In this blog, I’m going to discuss the importance of including strength training into your running program. Why this is beneficial and what exercises are good to do. Implementing these exercises can result in greater efficiency and faster running times!

So what are the muscular demands of running?
The primary muscles we use when running are the quadriceps, glute medius and soleus, with peak forces reaching 2.7, 4 and 6.6 times your body weight respectively (Lenhart et al in 2013).

These statistics can differ depending on your running speed. Dorn et al in 2012 found that at slower speeds, roughly 7 minutes and 41 seconds per mile, the soleus and quadriceps were working the hardest compared to your hamstrings, hip flexor and glute muscles.

But when your running speed increases to roughly 3 minutes and 51 seconds per mile, there becomes a noticeable muscular demand in hip flexors, gluteus maximus and the hamstrings.

If you were to run even faster than that and be running at 3-minute mile pace, your hamstrings and hip flexors are working the hardest. Peak forces can reach up 9 times your bodyweight!

Generally, a good way of increasing your running speed is to increase your stride length, which can be done by forcefully pushing off the ground. This uses the solues muscle, one of your calf muscles. This will indirectly result in longer stance time, which will require more effort from your quadriceps and glute medius.

As your running speed increases to almost sprinting, the stride frequency also increases. So from 3 minute 51 seconds to 3 minute mile pace, the muscular demand of the hip musculature is needed far more (Schache et al. 2014).

Now that you know and can see the muscular demand of certain muscles when you run, it is very important that you incorporate strengthening and explosive exercises into your program. See below for a list of exercises with variations and progressions.

Strengthening exercises:

Single-leg calf raise on a step (3 sets x 8-15 reps)

Single-leg calf raise on a step with a weight (3 sets x 6-12 reps)

Single-leg RDL (3 sets x 6-12 reps)

Side plank leg lift (3 sets x 6-12 reps)

Step downs with weight (3 sets x 6-12 reps)

Split squat with weight (3 sets x 6-12 reps)

Nordic curl (3 sets x 4-8 reps)

Banded knee drive (3 sets x 6-12 reps)

 

Explosive exercises:

Weighted step up with knee drive (3 sets x 6 reps)

Single-leg hops on the spot (3 sets x 6 reps)

Single-leg hops forwards and backwards (3 sets x 6 reps)

Single-leg hops side-to-side (3 sets x 6 reps)

Double-legged stepping off step (3 sets x 6 reps)

Single-leg stepping off step (3 sets x 6 reps)

 

Some things to consider:
Frequency – how often? Strength and explosive exercises should be performed at least twice per week with appropriate rest periods between runs and these sessions.
Intensity – how hard? The exercises should be performed at an effort level of 60-80% so roughly 3-4 reps off failure. Nothing less, nothing more.
Volume – how much? Whatever you can recover from is the amount that you do. If are mega achy the following day then perhaps you have done too much, dial down the number of reps or sets that you do, and try again. Be aware that it is normal to feel sore after a bout of exercise.
Duration – how long? Complete these exercises alongside your running for the foreseeable, progressing the weight and volume as tolerated.

Why should you include strengthening and explosive exercises?

At present there is no sufficient evidence to say that strength training will reduce the risk of injury. Running-related injuries are often from overloading – doing too much, too soon. Therefore, strength is irrelevant if you have gone from being a couch potato to running 10km. Knowing this, to prevent getting injured it is good to follow a progressive running program that gradually scales up the distance and intensity.

What these exercises can be very good for is improving your running performance. It can help to enhance your muscular endurance and speed (Blagrove et al. 2018), no matter whether you are a long distance runner or a sprinter.

Summary

The primary muscles we use when running are the quadriceps, glute medius and soleus, with peak forces reaching 2.7, 4 and 6.6 times your body weight respectively (Lenhart et al in 2013).

The above exercises are excellent choices because they take into consideration the demands of running.

They include explosive movements and strengthening exercises because using this combination has been shown to positively affect performance in runners (Blagrove et al. 2018). There are many exercises that can be done, this is not a broad list but a good selection. If you are struggling to create a program that is best suited to you, drop us a message and we will be able to help you put one together. Let`s get you running quicker, further and hitting those PB`s.

Thank you for reading this. Please contact us with any questions that you may have or give us your feedback with your thoughts.