth will allow the muscle to store more energy in the form of ATP, Creatine Phosphate, and glycogen.  Glycogen is a runner’s best friend; this is the energy that is converted from carb loading or just eating carbs in general.  The ability to store more energy in your muscles has a direct positive impact on running economy.  That is pretty cool, right?  You can read more about explosive strength training’s effect on running economy here in a research study from the Journal of Applied Physiology.  You can also refer back to the excerpt from the NSCA’s Performance Training Journal.

I highly recommend that all runners incorporate strength training into their training programs.  A few things to consider:

• Technique, Technique, Technique
• Wait until the off season to incorporate a strength training routine
• Taper off your strength training immediately before an event
• Stick to the basics: deadlifts, squats, presses, and pulls (rows, pull ups)

Stay strong.