Why you shouldn't run without strength training.
Have you signed up to a recent or upcoming running event?
With the GC Marathon weekend just gone, and multiple other events coming up, a lot of people are keen on testing themselves both physically and mentally with a new challenge or longer distance events.
While I'm stoked to see so many people striving to improve their athletic performance, I have some advice if you are getting too caught up in your running training, pounding the pavement more and more and adding volume and k's to your weekly training.
Obviously to improve your running the key factor is to run more, but if you are doing so at the expense of strength training then you may be setting yourself up for injury, burnout and overtraining.
With long distance running it is often a case of 'the straw that broke the camels back'.
If we run at ~170 strides per minute then a 1hr run can equate to approximately 10200 strides over that whole run.
We know that with every stride your body is absorbing 3x your bodyweight.
So when looking at this as a whole that is a huge amount of load you are putting on your body every session!
You need to prepare your muscles to handle these loads by improving your muscular endurance through running AND your muscular capacity through strength training.
The best way to improve your musculoskeletal capacity is through strength training, specifically high loads and low reps.
Strength training has also been shown to improve running performance by increasing rate of force development (more power per stride) and running efficiency (lower energy cost for the work rate).
Combined with the reduced injury risk that strength training offers all athletes, it's a no brainer to include regular strength training in your running program.
In my experience in training and coaching several long distance runners we know that strength training improves endurance performance and develops a more resilient and versatile athlete. I definitely recommend that you don't neglect your strength training, and so would many of my athletes!
If you are unsure how to fit strength training into your current running program reach out and we can discuss a personalised plan that is specific to your goals and lifestyle.
Check out the services available or the A+ Blog for more info.