Strength for running

maja124moxie

Hi all,
I am training for my first marathon which is in November. I have noticed that running is not enough and not doing any strength excercises is not helping my running. I want to finish the marathon strong and hope I can add in strength that will improve my running.

Can you suggest good excersices for somebody that is training for a marathon? A DVD would be great. I also have access to the gym.

Thanks in advance!

scottb81

In my opinion a program like Stronglifts or Starting Strength is going to strengthen your overall body and will lead to greater resiliancy, more consistent training, and ultimately better race times.

However, since you are building mileage for your first marathon and I assume your body is still adapting to that mileage it is going to be tough to add significant strength training on top of that load. Your body may not be able to keep up with the recovery necessary for growth.

For the marathon, training mileage is necessary. If you can add the strength training without reducing the mileage significantly you will probably benefit. If you have to start skipping runs or if you cannot finish hard or long runs because you are too tired from lifting then you will not benefit.

I am training for a marathon, have been running pretty high mileage for two years and have recently added Stronglifts to my program. Even though I am already adapted to the mileage, the strength training on top of it does make some of the runs rather miserable. I get them done anyway.

Try adding Stronglifts or Starting Strength and see how it affects you. Just remember that if your short term goal is a marathon that the running takes precedence. Adapt the lifting program around that. If you reduce the running too much you set yourself up for a really miserable marathon experience.

BrianSharpe

Hi all,
I am training for my first marathon which is in November. I have noticed that running is not enough and not doing any strength excercises is not helping my running. I want to finish the marathon strong and hope I can add in strength that will improve my running.

Can you suggest good excersices for somebody that is training for a marathon? A DVD would be great. I also have access to the gym.

Thanks in advance!

Check out this articles from Runners World.....

http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/10-essential-strength-exercises-for-runners?cm_mmc=NL-Beginners-_-1385354-_-08072013-_-10-Essential-Strength-Exercises-for-Runners

jacksonpt

In my opinion a program like Stronglifts or Starting Strength is going to strengthen your overall body and will lead to greater resiliancy, more consistent training, and ultimately better race times.

However, since you are building mileage for your first marathon and I assume your body is still adapting to that mileage it is going to be tough to add significant strength training on top of that load. Your body may not be able to keep up with the recovery necessary for growth.

For the marathon, training mileage is necessary. If you can add the strength training without reducing the mileage significantly you will probably benefit. If you have to start skipping runs or if you cannot finish hard or long runs because you are too tired from lifting then you will not benefit.

I am training for a marathon, have been running pretty high mileage for two years and have recently added Stronglifts to my program. Even though I am already adapted to the mileage, the strength training on top of it does make some of the runs rather miserable. I get them done anyway.

Try adding Stronglifts or Starting Strength and see how it affects you. Just remember that if your short term goal is a marathon that the running takes precedence. Adapt the lifting program around that. If you reduce the running too much you set yourself up for a really miserable marathon experience.

Agreed.

Strength training will certainly help, but there is no substitute for mileage, especially when training for longer distances like you are doing.

Mileage should still be your focus, but adding in a little strength training can help do (if you think your body can handle that much work).


On a side note, you say that running is no longer enough. What do you mean, and how do you know? When talking about finishing strong, this could be a nutritional thing as well.

maja124moxie

Thank you all for your replies! I will check out strong lifts. I have 2 days I can dedicate to lifting.

I've started experiencing some discomfort in my knee and IT band so I've taken a few days off from running and lots of stretching. I haven't done any strenght in over a year, and I've read that I need to strengthen my knees, core and hips.

arl1286

I'm currently training for a half and I've put most of my strength training on hold while I focus on increasing my mileage and preventing an injury by overworking myself. No time for heavy lifting because I'm running 5 days a week.

scottb81

Thank you all for your replies! I will check out strong lifts. I have 2 days I can dedicate to lifting.

I've started experiencing some discomfort in my knee and IT band so I've taken a few days off from running and lots of stretching. I haven't done any strenght in over a year, and I've read that I need to strengthen my knees, core and hips.

Stronglifts should help with all that. I had developed some chronic lower back pain and glute pain over the past two years. Six weeks of unstructured strength training (with back and ab core work) and two weeks of Stronglifts have nearly eliminated both For truth in advertising I also added a significant amount of stretching and foam rolling into the weekly mix and reduced my weekly mileage a little down to around 60 miles per week on non-race weeks.

The good thing about Stronglifts is that the weights start out light so you will be able to do it for a while before the weights get so heavy that it might potentially cut significantly into your ability to train for a marathon at the same time.

runninghealthy

I am also training for my first marathon in November, feel free to add me if you want! Here's a few simple strength exercises I've found online. I'm going to try to start mixing these into my routine:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1570

At the end of the article, there are three plans: one for beginners, one for advanced, and one for doing in the gym, that you can print out. They have pictures and info about how long to do these, how many reps, etc.

Have fun!

buchy2009

Because it is your first marathon, don't be afraid to drop the strength training towards the end of the training plan if you're tired and I would probably drop it no matter what during your taper weeks.

I've added strength training for this training cycle and have found success doing the p90x strength training days to my training schedule. I think it works because it is a lot of body weight stuff which is what a lot of running articles/sites recommend anyways.

One more thing - be sure to always run before lifting or your runs will suffer. I agree with the others that your running should always come first!