Ask the trainer: is weight training important for a runner?
Running expert Matt Forsman
Many exercisers struggle to find time to do all of the activities prescribed for optimal fitness. Most experts suggest that a well rounded program should include aerobic activity, strength training, flexibility training and balance work. This Get Your Rear in Gear reader wonders how to combine some of these activities to make her exercise sessions more efficient. Matt Forsman, a new Ask The Trainer fitness expert, replies.
Get Your Rear in Gear reader: I am a new runner and I am trying to get in shape for a 5K at the end of the summer, I don’t run every day but I try to do other things on the days when I don’t run. My question is, how important is weight training if my other workouts include biking up hills and swimming?
Matt Forsman: First, kudos to you for tackling the 5K! The 5K is a GREAT distance to target if you’re relatively new to the sport.
I’m also glad to hear you are NOT running every day of the week as I would generally discourage this for anyone but the most seasoned/experienced runners.
Running 2-3 times/week is PLENTY for someone training for the 5K distance (and for most other distances). I’d also encourage you to avoid consecutive days of running. Try to adhere to a Tues/Thurs/Sat. schedule for your running with ‘other activities’ on Mondays and Wednesdays. Earmark Fridays and Sundays as ‘rest’ days.
Speaking of ‘other activities’, biking and/or swimming are two excellent crosstraining activities that will help maintain/enhance your running fitness while avoiding the high impact forces associated with running. So, by all means keep these two activities in the mix.
That being said, biking up hills and swimming are not necessarily going to stabilize/strengthen your core or all of the key muscle groups needed to run in an efficient and effective many.
If you are doing any kind of weight training, focus on lighter weights, higher repetitions. The goal here is to tone/strengthen not to build muscle mass which will result in more weight for you to carry around when you run. Doing ‘max reps’ or something along these lines when you’re at the gym will not necessarily help your cause as a runner.
In lieu of weight training, you might consider doing exercises like simple pushups, crunches, planks, squats, lunges, and heel raises. Incorporating a ‘strengthening/stability’ routine into your swimming/biking days is an excellent idea for strengthening the core muscle groups required to run in an efficient and effective manner.
Your routine could include sets of all the aforementioned exercises in a circuit. Do ‘x’ number of pushups until you are fatigued followed by crunches until fatigued, etc. Cycle through all of the exercises and repeat the circuit 1-2 times if you can. Gradually, over time you can increase the number of circuits you do.
Matt Forsman (‘Marathon Matt’) is a USTAF/RRCA certified professional running coach based in San Francisco, California. His passion for running has enabled him to help thousands of runners in the SF/Bay Area achieve and exceed their running goals. Matt’s group training programs have grown from 30-40 in 2005 to over 200 today. Additionally, Matt supports a myriad of San Francisco/Bay Area non-profit organizations. Get more information about Matt Forsman’s programs at MarathonMatt.com
Read more:
- How to do the perfect push-up
- Four stretches every runner should know
- How to begin a strength training program
- The importance of balance training for exercisers of all ages
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Matt, I’ve read both forward and reverse lunges are good warm-ups for runners. I do both. But is one better than the other? Or do they work different muscles?
Hi Greg,
We thought this was a great question, so we posted the answer as an article. Check it out here. Good luck with your training!