Becky Wade BSc, Senior Exercise Specialist from The Better Body Group explains why…
Running is a lot more than just putting on your shoes and heading out the front door, being a successful and happy runner is not only about speed training and long runs at the weekend.
Whether it’s a future marathon, a weekly 5k park-runner or just trying something new. Runners often neglect strength training and don’t understand the importance of how being strong can benefit them. To understand the importance of strength training it is key to understanding what your body goes through in each step during a run.
During a run our body can put 1.5 to 3 times our body weight through each leg causing stress to the joints, tendons and ligaments, therefore strength training is vital for the prevention of injury and to improve performance. Research suggests that running economy is improved by combining endurance training with explosive strength training. It is not just down to leg strength as everyone is different and muscle structure has an important role to play when it comes to running. To understand this lets go through each major muscle group of our body and their role during gait (walking/running).
Quadriceps
The Quadriceps are responsible for swinging the leg forward and up. They help with knee stability and shock absorption when planting the foot and passing the energy onto the hamstring to complete the stride.
Hamstrings
The Hamstrings play a very important role in the push-off phase of a runner’s stride, when your foot is landing thats when your legs are holding your body weight, it is at this stage when your hamstring are under the most strain, when you get tired your hamstring are being used more, so strong hamstring will help runners technique maintain at the time they are most fatigued.
Glutes
The main role of your glutes is knee stability, having underactive/weak glutes can cause the knees to collapse inwards causing a knock-kneed appearance putting a lot of strain onto the knee and surrounding ligaments/structures. If you’ve ever had runners knee the cause could be underactive glutes!
Calves
Your calves lift the heel and propel you forward, they are also responsible for ankle stability and balance, if you have weak calves it can cause you to put a lot of strain onto the achilles causing them to become inflamed and irritate, this is a common injury amongst running.
Core
A strong, engaged Core will help your running movement become more efficient, whilst also aiding posture. A strong core will also help the rest of your body move more efficiently.
Arms
The arms are just as important as the legs when it comes to running effectively; when an athlete gets tired they will tend to stop using their arms, but having a strong arm drive assists the legs to keep a consistent rhythm.
To summarise, strength training is important for not only injury prevention, technique efficiency but also for your overall enjoyment of running and running longevity. So don’t neglect what people often do and it’s never too late to start.
To book in free consultation to talk about your running goals call 01732 451979 or email [email protected].
