Employing a simple yet solid Strength Training Program For Runners is an essential and fundamental element in any marathon training program. It’s my view that without an adequate strength training program, your progress will at best become stagnant, and at worst go backwards due to injury.
If you have ambitions for your running, which I know you do because you told me so, then you absolutely need to put in place a strength training program for runners that you can carry out easily.
Too many programs ask too much of you in terms of equipment and time, and these things can be a block to you getting started. Getting stronger is simpler than you might have thought and you don’t need any equipment or much time to get there.
Some more popular training programs available online don’t include a strength and flexibility module, and as a result are really only half a program at best in my opinion.
Consequently, these training programs, although created with the best of intentions, are incomplete and may well do you a disservice. (Especially so if you’ve handed over cash).
The truth is that all it takes is a definite will and a commitment to form a new daily habit, besides, if staying injury free or recovering from injury is a priority for you then you’ll do it.
And there are some other benefits too.
Burn Excess Body Fat With Regular Strength Training
Although recovering from, and staying injury free is a big concern for almost all marathon runners, there is another common problem that strength training solves – high intensity strength training burns fat fast.
Over 40% of you who have joined The Smart Runner Community to date have completed the survey and told me what you need most. Over half of the respondees have said that losing body fat is a primary concern.
What area of health & fitness would you most like to improve?
Well, the good news is that if you use the simple program I outline below, you will not only build strength and flexibility necessary to stay running injury free, but you will lose fat too.
Couple that with a fat burning low carb diet like the one I’m on right now, and you’ll go nuclear on the belly fat. I’m telling ya, I’ve done this before and I’ve seen brilliant aesthetic results.
The Long Term Benefit Of Strength Training
A friend of mine, Jason, got sick about 3 years ago. He developed the Big C (I can’t even bring myself to write the word, let alone say it), and it took him out of action for about a 18 months.
He is a CrossFit guy and after training 5 days a week for a number of years, he had developed skills that I aspired to reach. Long story short he recovered from that initial bout of illness and I hooked up with him shortly afterwards for chats.
As we spoke for over 90 mins it became apparent that his almost professional dedication to Crossfit had allowed him build his body and mind to deal with the illness and the invasive treatment he needed to undergo to recover.
For Jason, going to dark places in the gym had prepared him for the worst.
Now I’m not suggesting you need to go hardcore into CrossFit, but strength training is to your advantage not only for marathon running, but also for dealing with whatever life throws at you.
As many of us get older, we tend to give up playing sports and keeping fit to focus on our work and families. We seem to neglect our bodies, and consequently the most unfortunate ones end up very under prepared for what might lie ahead.
A Strength Training Program For Runners
So I guess it’s about time I introduced you to the program. Here’s a couple of things you’ll need, some things you might need, and some things you definitely won’t need to get started with this strength training program.
- A clear floor space of 5 to 10 meters
- Time (about 30 mins)
- Still water
- A small towel
- A yoga mat if you want
- A chair
- Good music
- You won’t need any weights or equipment
The Program
The program is simple, and has a limited number of drills but addresses the need of the entire body structure. As you progress you may want to utilise weights, but for now this should get you in a good starting place.
Carry out this routine every morning as per the detail to the best of your ability and soon you’ll feel lighter on your feet, stronger and you may also get faster. You may not be able to perform some of these drills initially but stick to it, it will come.
The Warm Up (Perform This Every Day)
The warmup is the same every single day and is important in order to get the blood flowing before picking up the pace of the session. The warm up will not change here, at least for this fundamental strength training program.
Do 3 rounds of the following drills (9 mins);
- Spiderman Stretch x 5
- Front Lunge each side (Dynamic) x 5
- Side Lunge each side (Dynamic) x 5
- Inch Worm x 5
- Press Up Rotate x 5
- Roll Over & Reach Out x 5
The Strength Workout (Perform This Every Day)
Do these drills every day in addition to your interval, tempo, hills, and fartlek work you will see great benefit over time. Although depending on your running commitments you may need to drop a day or two. If so, use those days to stretch and roll out.
This is the work that I do every day and I assure you, once you get into the habit, it will take very little out of you and afford you so much benefit.
Monday
Do 3 to 5 rounds of the following drills depending on your level of fitness. Perform these drills as fast as possible breaking for 30 seconds between rounds.
- Plank 60 sec
- Burpee x 10
- Hollow Hold 15 sec/Arch Hold 15 sec
- Press Up with Knee Tuck
- Air Squat x 15 Fast
Tuesday
Do 3 to 5 rounds of the following drills depending on your level of fitness. Perform these drills as fast as possible breaking for 30 seconds between rounds.
- Jump Lunge x 10
- Burpee x 10
- V-Ups (or knee tucks) x 10
- Side Plank x 60 sec each side
- Bridge with leg raise x 5 each side
Wednesday
Do 3 to 5 rounds of the following drills depending on your level of fitness. Perform these drills as fast as possible breaking for 30 seconds between rounds.
- Press Up & Rotate x 5 each side
- Burpee x 10
- Hill Climbers
- Prisoner Get-ups
- Ab Crunch (elbows to knees) x 10
Thursday
Do 3 to 5 rounds of the following drills depending on your level of fitness. Perform these drills as fast as possible breaking for 30 seconds between rounds.
- Downward Dog x 5 (hold for 5 each position)
- Burpee x 10
- Spiderman Walk x 5 each side
- Lunge Walks x 5 each side
- Squat Jump x 5
Friday
Do 3 to 5 rounds of the following drills depending on your level of fitness. Perform these drills as fast as possible breaking for 30 seconds between rounds.
- Inchworm x 5
- Burpee x 10
- Plank With Leg Raise x 30 sec each side
- Side Plank With Leg Raise x 30 sec each side
- Press Up & Rotate x 5 each side
Saturday
Do 3 to 5 rounds of the following drills depending on your level of fitness. Perform these drills as fast as possible and break for 30 seconds between rounds.
- Single Leg Squat x 5 each side (use a chair if you need)
- Burpee x 10
- Side Plank With Knee Tuck x 5 each side
- Plank With Wide Legs & Hands x 30 sec
- Press Up (feet raised or not)
Sunday
Sunday is an easy day – No Burpees! Do 3 to 5 rounds of the following depending on your level of fitness, and perform these drills slowly and methodically, breaking for 30 seconds between rounds.
- Bear Walk
- Duck Walk
- Inchworm
- Bunny Hop
- Ape Walk
Check out this video for instruction on animal walk drills
The Warm Down (Perform This Every Day)
The warm down is a series of static and dynamic stretches that allows you to bring your workout to a finish in a managed way rather than a sudden stop. It also allows your heart rate come down to normal levels.
Do 3 rounds of the following drills (7.5 mins);
- Sit & Reach (wide legs) 15 sec each side
- Spiderman Stretch 15 sec each side
- Quad Stretch 15 sec each side
- Shoulder Stretch 15 sec each side
- Butterfly Sit Stretch 30 sec
- Calf Stretch 15 sec each side
- Optional – Roll out for 10 mins
So There You Have It!
Simple but effective.
The above is a variation on the strength training program I’m using for my next marathon, but modified to exclude equipment. The drills can be demanding depending on how hard you go at it, so adjust as needs be.
If you train every day like I’ve outlined above, or even if you only do 3 or 4 days, you’ll likely see improvement in your pace and comfort running. Couple this work with a clean diet and you’ll shift excess body fat and be better prepared for your next marathon.
I realise that many of you reading this have marathon time goals, however breaking your PB has been a real challenge. Well, I am certain as I possibly can be, that if you do the above work and you correct your eating habits you will get faster.
In conclusion, the reality is that nobody is going to push you to do the work, so it seems like you’ll need to get motivated and committed.
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Thinking of joining me in the above training? Drop me a line below and let me know what you think of the training. Keep in touch on Facebook too as I’ll be posting daily training videos so you can follow and see progress.
When you run that isn’t true. When you run, most of the power from push-off comes from your hips, so we’re talking about true hip extension. If you improve your core strength and improve your hip extension strength, you are well on your way to becoming a more efficient runner.
Thanks for reading Julianna. What are you referring to exactly?