Why Runners Need To Lift Weights.
- Kyle Cringan CPT, B.A. Human Performance
Humans were born to run. We have been walking and running for thousands of years to pillage, plunder, conquer, venture, or even find spiritual enlightenment like the Tendai “Mountain Monks” of Japan, who run 1,000 marathons in 1,000 days for self-actualization. For less extreme accounts in this day and age, we run to stay fit, keep a healthy cardiovascular system, lose weight, compete for sport, or maybe just because it feels good. Unfortunately, due to the high-impact, continuous nature of running, many fall prey to running-related injuries usually involving the Achilles’ tendon, Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), plantar flexors, and the psoas major. Many of these injuries are commonly caused by overloading the tendons with more running volume than they can properly adapt and recover to. The solution? -Supplemental Strength Training.
Many runners want to only run. But if you could run better when you do run rather than run until your legs give out, wouldn’t you choose the former? Research from the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports found that, ‘Strength training can lead to enhanced long-term (longer than 30 minutes) and short-term (less than 15 minutes) endurance capacity both in highly trained individuals and top level endurance athletes especially with the use of high-volume, heavy-resistance strength training protocols.’ Basically, strength improves stamina. Additionally, adding supplemental resistance training may induce faster recovery from injuries, prevent overuse injuries, and reduce muscle imbalances (Mikkola and colleagues).
Now, this does not mean you should run on the treadmill immediately before or after your lift. In fact, this will diminish the optimal training adaptations for your run and your lift. When we give our bodies a stimulus (or stressor) like exercise, our brain will send neural signals to adapt to the stimulus. Doing both a run and a training session so close in proximity may “dilute the potency of the stimuli” by sending an unclear cellular signal to adapt to. It sounds complicated, but it’s not. It simply means you will not see the best results from your run or your resistance training. The takeaway: Separate resistance training from running with enough time to fully recover. This could be hours or days depending on the individual.
From an injury perspective, resistance training was found to reduce risk of overuse injury by 50%, according to a 2014 meta-analysis study. Improving running through resistance training should emphasize specifically the musculature and tendinous attachments involved in the biomechanics of running. This should include the calves, Achilles’ tendon, quadriceps, and hip flexors. Emphasizing heavier loads (as opposed to lighter loads with higher repetitions) and plyometric training will be more beneficial towards aiding tendon stiffness, muscle quality, and running performance. Overall, supplementary strength training will greatly reduce the risk of running-related injuries, improve endurance capacity, strengthen the muscles & tendons involved in running, and enhance your running performance so your legs won’t give out.
Aagaard P, Andersen JL. Effects of strength training on endurance capacity in
top-level endurance athletes. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2010 Oct;20 Suppl 2:39-47.
Lauerson JB, Bertelsmann DM, Anderson LB. The effectiveness of exercise
interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Br J Sports Med. 2014;48:871-877.
Zupon, MF, and Petosa, PS. Aerobic and resistance cross-training for peak triathlon
performance. Strength Cond J 17:7-12, 1995.
