Whenever I bring up strength training (ST) with runners, they all typically agree that it’s important. Some of them are actively doing some type of ST routine, and a fair amount aren’t doing any at all. But typically, the ones that I talk to who have been locked into a good ST routine have said that it has been a game changer. They’re not having as many injuries, they’re running more into their later years, and they’re running faster. With our Strength Training for Runner’s Workshop coming up on Sunday, May 7th, I figured I would write a blog post to tell you why we are hosting this workshop and why strength training is the x-factor for your running experience.
Injury Prevention
Let’s pretend that your muscles, bones, and tendons are like a bank account; you can make deposits and withdrawals. When you make a deposit, you build your body up, make it stronger, improve bone density and muscle mass, and increase tendon stiffness. When you make a withdrawal, you break down muscle, bone, and tendon tissue. When your account balance goes below $0, you sustain that dreaded injury.
While running is a natural and healthy activity, distance running can make withdrawals from the bank of Muscles, Bones, and Tendons. ESPECIALLY when a runner is not taking in adequate fuel.
Research tells us that bones and tendons respond well to plyometric load, but they get bored quickly. Bones and tendons see the biggest benefit from running within the first 60 steps (1). After that, they are either just along for the ride, or they can start to sustain microtrauma, especially if you aren’t fueling enough or if you’re ramping up your mileage too quickly.
If your “account balance” is low to start with, due to relatively low bone mineral density or insufficient fueling, you may have less ability to get through big purchases (long runs, high weekly volume) without “over drafting,” or sustaining an injury. People who have played plyometric sports like gymnastics or volleyball that involve lots of jumping or cutting are more likely to have higher bone mineral density, whereas swimmers are more likely to have lower bone mineral density. Here’s a chart describing how much stimulus various sports put on our bones to put it in perspective:
That’s where strength training comes in! Doing ST is like putting money aside in your savings account for a rainy day. Pre-season and in-season ST can help you increase bone density, tendon stiffness, and muscular strength to make you more resilient to high volume running.
Bones respond positively to lower repetitions, higher intensity, and higher speed (1,2). When the muscles contract hard against resistance, they apply some bend to the bones, which stimulates the body to increase bone mineral density. One study found that heavy ST over a period of 12 weeks increased bone mineral density by 2.2% in the spine and 1.0% in the femoral neck of young adult women (2).
Tendons on the other hand, thrive on heavy, slow resistance. Tendon stiffness sounds like a bad thing, but we actually want our tendons to be stiff so that they can better transmit energy from our muscles to our bones. Research has shown that an 8-14 week ST program produced significantly more tendon stiffness than a 9 month running program (3,4).
If you started strength training a few weeks prior to your next marathon training cycle, you could start making deposits in the bank so that when you need to make withdrawals with your long runs, you have less risk of getting injured.
Longevity
“Muscle mass decreases approximately 3–8% per decade after the age of 30 and this rate of decline is even higher after the age of 60.” (5)
Are you inspired by people like Joan Benoit Samuelson, who is still running at the age of 65? Me too, she’s awesome. But it will be harder to follow in her footsteps if you don’t do any strength training. It turns out that distance running alone may not be enough to sustain muscle mass as we age (6). If you want to run for a long time, ST can help.
Running Faster
Performing a strength training program for at least 6 weeks has been shown to increase speed for middle distance runners by 3-5%, and for long distance runners (greater than 10km) by 2-4% (7). If your previous marathon PR was 4:11:00, performing a strength training program could potentially help you break 4 hours! You need the fast twitch muscle fibers in your body to help you increase your “springiness,” and strength training can help boost the recruitment of those muscle fibers.
How To Start
If you went out and ran a marathon with NO training, you’d be pretty likely to hurt yourself. Just like marathon training, strength training should be done progressively over time. If you’ve never done any organized strength training before, I would strongly recommend getting some guidance to help you with your form and guide you through the progression to heavier weights–That’s where the magic happens!
Now you can see why we feel so passionately about the importance of strength training for runners and why we decided to host a workshop for runners, and aspiring runners, to learn how to incorporate strength training into their running routine!
Interested?
Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog post is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice.
Sources
Warden, S.J., Edwards, W.B. & Willy, R.W. Preventing Bone Stress Injuries in Runners with Optimal Workload. Curr Osteoporos Rep 19, 298–307 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-021-00666-y
Mosti MP, Carlsen T, Aas E, Hoff J, Stunes AK, Syversen U. Maximal strength training improves bone mineral density and neuromuscular performance in young adult women. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Oct;28(10):2935-45. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000493. PMID: 24736773.
Hansen P, Aagaard P, Kjaer M, Larsson B, Magnusson SP. Effect of habitual running on human Achilles tendon load-deformation properties and cross-sectional area. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2003 Dec;95(6):2375-80. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00503.2003. Epub 2003 Aug 22. PMID: 12937029.
Bohm S, Mersmann F, Arampatzis A. Human tendon adaptation in response to mechanical loading: a systematic review and meta-analysis of exercise intervention studies on healthy adults. Sports Med Open. 2015 Dec;1(1):7. doi: 10.1186/s40798-015-0009-9. Epub 2015 Mar 27. PMID: 27747846; PMCID: PMC4532714.
Volpi E, Nazemi R, Fujita S. Muscle tissue changes with aging. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2004 Jul;7(4):405-10. doi: 10.1097/01.mco.0000134362.76653.b2. PMID: 15192443; PMCID: PMC2804956.
Steven A. Hawkins, Robert A. Wiswell, Taylor J. Marcell, Exercise and the Master Athlete—A Model of Successful Aging?, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Volume 58, Issue 11, November 2003, Pages M1009–M1011, https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/58.11.M1009
Blagrove, R.C., Howatson, G. & Hayes, P.R. Effects of Strength Training on the Physiological Determinants of Middle- and Long-Distance Running Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports Med 48, 1117–1149 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0835-7
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