Professional Documents
Culture Documents
One of our my main reasons for writing this guide was to provide a
Blake Boldon simple and practical handbook you can follow and implement into your
Head Coach
own training plan. We’ve also detailed and outlined the research so you
can be confident that the time you’re investing in strength training will
pay off. If you have any questions or read anything you want to discuss
in more detail, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at
jeff@runnersconnect.net.
Nate Jenkins
Assistant Coach
Finally, we want this information to benefit as many runners as
possible. So, please feel free to e-mail it to all your running friends,
share it via Facebook and Twitter, and get the word out. For the latest
updates and information, you can visit our website:
Casey Collins http://runnersconnect.net; follow us on Twitter @runners_connect; or
Assistant Coach
join us on Facebook . Enjoy!
Melanie Schorr, MD
Team Physician
Part I: T he Import an c e of Streng th
Traini ng f or Run ner s
The Importance of Core Work for Runners
Your core refers to more than just your abdominal muscles you flex in the mirror. Core,
in the running sense, refers to your abdominals, glutes (butt), hips, hamstrings, hip
flexors, and lower back. These muscles are what keep your form strong at the end of a
race, prevent injuries from over compensation or bad mechanics, and allow you to run
in an upright and fluid position.
Working on your core from a running perspective is different than someone in the gym
who is trying to look better at the beach or the golfer trying to add power to his or her
swing. This is why it is important to perform a core routine that specifically targets the
muscles you will use while running. If you’re looking for an ab routine that is going to
give you the “ripped muscles” you won’t see results that transfer to your training.
In addition, research has shown that strengthening of the transverse abdominis, or TVA
for short, can significantly reduce injury rates. The TVA is a thin cylindrical muscle that
lies underneath the abdominals. Its main role in daily life is to hold in the chest cavity
(lest your innards sag outwards). However, the TVA also plays an important role in
running: Contraction of the TVA compresses the chest cavity and increases its inner
pressure, much like squeezing a deflated beach ball causes it to become stiff again. It’s
postulated that this increase in pressure facilitates stability throughout the body,
essentially “hardening” the connection between the upper and lower body and thus
improving your running form and posture. Researchers have demonstrated a clear
connection between stabilization and lower back injuries and the strength of the
transverse abdominis muscle.
When you get tired while running, especially during longer races like the half marathon
and marathon, one of the first things your body does is to start hunching over or leaning
back. This causes your form to be inefficient and makes you start to slow down. So, if we
can train the muscles that are involved in keeping the body tall, strong, and moving
forward, you’ll be finishing races faster and feeling better than you normally do.
Second, all running occurs in what we call the Sagital Plane. (The Sagital Plane is the
forward and back motions that are critical to running faster). You can waste a lot of
energy when your body starts moving side to side, or in the Transverse Plane. The more
we can train your body to focus all of its energy into moving forward, the faster and
more efficiently you will run. Likewise, by strengthening the muscles that control the
transverse plane, you can become a better overall athlete and runner.
While circuit training has a bad reputation in running circles, thanks mostly to mis-
information and oversimplification by the personal training industry, when done
correctly, it can provide significant running-specific benefits for injury-prone, beginner,
and even elite runners.
In short, circuit training is a high intensity workout that combines aerobic exercise with
strength training. The exact combination of strength exercises and the type of aerobic
work can span the depths of a coach’s or athlete’s imagination. However, with the right
planning and knowledge, runners can mold a circuit training routine specifically
designed to improve their running, much like Shalane Flanagan did to help her earn her
bronze medal.
Circuit training is especially helpful for beginner runners or injury-prone athletes who
aren’t ready to handle an increase in mileage, but do have the time to do more aerobic
exercise. For example, if you find yourself getting injured every time you try to run more
than 4 miles at a time, instead of spending hours on cross training equipment, you can
use circuit training to develop running-specific strength while still getting in an aerobic
workout. Not only will this make you a better runner, but it will also begin to address
some of the structural imbalances causing your injury in the first place.
Circuit training can also be effective if you have a busy schedule or travel frequently and
you don’t have hours to spend at the gym, yet you want to do both strength work and
cardio. A sample circuit routine we’ll include at the end of this article lasts about 30
minutes and can be easily lengthened or shortened by changing the running distance
between each set.
Finally, circuit training is effective for runners who are looking to lose weight or increase
their percentage of lean muscle mass. While running burns more calories than almost
any other pure aerobic activity, strength training, and specifically circuit training, has
been found to burn more fat per minute than any other type of exercise. A running-
specific circuit training routine gives you the best of both worlds – the aerobic
development and calorie burn of a run with the fat burning of a strength workout.
Many studies have shown that circuit training can significantly boost running
performance. For example, a 2003 review article by Alan Jung at the University of
Alabama found that circuit training can maintain heart rates at near 80 percent of
maximum (aerobic development occurs between 78 and 85 percent of maximum heart
rate). Furthermore, studies conducted on untrained individuals found improvements in
time-to-exhaustion on a treadmill test, V02max and the lactate threshold.
The National Athletic Health Institute conducted a study on the effectiveness of circuit
training in the late 1970’s. While the specific circuit routine performed by participants
did not include any running, just strength exercises performed on a 30-second circuit
with no rest, the researchers saw amazing results: after 10 weeks, participants gained
about three pounds of muscle and lost about two pounds of fat. Both men and women
achieved reductions in skin-fold thickness and increased overall muscular strength.
More importantly, participants improved running time to exhaustion on a treadmill by 5
to 6 % and saw an 11% increase in VO2max - without doing any running.
Finally, circuit training helps you become a better overall athlete. Rather than being a
runner who can only move in one plane of motion, circuit training develops balance,
strength, athleticism, and flexibility. While this might not seem like a running-specific
benefit, having poor athleticism increases the risk of running-related injuries. For
example, not being proficient in the frontal plan will result in weak hips and adductors,
which is often the cause of IT band problems.
So, what does a real implementation of circuit training look like? Below, I’ve reproduced
a circuit workout found in my Strength Training for Runners Guide
(http://runnersconnect.net/strength-training-for-runners/) that uses body weight only
(there is also a medicine ball version with videos and .pdfs). This circuit workout is
adapted from John Cook, former coach of Shalane Flanagan, and Jay Johnson, coach of
three US National Champions.
I prefer this routine because it can be completed with no outside equipment and can be
easily adapted to more advanced runners and made more difficult by adding resistance
with a medicine ball. Finally, it works the entire posterior and anterior chain to ensure
proper muscular balance.
5. Push ups
6. Burpees
7. Hip thrusts
8. Pike Press
By keeping each exercise dynamic, specific, and constantly moving, this routine is able
to keep your hear rate high, balance general strength with running-specific exercises,
and addresses the entire core and hip girdle.
Before getting into the specifics of how a general strength routine can help you improve
as a runner, we have to define what we mean by “general”. General strength refers to
exercises, movements, and muscle groups that are not specific to the running motion or
that don’t contribute directly to propelling you forward as quickly and efficiently as
possible. These types of exercises are called “running specific” training, which you find
in the more typical core, form drills, and plyometric routines.
However, general strength exercises can still help prevent injury and improve your
performance. Basically, they serve as the backbone to helping you become a stronger
athlete overall, which allows you to handle a greater workload (i.e. more intensity or
greater mileage) and serve as the base or foundation for specific work.
Running itself is one of the most effective exercises for building the aerobic system.
Unfortunately, it’s not very effective for developing balance, overall strength,
athleticism, and flexibility. In fact, the more you focus on running (building your mileage
and making less time for other activities) the worse you become as an overall athlete.
Case in point: weeks before running 28:40 for 10k, I strained a hip flexor playing wiffle
ball in the backyard with my 8 year-old cousin. An “athlete” capable of Olympic Trials
performances shouldn’t be that susceptible to injuries. Why is this?
Running is a repetitive and largely unvarying motion. You foot plant is roughly the same
with each step and the entire running movement occurs in what is called the sagital
plane (front to back of the body), which is what moves you forward. When running
correctly, you’ll spend very little time moving side-to-side (frontal plane) or
twisting/rotating your trunk (transverse plane). Consequently, the muscles used to
activate and support the transverse and frontal plane movements become weak and
prone to injury.
Not only does this increase your risk of injury in activities outside running (like my wiffle
ball story), but it also increases your risk of running-related injuries. For example, not
being proficient in the frontal plan will result in weak hips and adductors, which is often
the cause of IT band problems.
So, by performing general strength exercises to ensure you work in all three planes of
movement, you decrease your risk of both running-related and general injuries.
Simply stated, aerobic fitness develops faster than the muscular (tendons, muscles,
ligaments, and bones) system. For example, you may be able to hammer out a long run
or a tempo run at 8 minutes per mile (or whatever your pace is), but your hips aren’t yet
strong enough to handle the stress of the pace or volume and your IT band becomes
inflamed.
As explained by Mike Smith, the Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach, Assistant
Track and Field Coach, at Kansas State University: “In training we try to "prepare" the
cardiovascular system, the metabolic system, the neuromuscular system, and the
skeletal muscular system to tolerate various loads and intensities and to then
progressively increase the load and intensity over time through training "prescription".
Initial improvements in aerobic conditioning are often biochemical in nature and thus
can happen somewhat rapidly whereas changes to the physical structure of muscle,
ligaments, tendons and bones is a far more time consuming process.”
Therefore, it’s important that runners include ancillary routines, such as these general
strength routines, into their weekly training plans to speed the development of the
muscular system. In doing so, you’ll improve the strength and resiliency of your muscles,
tendons, ligaments and bones and enable the muscular system to “keep up” with your
aerobic developments.
Not convinced? Let’s use your own training as an example. What is holding you back
from running more mileage and faster workouts each week? I am willing to bet it isn’t
your aerobic system (your heart and lungs). You’re probably more than capable of
running further than you currently do or performing more repeats or long longer tempo
runs. Most likely, what’s holding you back most is how resilient your body holds up to
more mileage and harder, longer workouts.
If you get hurt every time you build mileage or try to maintain harder training for more
than a week or two, I guarantee your aerobic system isn’t the problem. Rather, you’ve
lost (or in some cases never had) you’re athleticism; meaning, your muscles, tendons,
and ligaments aren’t as supple, flexible and injury resistant as they once were. By
developing your overall strength, you’ll improve your athleticism and be less injury
prone and better able to handle a greater volume of training.
In addition to injury prevention, strength training has been shown to directly improve
running performance. Of course, running is the most effective training to run faster, but
as we’ve seen (and you’ve probably learned in your own training) we can’t infinitely
increase mileage or workout volumes. Therefore, we can use general strength work to
speed our improvements along.
But how does improving economy make you faster? By improving running economy, a
runner should be able to run faster over the same distance with less effort. This is the
result of more powerful muscle contractions with each stride, more efficient form (less
wasted energy), and a decrease in oxygen consumption while running at the same
speed.
Granted, scientific studies all have their holes, but here are some interesting results
we’ve found during out last few years of research:
In 2009, Sato and Mokha’s (2009) studied 28 recreational runners with 5k PRs just under
30 minutes. During the six week experiment, both groups continued their normal
training routines, but the experimental group was given a set of five exercises to be
performed four times a week in 2-3 sets of 10-15 repeats each. The experimental group
dropped their 5k time by 47 seconds, while the control group only improved 17 seconds.
A 2008 study by Øyvind Støren and coworkers in Norway examined a more rigorous
program focusing on raw leg strength. Seventeen runners (nine men and eight women)
with 5k bests in the 18:40-range partook. Støren’s subjects displayed no increase in
oxygen intake but a 5% increase in running economy and a startling 21% improvement
in a treadmill run to exhaustion at somewhat faster than 3k race pace vs. the control
group, who had no improvement on either mark.
First, you should target a series of exercises that improve your ability to move along the
three planes of motion (Like lunges with a twist, single leg deadlifts, and hamstring
exercises) while avoiding “wasted” exercises that don’t provide a high value to runners
(such as bicep curls), or those that movements that might be too risky.
Likewise, you should choose variety of exercises that not only changes the stimuli to
prevent staleness, but provides a progressive overload stimulus. In other words, you
want place progressively greater than normal demands on the muscles in for strength
gains to be continual.
While this “stretch-shortening cycle” has been known about for some time,
standardized methods of training this reflex are fairly new. Improvements in your
muscles’ ability to elastically store energy have obvious implications for runners, as
more stored energy would mean you could maintain a given pace for less overall energy.
That is, your efficiency would improve.
Plyometrics are exercises that aim to develop this strength and speed by conditioning
the neuromuscular and elastic characteristics of the muscle. The main objective of
plyometric training for runners is to produce greater power by training the muscles to
contract more quickly and forcefully from an actively pre-stretched position.
Improved running economy with plyometrics
Numerous studies have confirmed that adding plyometrics can improve VO2max,
running efficiency, and help you run faster at shorter distances like the 5k and 10k. One
study conducted on beginner runners showed that after a six-week plyometric routine,
runners demonstrated a 2.3% improvement in their running economy at speeds
between 10:00 and 7:30 mile pace—meaning they used less oxygen at these speeds
than before the plyometric training. The control group, meanwhile, demonstrated no
significant changes in running economy.
Another study on more experienced runners found that after plyometric training,
subjects showed improvements on the order of 2.7% in their jumping ability, 3k time,
and running economy at 8, 7, and 6 minutes per mile.
Finally, a study conducted on elite runners found that after 9 weeks of plyometric
training, runners showed a 4.1% improvement in running economy at 5:20 mile pace
and a nonsignificant trend toward improvement at 6:00 and 7:00 mile pace. The
authors interpreted this as an indication that plyometric training is more beneficial at
higher speeds, since the impact forces are much higher. Additionally, since there was
no change in the maximal oxygen uptake ability (VO2 max), Saunders et al. pointed to
the muscles, not the heart or blood vessels, as the cause of the improvement in
economy. While the blood delivered the same amount of oxygen to the muscles before
and after the 9-week training program, the plyometrics-trained runners could go faster
with it.
1. Water pump
2. Water pump hops
3. Height skips
4. Ankle jumps
5. Jumps for distance
6. 1 leg connect four
7. Toe taps
8. Rocket jumps
9. Split squats
When asked why not, the most runners concede that they don’t know how to properly
integrate it into their schedule for maximum results. Specifically, the big question
runners have is if they should do their strength work after their hard workouts or on
their easy days. This paralysis by choice prevents runners from feeling confident that the
extra time they spending on strength training is worth it, and thus they skip it all
together.
Luckily, there is simple rule you can follow that answers this burning question. Keep
your hard days hard and your easy days easy. We’ll delve into what exactly this
statement means and how it impacts your approach to strength training.
The philosophy behind keeping your hard days hard and your easy days easy is simple.
You want to incorporate your hardest strength training workouts on your hardest
workout days so that your easy days remain as easy as possible. This ensures that you
recover completely on your easy days and you are able to execute the specific purpose
of an easy day - recovery.
On the other hand, performing harder strength workouts, especially anything that
involves the lower body, on your easy running day means you take away from your
body’s ability to recover by adding stress and by shortening the total time you have to
recover before your next hard workout. This is the single most important reason to
include strength training on your hard workout days.
Since running is the most important part the training plan, it should be the primary
focus and consume the most of your available energy and focus. While this does leave
you more tired for your strength workout, and consequently unable to be as strong or
explosive as you would like, it’s actually a positive. Being tired will prevent you from
going too hard or lifting too heavy, which happens too often when runners are fresh
when they hit the weights.
Likewise, researchers from the College of New Jersey found that following weight
training, heart rate and blood lactic acid returned to resting levels faster, which means
you could potentially recover from hard running faster if you perform strength training
that day.
The downsides to strength training on workout days
While the hard days hard, easy days easy philosophy is the best approach to
incorporating strength training, it does have a few drawbacks and negatives to be aware
of.
As noted above, you will be tired when performing your strength sessions after hard
workouts. As a consequence, you need to be extra cautious and ensure that you
perform the exercises with proper form. The more tired you get, the easier it is to cheat
or put your body in positions that could lead to injury.
To overcome this potential issue, you should focus intently on your form by performing
each exercise slowly and using lighter weights to start. It’s much more effective, and
safe, to perform exercises with a light weight and slow movements as opposed to
rushing through a workout and trying to lift as much as you can.
For most runners, hard workout days already consume quite a bit of time. Add together
the warm-up, stretching, rest intervals and cool down and 5 x 1 mile takes much longer
than running 5 miles straight. Therefore, it may be impossible to fit in a 15-30 minute
strength training session after what has already been a long workout.
One possible solution is to split up the running workout and strength routine into a
morning and afternoon/evening session. Generally, strength training sessions don’t take
too long, so it can be squeezed into your routine when you get home from work or
before bed.
Putting it together
The final piece of the puzzle is how to incorporate the hard days hard, easy days easy
principle when you have multiple strength training sessions or only one workout per
week. In this case, you should schedule your hardest, most running-specific strength
routines after your hardest workouts, your medium effort routines (like basic core or hip
routines) on your regular running days, and any preventative routines on your off or
recovery days.
Here is sample week that incorporates 7 days per week of strength training that you can
modify to fit your needs (you don’t have to strength train 7 days a week, but this outline
should help you see where each type of routine would fit):
If you’ve been struggling with how to incorporate strength routines into your training
plan, try using the hard days hard, easy days easy approach. You’ll ensure that you
recover before your next hard workout while still getting maximum benefit from your
time spent strength training.
Moreover, each race distance requires a specific set of physiological demands from a
strength perspective. Certainly, there is overlap between distances, especially the closer
they are in length, but the exact demands are still different.
For example, in the marathon, the primary focus of strength training is preventing injury
to allow for more mileage, healthy long runs, and longer workouts. The secondary focus
is on building up fatigue resistance in the muscles and improving your muscular
endurance, meaning the amount of time you can recruit maximum muscle fibers.
Finally, just like in running portion of training, the focus will be on increasing your body’s
ability to efficiently burn fat as a fuel source.
By performing the same mix, intensity, volumes, and types of routines, you never allow
yourself to specifically train to the demands of your goal event.
Here is a brief breakdown of each cycle of strength training. The specifics of each phase
for a particular race distance are detailed in that race distances prescription.
The goal during the introductory phase is to get your body accustomed to your new
routines and adapting muscles to the workload. Whether you’re new to strength
training in general or somewhat experienced, adapting to new stimuli is critical. This will
help build resistance to injury as well as make sure you’re ready for the harder routines
ahead. Most runners want to skip this phase, but it’s the most important building block
when including strength training into a running schedule.
The foundation phase is akin to the base building phase of a running program. At this
point, you’re performing a good amount and variety of strength work each day and
developing a general foundation of fitness. The routines are still more general rather
than specific, which will allow you to build a more impressive peak.
The maintenance phase is the introduction to more race specific workouts. In essence,
this phase is the preparation for the race specific workouts. By this point, you should be
noticing a difference in your overall strength, ability to handle the routines, and your
running form.
Phase Four: Peak
The peak phase is when you will perform the most race specific strength training
routines. Just like the final 3-4 weeks of your running training, the routines in this phase
are all geared towards improving you specific fitness to race one goal event.
The goal of the taper phase is to reduce the strength training so that you’re not fatigued
from too much ancillary work, yet still maintain the gains that you’ve made throughout
the training segment.
The exact length and structure of each phase differs with each race distance, but they all
follow the same general structure, outline, and goals.
Let’s assume that someone can only squat 100lbs for one rep. Now, at 50% of max
effort (50 lbs), they can do 20 reps. If we increase that person's 1 rep max squat to
150lbs, they can probably squat 50 lbs about 40-50 times.
This huge improvement means that our former submaximal effort has become even
easier. More importantly, the person who used to only be able to squat 100 lbs one
time, can now squat it 10-15 times. So, what used to be a maximum and unsustainable
effort for the person has now become a much easier effort.
Specifically, what does this mean for a distance runner or any endurance athlete? Let's
say that the highest amount of power you could produce and maintain during a run was
1000 watts (not a real number, just hypothetical) and the max amount you could
produce at a full sprint was 5000 watts. When we make you stronger we might move
your sprint power from 5000 to 8000. In doing so, we move your max sustainable power
during a distance event from 1000 to something higher.
The research on traditional weight lifting comes from a 1997 study by Johnston et al. Six
female distance runners underwent a 10-week strength program with weight sessions
three times a week. Each exercise was performed either on a machine or with free
weights. Participants alternated between workouts A and B, below, on alternate
workout days. Recovery between exercises was approximately two minutes.
At the conclusion of the study, cardiovascular markers like VO2 max had not changed,
but the experimental group’s running economy jumped by 4% while the control group
showed no improvement.
So, while lifting heavy for a distance runner may not APPEAR to be sport-specific since it
is a completely different energy system, it is actually extremely specific, as it will help
you to work at a higher capacity during a distance race without accumulating enough
fatigue to stop your efforts. While this info is not accepted among the general
population, it is common knowledge among most sports scientists and elite sport
coaches.
Not surprisingly, many runners are worried that lifting heavy weights will bulk them up.
The benefits of adding power to your stride would be negated if it also added weight to
your frame. Luckily for runners, it is a myth that heavy weights will cause to bulk up.
Muscle "bulk" is dependent on several variables, which include adequate nutrition, an
optimal stimulus in the form of specific training 4-5 times per week, and enough rest
from catabolic activities (such as running) so that adaptation may occur. If any of these
variables are not in place "bulk" will not occur.
Specifically, you won’t be lifting heavy more than once or twice per week and the vast
majority of your training will be in the form of running. Therefore, you don’t have two of
the three variables required to bulk up.
The main idea behind doing high repetitions is that you’ll build more endurance in the
muscle this way. Unfortunately, there are two critical flaws in this logic. First, recent
research has shown that performing repetitions in the 12-20 range does not increase
muscular endurance any more than the 6-8 repetition range. Second, you’re already
working on your muscular endurance when out on the road and when doing track
workouts. Therefore, it would be a waste of time in the gym to continue to work on the
same energy system using less specific movements.
Research has shown that the optimal repetition range for strength and power gains are
in the 4-6 range. The 4-6 rep range allows for maximum muscle overload and will recruit
the most muscle fibers leading to increased strength and size. Because rep ranges are
shorter all your mental energy is set on doing just 4-6 repetitions and therefore
psychological intensity is maximized allowing you to achieve better muscle overload.
In conclusion, adding heavy weight lifting in the gym, if done appropriately and as a
complimentary component of your overall running and strength training can
significantly increase you strength, power and running economy.
Strength Training to Help Transition to
Minimalist Running
To preface, it is not the goal of this strength training guide to persuade you one way or
the other to transition to minimalist shoes or to remain in more traditional running
shoes. After 10 years of coaching and more than 15 years of running I have encountered
runners who’ve have been helped tremendously by traditional shoes and I’ve met
numerous runners whose injury problems were cured forever by moving to minimalist
shoes.
The decision on which shoes to wear is a personal one based on your injury history and
goals. However, if you have decided that running in a minimalist shoe is right for you,
these are the foundation building strength and mobility exercises you need to do to help
ensure your transition is injury-free.
The first step is assessing and improving your balance and flexibility. When moving to
minimalist shoes, it is critical that you have proper mobility and range of motion in both
the ankle and the big toe, which can be weakened due to the “rocker effect” elicited by
traditional running shoes. Without this flexibility in the ankle and big toe, your foot will
roll excessively to the inside or the outside, causing a myriad of injury issues.
The next step in the process is strengthening your support muscles and developing a
better sense of balance. This will help your foot, lower leg and hips prepare for and
absorb the slight changes in form and foot strike that occur during the transition.
Toe yoga exercise will strengthen your big toe, which provides close to 85 percent of the
support when you land while running. Towel exercises help strengthen the plantar fascia
(the band of connective tissue that supports your arch) while toe walks and eccentric
calf exercises help strengthen your calves. Finally, hip and glute balance and stability
exercises help keep your posture strong and provide power through the running stride.
The last component is learning how to properly land without shoes. Learning how to
properly land helps develop your spring mechanism and movement patterns.
Developing the ability to land and control your foot strike will help you land softly rather
than pounding the pavement as well as striking on your mid-foot or forefoot as opposed
to heel striking.
Begin your run in minimalist footwear and after your allotted run time for the day,
switch to your normal training shoes. This will help transfer some of the feel and landing
patterns to your stride when you return to traditional shoes.
Most importantly, listen to your body and be patient. If you feel a part of your lower leg
or foot become excessively sore, take an extra rest day or two. If you progress slow and
remain patient, you’ll be running full-time in minimalist shoes before you know it.
Do you strength train after hard workouts or on easy days? How do you make continual
progress rather than getting stuck doing the same routine over and over? How can you
maximize strength training if you only have 10 minutes a day? What are the best
routines to accomplish everything we discussed so far?
Injury prevention
Plantar fascia
Achilles tendonitis
Shin splints
Runner’s Knee
IT band issues
Hamstring strains
Prescriptions
We break down the prescriptions to focus on specific race distances (5k, 10k,
half marathon and marathon)
Routines and progression for weight loss
Strength training for beginners
Strength training for those who are very short on time.
Strength routines
You don’t need a gym, and only three of the routines require anything other than your
own bodyweight (A medicine ball and swiss ball will help, but are not needed)
Bonus Material
If you’re an injured runner, these routines will help you develop a stronger core,
hip girdle, glutes, lower legs, hamstrings and back to help you eliminate
structural weaknesses.
If you’re trying to take your running to that next level to qualify for Boston or
push the boundaries of your PRs, these routines will help you become a more
efficient, explosive runner and taper your strength training for optimal peaking.
If you want to build your mileage but can’t seem to run more without getting
hurt, adding these routines to your training will help strengthen your muscles,
tendons and ligaments to handle the stresses and workloads of running more
mileage and faster workouts.
If you’re a beginner runner, we have specific prescriptions for how to get started
– even if you’ve never done any type of strength training before. Moreover, we’ll
show you exactly how to incorporate circuit style training so you can exercise at
an aerobic level for longer while you slowly increase your mileage.
18 different strength training routines in PDF form to explain target muscles and
benefits and professional videos to demonstrate the exact movement and
execution of each routine No more guessing why or how to do any exercise.
Specific instructions and prescriptions on how to add to your weekly running
routine for beginners, weight loss, those short on time, general fitness, 5k, 10k,
HM, and the marathon
Injury guides and preventative routines for the most common running injuries.
The latest research and scientific literature on running form, strength training,
and injuries – updated constantly.
Interviews with coaches and strength training experts, totaling over 2 hours of
content, you can listen to or read to further your knowledge of strength training
can work for you.
Absolutely everything you need to plan, develop, and understand how strength
training fits into YOUR training.
So, don’t wait around this time. Be one of the few who take action, rather than the
many who wait around saying “someday.”
http://runnersconnect.net/strength-training-purchase-ebook