Daily Strength Training for Runners

Runners like to run! Unfortunately, when all we do is run…we drive our bodies to be quite imbalanced physically. These imblances can lead to overuse injuries, inflexibilty, stiffness, soreness, hampered gait, and othe issues. Trail running, especially rugged trail running, is much better at broadcasting a wide range of training across many muscle groups. But, even trail runners would greatly benefit from just a few minutes per day of core strength exercise and a quick daily routine for muscle strengthing.

5 minutes:

5 minute abs! Seriously….if you carve out a small piece of time in your day, you can include a quick routine in almost any venue to get your core strength and/or strength routine completed. As an example, I can count on the fact that I will be brushing my teeth each morning I wake up. So, just prior to doing that daily routine, I have made a daily habit of doing 25 push-ups, 50 crunches, and a quick set of curls with exercise bands. The total time for this daily routine? It’s about 2 minutes. After one week, however, this yields 175 push-ups, 350 crunches, and 250 curls. Not too shabby…

This is, of course, in addition to any other exercise I do throughout the week. But, by including it it my daily routine, I do not think about it or ever consider it a burden to my life.

If this makes it seem more reasonable to include some strength training to your routine, then I have set you up for this:

Daily Routine Example:

@Wake-up (2 min)

20 push-ups, 50 crunches, 1 min plank, 30 curls w/rubber band or dumbell.

@Lunch (3 min)

20 push-ups, 20 shoulder raises, 30 sec right side plank, 30 sec left.

Of course, these are just an example. It’s a total of about 5 minutes. Personally, I really enjoy pull-ups. I have a chin up bar at work and one in my basement. I find them at the gym and city parks sometimes too. So, I make it my practice to never pass a chin up bar without a few sets. By doing this, I have made it my routine…just like brusing my teeth.

You will benefit greatly from strength exercises like those mentioned above. As a runner, you would also benefit from a little stretching each day as well.  With running as the priority, consider carving out a small piece of your daily routine to improve your running through these types of supportive exercises. You can modify these examples as you see fit. Have fun!

Run long and prosper,

Jerry