Strengthening exercises/plan for runnners

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Hello,
I am a beginning runner who is currently doing the couch to 5k plan. Are there any strengthening/toning plans you would recommend to help for toning and strengthening? I tend to get some back soreness after doing 5k's which I have been told is because I am exercising muscles I don't normally work on. Any help would be much appreciate; DVD programs would be especially helpful. Thanks!

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  • mchristo918
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    Hey there, I'm a new runner! I've been running for about 2 months now and have had soreness just about everywhere. Lucky for me, I have a neighbor who is a physical therapist and I asked for advice. He suggested doing glute exercises to strengthen my glutes and open my hips, because tight hips cause both low back pain and knee pain. I had no idea! I've been doing a 10 minute circuit for glutes 3 times a week, and suddenly running is so much easier on my back and hips - and my butt is getting cute, too! Good luck to you!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    You Are Your Own Gym is a bodyweight trianing plan that's worth doing. Targets all the things that you need to think about. A sore back is core strength.

    Book, app and DVDs
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
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    There is also something called the "Myrtl" routine which is composed of several strengthening and stretching moves that target those lower body muscles where we tend to get injured. If you Google it, you'll find a YouTube video demonstrating all the moves and a PDF showing the number of reps to start with. My more experienced runner friends say they do it about twice a week.