Weight Training is a Must for Runners

As we grow into our blog, we look to bring you content from our employees and friends.

The first piece in our training series comes to us from Dan Lawson of Javelin Fitness. Dan is a great trainer and good partner of ours in the greater Seattle/Bellevue area. Look for regular contributions from Dan as we continue to develop a community of content.

Weight Training is a Must for Runners.

If you think running alone is enough to get you in shape or keep you inshape, it’s time to think again. Adding a strength training routine can improve your body composition, reduce the risk of injury, increase your running speed, improve your kick, increase fat loss and even improve your reproductive health.

When incorporating strength training into your routine, I recommend variations of traditional lifts such as deadlifts, squats, lunges, pull-ups/chin-ups and pushups. Each of these are multi-joint exercises that recruit large muscle groups giving you the most bang for your buck.  Plus, they can be done with bodyweight, dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells, a toddler or nearly any other kind of resistance you can think of.

For a quick workout you can do anywhere, choose 3 of the above exercises, do 10 reps of each exercise in a continuous circuit for 20 minutes.

For example, do 10 squats, 10 pushups and 10 lunges. Rest when you need to and finish as many rounds as you can in the allotted time.

Do this workout up to 3 times a week with at least one day of rest in between and you will be running and feeling stronger in no time!

For more information please check out the following link
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/806/Ten

Dan Lawson
NASM CPT, CES