Avoid strength training and your running may suffer. Though most runners eschew strength training due to a fear of bulk, focusing on strength can give you a race advantage. It’s important to remember that strength training for runners does not focus on bulk, but on increasing muscle strength endurance. This increase in endurance means greater calorie loss, greater efficiency and being less prone to injury.
Medicine Ball Heave
Do this exercise to strengthen your core, back shoulders, buttocks, quadriceps and hips. Begin by holding a five-pound medicine ball with both hands and stand with your feet shoulder width apart and the knees slightly bent. Slowly squat while positioning the medicine ball between your knees. Keep your heels on the floor and note that your knees should remain positioned above your ankles so your buttocks are sticking out to the back. Without pausing, slowly rise back to the starting position but as you do so, raise the ball over your head. Keep the core engaged and tightened during the whole exercise. Perform 15 repetitions and do three sets.
The Four Cores
This exercise works the muscles of your midsection in four components. Start by lying belly down with only your elbows and the balls of your feet on the ground. Keep your body straight from heel to head. Hold for 20 seconds. Switch to a sideways position so only the right elbow and forearm and the outside of the right foot are touching the ground. The left foot should rest on top of the right and the left hand can be placed on your hip. Again, keep the body straight--no sagging. Hold for 20 seconds. Next, with your back to the ground, prop yourself up on your elbows, set slightly wider than shoulder width apart, and the heels of your extended legs. Hold for 20 seconds before repeating the sideways stretch but this time with your left side in contact with the ground.
Kangaroo Bounds
This plyometrics exercise seeks to build strength through explosive movement while simultaneously improving nervous system response. Begin this exercise by standing on top of a bench and then stepping, not jumping, off the bench. Both feet should leave the bench and reach the ground together. As soon as you land, immediately jump as high up and forward as possible. Note that your core should remain engaged throughout this exercise. Do two sets of 15 kangaroo jumps with a minute recovery between sets.
