Strength training and interval training for runners

By: Daniela Nahas

With the good weather fast approaching, there are many runners coming out of hibernation. I thought it only appropriate to speak about how strength training and interval cardio training can increasing your speed, stamina and prevent injury down the road.

Prevent injury: Running is great for building cardiovascular strength, however it also puts a lot of strain and impact on your body and not just the lower extremities. The body should be looked at as one fluid machine with many parts working towards one common goal ? in this case running effectively. If one of those parts is weak, it will not only affect your speed and strength as a runner, but also begin a domino effect of sprains, strains and injury.

If you plan to have a long life as a runner, it is necessary that you work on strengthening the muscles that are commonly weak in runners: this includes the glutes, the hip flexors (which do a tremendous amount of work while you run and enable the upward movement of the knee), tibialis anterior, your quadriceps and of course your core/trunk stabilizers.

Your core muscles run the length of the trunk and torso – when they contract they stabilize the spine, pelvis and shoulder girdle to create a solid base of support. This support then enables us to transfer energy from the center of the body out to the limbs and generate the movement needed for running. Core training supports the efficient interaction of the ankle, knee, and hip mobility.

Muscles included in the core are: Rectus Abdominis (located at the front of your absomen, Transverse Abdominis (are the deepest abdominal muscles located under the obliques – which wrap around the spine for support, Multifidus (under the erector spinae along the vertebral column (sacrum to axis), these muscles help extend and rotate the spine), External Obliques (run along the side and front of the abdomen) and Internal Obliques (located beneath the external obliques and run in the opposite direction, Erector Spinae (group of muscles and tendons that run along your neck to your lower back).
The hip Flexors, hip adductors and gluteus are also considered to be part of the core stabilizers.

If any of these muscles are weak, it can have a big impact on your form while running: If the hip abductors are weak for example, it can cause the entire leg to overpronate. Some common injuries include anterior knee pain, patellar tendonitis, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, achilles tendonitis, IT band tendonitis, low back pain, and various strains and sprains.

Furthermore, strengthening your core will not only help you as a runner, but also in everyday activities. Since we are not always moving in the same plane when we perform everyday activities, training the body to stabilize, control, and produce force in a three-dimensional environment is crucial.

Increase stamina: Many runners generally train at one consistent speed for a certain time. While this is great exercise in itself you may have a hard time increasing your stamina. Interval training which involves doing quick and intense burst of activity followed by periods of lower intensity, allows you to rapidly increase your cardiovascular endurance and improve your VO2 Max – which that describes how much oxygen your body can transport during exercise or activity. The higher your VO2 Max, the less winded you become during exercise. Translating this into your running routine, you will increase your speed and power and be able you to run for longer durations.

Weight loss: Many people who run, began running in the first place in order to lose weight and then continue to run to keep it off. However many find that after a while of just running your body begins to plateau and you stop losing any pounds and also find that you need to run much longer distances to stay trim. This is because doing solely Aerobic activity will not help you increase your metabolism. Anaerobic activity on the other hand does. It increases your lean muscle mass as well as your resting metabolic rate (your metabolic rate while at rest).

Anaerobic activity includes weight/strength training and sprinting, while running is aerobic activity.  Anaerobic activity increases lean muscle mass while aerobic activity for long durations of time breaks it down. Quite simply, muscle burns fat and anaerobic activity creates muscle, while aerobic activity does not promote the increase of muscle and actually breaks down lean muscle mass.

I am not by any means saying that you should not run, I am impressed everyday by people who are able to run marathons, and people who turn their life around when they begin running. I am simply saying that you should incorporate other components into your routine.

Have a great run!

 

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