The world of strength training can be an intimidating or mystifying one for many people, including runners, cyclists, swimmers and endurance athletes.
But the crossover benefits of engaging in some sort of strength training programme to complement your chosen sport are now widely studied and publicised in many scientific papers.
So, what are the benefits, and how can we ‘do’ strength?
Unsurprisingly, proper strength training will increase your strength and power, but, probably surprisingly, need not increase your size. This is obviously important for athletes that want to improve their power to weight ratio, without becoming heavier. Reducing the chances of sustaining sports-related injuries, (especially from the repeated high stresses associated with running) is also a big benefit of following a strength programme. Muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints become more robust.
If you are new to the world of Strength & Conditioning, rather than trying to follow a specific periodisation programme why not take a look at our ‘simple to follow’ generic programme consisting of four main parts as follows:
Phase 1: General strength training (28/11/2023 – 09/01/2024)
Phase 2: General power training (10/01/2024 – 20/02/2024)
Phase 3: Sports specific training (21/02/2024 – 02/04/2024)
Phase 4: Tapering (03/04/2024 – 17/04/2024)
Each new training phase will be put onto our social media just before the new phase starts. So without further ado, lets take a look at some strength moves.
The principle here is to begin at a level / movement that you are happy with and then progress as you become more confident or stronger. Thus we will look at the exercises in the same order, from Level 1 (easiest) to level 4 (more difficult / technical / loadable).
Choose one movement from each of the groups and aim for 3 – 4 sets of 5 – 10 reps (the heavier the resistance and therefore the lower the rep range, the more strength benefits occur). So for example, 30 squats results in much less strength gains that 5 weighted back squats. The ‘once-a-week’ strength session should complement any running / cycling that you are already doing. Although true strength training elicits little or no interference effect (ie soreness), I recommend initially allowing one rest day after doing the strength session to recover. After a couple of weeks of training with proper form, heavy weights and a good 2 minutes rest between each set, you shouldn’t suffer any interference effect from the strength session. Conversely, always leave at least 24 hours after a run / ride before attempting strength, as the interference effect is much greater this way round.
During this first six week phase, keep the running / cycling to a low level of intensity (zone 2 / conversational pace) and focus on increasing the distance to that equal to your chosen race distance.
GROUP 1: LOWER BODY PUSH
Level 1: Bodyweight squats
Level 2: Dumbbell squats
Level 3: Goblet squats
Level 4: Back squats
GROUP 2: UPPER BODY PUSH
Level 1: Kneeling press ups
Level 2: Press ups
Level 3: Barbell bench press
Level 4: Dumbbell bench press
GROUP 3: LOWER BODY PULL
Level 1: Unweighted Romanian deadlifts
Level 2: Single leg Romanian deadlifts
Level 3: Weighted Romanian deadlifts
Level 4: Nordic curls
GROUP 4: UPPER BODY PULL
Level 1: Bench, single arm rows
Level 2: Dumbbell bent over rows
Level 3: Assisted pull ups
Level 4: Pull ups
GROUP 5: LOWER LEG
Level 1: Bodyweight calf raises
Level 2: Single leg calf raises
Level 3: Elevated single leg calf raises
Level 4: Elevated single leg weighted calf raises
Most importantly, have fun folks
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