Could strength and conditioning be the missing piece to running PBs?
There are many pieces to the puzzle when it comes to running. You think you have it all sussed and making progress, then all of a sudden you’re halted in your tracks and struggling to see any progress.
You’ve been running in groups for a while, enjoying the company of other runners keeping an eye on the pace you’re going and always aiming to get a bit quicker but still wonder how others are managing to get faster and stronger.
Equipment plays a part in all of this, having the latest gadgets and watches monitoring how you’re doing, wearing compression clothing to speed up your recovery so you can get in those extra runs in the week. However all this can be worthless unless you have a good strength and conditioning programme in place.
The first challenge is to know what strength and conditioning actually means, and it’s not something that only an elite athlete needs.
It’s about having the balance in your training and a structured programme to follow that’ll break your training into sections so that you’ll reap the benefits when it comes to those all important races.
As a runner you want to be thinking of using a weights programme that has legs, glutes and core elements programmed into the heart of the sessions, primarily as these are your main muscle groups that are used when you’re pounding the pavements and tracks.
Think about it, activating your glutes this is going to mean your hips are super stable and you’ll have a good centre of gravity to push off from and get your legs striding forwards. We need to make sure your legs and knees have got the strength and drive to keep working right to the end of your race, so need to build up your quads and equally your hamstrings to keep that power there.
You can look at most pictures of people running they have at least one foot on the floor, there maybe an exception to the rule when you get the awesome images of two feet off the ground. But more often than not you’re having to make sure you stay balanced, this means you need to have training involving single leg work, so that you have equal strength and power in both legs to make sure you’re not more dominant in one leg leading overuse and an injury.
If you’re strengthening the muscles in your body you’re forward thinking and having a training regime that is balanced and will set you off on the start line knowing that you’re in peak physical condition during the race and will cross the finish line with a PB and a smile on your face.
