Cross-Training......

For me, and I would think for most runners, as I get older strengthening the body becomes more important.  With this in mind I've set aside one day each week to concentrate on some strength exercises specific to runners.  I don't even have to work out which ones to do because they are all outlined, with illustrations for each, in "Run Less Run Faster",  the book for the FIRST training programs.

And now finally the exercises.  holding 1.5kg weights; 20 reps. each but only 1 set for today!

Standing Wall Slide....a squat; hamstrings, quads and glutes
Single Leg Squat.......hamstrings and glutes
Walking Lunges........quads, glutes, hip flexors
Calf Raises...............gastrocnemius and soleus muscles...whatever they are!  I'll Google later!
Pushup on a stability ball........chest, triceps, shoulders.....I do this one on the ground!  I've tried at home with the stability ball and ended up flat on my face on the other side of the room!
Single Arm Bent-over Row.....upper muscles of the back.

This took just 20 minutes today and involved no running at all;  the program has an easy day between each of the demanding three key workouts.  Strength work should be a good way of doing that...I hope.  I certainly need to do this and other ways of improving strength....eg hills, run alternate long runs longer and some shorter long runs faster. 

Two practical sentences which have influenced me from "the good book" on strength training for runners are  :In addition to injury prevention, weight training improves performance.  The research has also shown that running economy improves as a result of strength training.


.........and they're good enough reasons for me!