No, not this type of general.
It's no secret that runners aren't the greatest "athletes" in the world. Sure, our hearts could probably power nuclear submarines, but put us on a soccer field or a basketball court and the results won't be pretty.* Am I implying that runners need to have 40" vertical leaps, big biceps and finely tuned fast-twitch muscle fibers? Certainly not. However, runners do benefit from maintaining efficient form/technique, which requires a relatively balanced muscular profile, particularly in the core and hips. Unfortunately for we obsessive-compulsive runners, you don't build the necessary stabilizing muscles by simply running--you need some sort of supplementary training.
A friend of mine recently told me about Coach Jay Johnson, a coach and writer for Running Times who has a great website. After doing it for about two weeks, I've quickly become a fan of Jay's general strengthening routine. I'll leave the explanation to the linked website, but the routine focuses mainly on core strengthening and hip strengthening/mobility and only takes a few minutes. (I also found a handy, printable PDF diagram of the hip-blasting Myrtl routine that's a big part of this program.)
What do you do for strengthening? I'd love to hear your ideas and feedback, especially from the wily veterans out there.
*This certainly isn't true for all runners, but the point that I'm making is that runners typically have very developed "running muscles" and not much else.
I do two things for hip flexibility/strengthening and for my core-Yoga and lifting. I do yoga once a week for an hour, but I do a some of the hip stretches after my runs.
ReplyDeleteFor lifting, I've starting doing hip adductor/abductor type work outs.
I completely agree with what they say that the strengthening routine is best done after a workout. A few of us used to do that after track when it stayed light out last summer. We should think about doing it again. I'm not very disciplined to do anything for extended periods of time by myself. That's why I join others in group workouts at my health club led by personal trainers. As you grow older, it's really important to do circuit training to keep muscles toned all over. You have to supplement your running with strengthening if you want to maintain your speed.
ReplyDeleteI do Pilates twice a week and a muscle pump class, an endurance weight training class. Lighter weights and lots of reps. I highly recommend pilates to help with core strength and flexibility. It definitely has helped with tight hamstrings and hips. And keeping good form when you are tired the last few miles of a long run or marathon. My biggest issue is the extra recovery time I need now between hard workouts. Pilates is a good recovery day workout for me.
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