Sweat Pink Blog Swap: Strength Training for Runners

Helloooo!  Today is the Sweat Pink Blog Swap and I’m happy to be able to have Casey from Project Girl Get Fit provide a great Strength Training workout for all of you!  & please check out my recipe for AMAZING energy bars over at Project Girl Get Fit!

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Hi everyone! I am super excited to be writing for Healthy Life Happy Wife for Alex for our Sweat Pink Blog Swap! My name is Casey and I blog over at Project Girl Get Fit. I started blogging to share how I changed my life from being pretty unhealthy and out of shape to falling madly in love with fitness and my journey towards getting fit!

I have two younger sisters that are my best friends in the world (I’m the one in the middle!) and they are great cheerleaders for all the changes I have made in my life. I also have two dogs that simultaneously drive me crazy and are adorable.

A big part of my journey has been meeting my personal trainer, Dan. He was brand new when I met him and I was his first official client, so we’ve become really close. And he actually was a weight loss success story before he became a trainer, so he has a unique knowledge of a lot of the things I am going through. He’s a great combination of cheerleader, good friend, mentor, and trainer – he definitely doesn’t let me get away with anything and has been an incredible support. He even comes and runs most of my races with me, which I think is super sweet of him!

Since I am actively involved in running and strength training, I thought I’d write about why strength training is really important to incorporate for runners. I have only been running since February of this year, but regardless of what you do to stay fit, I am a huge advocate of strength training. As far as I am concerned, everyone should be incorporating strength training into their workouts. Not only is it a good counterbalance to having massive amounts of cardio in your routine, but it will actually help you become stronger and prevent injury. As any runner, or anyone in love with fitness really, can tell you, being sidelined with an injury is the worst. All you want to do is be able to get back out there and continue working out. Well, strength training will help you avoid injury by reducing muscle imbalances and muscle fatigue. The majority of running injuries are due to knee and hip issues, which can be minimized or eliminated by fixing muscle imbalances. Strength training can also actually help you become a more efficient runner by helping to improve your body strength, especially your core, which in turn will help improve your running form and allow you maintain that with less effort.

However, if you are going to incorporate strength training, please, please, please make sure that you are going about it the right way. That means absolutely having correct form as well as lifting an appropriate weight and intensity for where you are at. Poor form is a surefire way to at the very least make your workout less effective and at the worst, cause significant injury. If you are a member at a gym, ask one of the trainers to show you how to properly perform an exercise. If you work out at home, you can always look it up online, but make sure that you are watching someone reputable so that you aren’t learning incorrectly.  A lot of people, especially women, lift really light weights at really high repetitions for endurance. While that has its time and place, that won’t help you develop greater strength in your muscles, you will just be able to lift the same amount for longer. Try lifting a little more weight and dropping your number of reps. I’d say no more than 8 to 10 to really see the best gains. Incorporating full body functional movements, such as squats, deadlifts, push-ups and pull-ups, are going to help maximize the benefits of your exercises, so that you are working out smarter, not harder and not longer. Compound movements, like squats, are some of the best exercises that you can do because they force your entire body to work together to complete it. The reason that I say this is key is because your muscles don’t work in isolation, but as one large interconnect machine, so whole body exercises will have more overall benefit than isolated movements, such as  seated bicep curls or tricep extensions.

So with all that being said, here is a great strength training pyramid workout that can be done pretty much anywhere! The only equipment that you would need is a place to do a pull-up and a medicine ball or weight that you can use for doing deadlifts. If you aren’t sure about how to complete any of the movements, I’ve included more info after the workout.

Workout

60 second plank

5 Pull-ups (assisted if necessary)

10 Burpees

15 per side Backward Lunges

20 Deadlift

25 Push-ups (standard or modified)

30 Body Weight Squats

25 Push-ups (standard or modified)

20 Deadlift

15 per side Backward Lunges

10 Burpees

5 Pull-ups (assisted if necessary)

60 second plank

Thanks to Alex for swapping blogs with me for the day! I hope you enjoy the workout and stop by Project Girl Get Fit sometime to say hi or share your own favorite workout routines! I always love hearing what other people come up with!

Exercise Descriptions and Pictures

Plank – Balance on your forearms and toes, keeping your hips down and core in tight so that your body forms a straight line. If you can’t hold for 60 seconds straight, try breaking it into two 30 second planks and building it up to holding for 60 second straight.

Pull-up  - Hold onto a bar overhead and using your arms and traps, pull yourself until your chin is level with the bar. If you are unable to perform full pull-ups, there are several options to modify, such as using the assisted pull-up machine at the gym, using a band to support some of your weight,  using a chair to put some of your weight onto, or using  a lower bar and keeping your feet on the ground (the closer to horizontal you are, the harder it will be).

Burpee – Start in a standing position. Crouch down, placing your hands on the ground and hop your feet out into push up position. Do a full push-up before hopping your feet back in to crouching. Stand and jump up. Once you land, you are ready to begin number 2!

Backward Lunge – Start in a standing position. Step one foot backward and lower yourself down, until your knees are both at right angles. Stand up, step back in so your feet are together, and then step back with the other foot to do the same motion on the other side.

Deadlift – You can complete these with a barbell, dumbbells, a kettlebell, a medicine ball, or pretty much anything heavy. Starting with the weight on the floor, put your feet about hip width apart and bend your knees, reaching down for the weight. Make sure to keep your back flat and your chest up the entire time. Grasping your weight, stand up straight. Reverse to put the weight back down.

Push-up – Put your hand about shoulder width apart and balance on your hands and toes (knees, if you need to modify). Keeping your body in a straight line, lower yourself until your chest touches the ground, then push back up to starting position. Remember to keep your core tight throughout the exercise.

Body Weight Squats – Stand up straight with feet hip width apart and toes pointing straight forward. Sitting, with your weight in your heels, kick your hips back like you are about to sit down into a chair and drop until your hips are even with your knees. If you can drop lower, do so. Make sure to keep your back flat, your chest up and your weight in your heels. You can extend your arms up overhead or in front of you to help balance. Return to standing.

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If you would like to check out some of the other Sweat Pink Blog Swap posts, make sure to head over to Healthy Heddleston  !

Happy Tuesday!