Do Distance Runners Need to Lift Weights?
What comes to mind when you think about lifting weights? Most think about bulking up or increasing muscle mass. This isn’t always the case with lifting weights. Do you believe that distance runners should lift weights? This question is one that some coaches might not know the answer to and young athletes might stray away from lifting weights because of their lack of knowledge in the matter.
Some athletes and coaches believe that lifting weights will bulk up their distance runners and cause them to run slower due to the added weight of the athlete. Studies have shown that weights can be beneficial to distance runners by improving their running economy, performance, better body composition, body imbalances, and injury prevention. If your athletes are running enough they won’t become bulking. Runners might gain a couple of pounds but it is lean muscle that will benefit them. When dealing with weights for distance runners you need to look at it as being sport specific and work all the major muscles groups that are used for running. These runners don’t need to spend a great amount of time in the weight room like other athletes might need to. Having 2 sessions a week for a total time of an hour can be beneficial. This is an example of a few exercises1:
1. Split squat / lunges
2. Physioball Leg Curl
3. Dumbbell Bench Press
4. 1 Arm, 1 Leg Dumbbell Row
5. Dumbbell Squat to Press
6. Split Dumbbell Curl-Press
7. Dumbbell Pullover Extension
8. Core Exercises
9. Push Ups
10. Pull Ups
These exercises work the major muscle groups that are used for running. “If you are smart with mileage you can run more. As you get stronger you can run more. As the years go by without injuries, you can run more.”2 A lot of runners are always wanting to increase their mileage, because they believe the more miles they run the faster they will be. Adding weight lifting into your program can help you increase your weekly mileage and provide other benefits for you.
1"Strength Training for the Runner." Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. <http://www.furman.edu/sites/first/Documents/16_oct2324.pdf>.
2Braden, Forest. "Strength Training for Distance Runners." Web. 20 Feb. 2016. <http://www.uclabruins.com/fls/30500/old_site/pdf/m-track/braden.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=30500>.
I believe that any athlete should be training for both Type 1 and Type 2 muscle fibers regardless of type of performance. While the emphasis and focus should be primarily on whichever type of fiber is more necessary for the performance, there are many benefits associated with cross training and training fibers which one may not predominantly use. Great article
ReplyDeleteI know a lot has changed since i was a competitive runner concerning mileage bases and miles per week, but do you feel young runners are running too many miles? What would you recommend as a good starting mileage per week for young runners?
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