Five Exercises Every Runner Should be Doing
One of the biggest mistakes I see runners make is neglecting their strength training. We often associate lifting weights with building muscle and getting bigger, so why would we need this as runners? Well, this is one of the bigger myths when it comes to strength training.
The truth is that lifting weights provides a lot more benefit than muscle growth. When you train like an athlete, weightlifting provides functional benefits and injury prevention (when also combined with proper diet, which we’ll get into later). In other words, incorporating a structured lifting routine into your running program will actually make you a BETTER runner, along with keeping you healthy so you can decrease your risk of common injuries, such as shin splints and IT Band Syndrome.
1. Single-arm Farmer’s Carry
Hip injuries are very common in runners, often due to muscular imbalances and improper running form. By only adding load on one side of the body, this exercise forces you to use the stabilizer muscles in your hip and obliques to maintain upright posture as you walk forward. This will translate to more balanced running form, reducing the risk of injury.
2. Single-leg Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
If you’ve been running for a while, I’m sure you’ve experienced tight hamstrings and knee pain at some point. Running countless miles each week puts a lot of wear and tear on the joints and ligaments. Single-leg RDLs are a great variation of deadlifts to specifically target the hamstrings and improve knee strength, while also adding an element of stability to further work on your balance and core strength. Remember: the stronger your core and hips are, the less you’ll get injured!
3. Pallof Press
Similar to the other exercises, this movement focuses on unilateral load to challenge your oblique strength. The Pallof Press forces you to stabilize your body in multiple planes – pushing your arms in front of you while resisting the force pulling you to the side. This is a very low impact way to strengthen your oblique muscles while also stabilizing your hips.
4. Hip Thrusts
Now we move on to more compound movements, which serve multiple benefits. First and foremost, if your goal is to build muscle, hip thrusts are a great way to target the glutes, while also activating the hamstrings and quads. More importantly, though, is that studies show that implementing hip thrusts into your routine significantly improves running performance and overall speed (PMID: 31191088).
5. Hex Bar Deadlift
This is probably the most important exercise on this list. Although it requires a lot of concentration to get the proper technique, this exercise targets a lot of explosive muscles, including the glutes and hips, which translates into enhanced running performance. And while any form of deadlift will prove beneficial, research shows that the hex (or trap) bar deadlift produces more significant improvements in force and power development– both of which translate directly to better running performance (PMID: 26840440 (PMID: 21659894).
Combining these strength exercises with a high-protein diet(at least 2 g/kg/day) will help you reduce the muscular wear and tear of running a high-mileage every week. However, this protein intake can be difficult to achieve when also needing to consume a lot of carbs, so including liquid protein supplements, like Anea Protein, can make it much easier to hit your targets without feeling too full!