Strong Foundations
After being out of action for more than a year, my perspectives and mentality towards running have changed. Not in many ways I admit, but significantly none the less.
My thinking has changed especially in the areas of training and racing. Having had much time to ponder, I’ve come to realise how important sufficient preparation and conditioning are to any runner, or for that matter any athlete. With regards to running, I now believe it’s not as important to clock the mileage as it is ensuring that one has adequate muscular strength, neuromuscular coordination and proprioception to handle an increased running load. Given that running places forces that measure in multiples of your body weight on the lower half of your body, I think it’s more than reasonable to assess your strength and coordination prior to undergoing intensive training and to include exercises that hone you in these specific areas.
According to Wolfgang Oswald and Nathan Koch, physical therapists from Endurance Rehab, runners and triathletes tend to develop neuromuscular imbalances in the frontal and transverse planes due their predominant competition in the sagittal plane. I have experienced this myself, being able to tackle heavy weights on the leg press and leg extension, but unable to balance well on one leg or execute a single-leg squat during physiotherapy sessions. Oswald and Koch also raise another important issue, that of quadricep-dominance. The quadriceps are heavily involved in disciplines such as running and cycling. In the long run, many athletes end up neglecting their hamstrings and glutes, which are crucial for reducing excess and unwanted instability or movement in the lower half of the body, particularly the knees and ankles.
The best way then, to reduce risk of injury and ensure that you’ll be running strongly for as long as you want to, is to incorporate regular strength training into your workouts. I’m sure that many runners tend to overlook this aspect of training and often push it aside in favour of additional mileage. That definitely shouldn’t be the way. Also, one doesn’t have to worry about gaining bulk since such exercises usually involve nothing more than your own body weight. And from personal experience, that’s tough enough. The goal of this conditioning is basically to improve core stability, functional strength, balance and coordination, These in turn will boost running efficiency, which is what we want at the end of it all.
Strength training has long-lasting, beneficial effects despite its simplicity and should be an integral component of every runner’s regime. You don’t need any fancy stuff other than a small open space in your home. Leaves you with little excuse to skip it huh? Treat it like homework: start early, do it thoroughly, do it regularly. The diligence and perseverance will pay off =) As a parting note, I’ll leave you with several drills that you can do.
Plank. This is one of the simplest but most crucial core exercises. Don’t let your butt sag. Try holding the position for 1-2 minutes. Image from boycefitness.com
Side plank. Hits the obliques. Significantly harder than the plank since you’re supporting the body with one set of obliques. Don’t let the hips sag. If this is too easy, elevate your feet on a bench. Try 30s or so. Image from abs-exercise-advice.com
Reverse plank. Another very challenging exercise. It’s hard to hold the position since many of us have weak hammies and butt muscles. Even harder when you try lifting up each leg six times or so. Image from egetfit.com
Yet another challenging exercises for the glutes and hammies. If you can’t support yourself with one leg, try both. 30s. Image from ibodz.com
These are just a few basic exercises (there are harder ones). I hope the readers find it useful, though these may be a piece of cake for advanced runners. Remember to get a clean bill of health before you start training as some of these positions can be pretty tough. Just to side track, I think plyometrics are very important too. I’ll probably talk more about them next time. Cheers!
References:
R4YL Dec – Jan 2011. “The Sometimes Forgotten Program: Strength Conditioning” by Jane Miles
Triathlete Sept 2010. “Assess Your Strength Before Putting In The Miles” by Wolfgang Oswald and Nathan Koch
