Strength & Conditioning workouts are often neglected by runners. Yet, it is an important factor for progress when you want to beat your personal record on the road, whether it’s 10km or preparing for a marathon (or even 100km), and also to limit your risk of injury. A multitude of Strength & Conditioning workouts without equipment exist, and we will suggest some to you.
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Why incorporate Strength & Conditioning?
Strength & Conditioning allows the runner to improve the efficiency of their stride and have better energy efficiency. The stride becomes more dynamic and economical. Strength training is especially important for long distances, particularly for marathons, but also starting from the half-marathon or even more so for 100km, to delay muscle fatigue, avoid hitting the marathon wall or at least continue to have an efficient stride.
If you haven’t done enough strength training and mileage in training, you might experience stiff legs as early as km 15 in a half-marathon, km 25 in a marathon, and before halfway in a 100km. Indeed, the pace also affects muscle relaxation. In any case, it’s too early to finish the race well.
In a 10km race, Strength & Conditioning is also a way to develop a dynamic and efficient running form, and to generate enough power to combat the fatigue caused by high lactate levels in the muscles.
These exercises contribute to the harmonious development of the body and engage all muscle groups. Strength & Conditioning also helps prevent injuries (such as IT band syndrome, patellar syndrome, etc.) and improves marathon times, whether you’re aiming for a 3h45 or 4h30 marathon, for example!
What does a Strength & Conditioning session for running look like?
A Strength & Conditioning session can be done indoors or outdoors. The exercises will vary depending on the equipment available; we have chosen to offer you exercises without equipment for greater simplicity.
Warm-up
The ideal is to do a small warm-up, either by running for about fifteen minutes beforehand or by doing 5 minutes of jumping rope. You will find that jumping rope is quite demanding and quickly warms up the legs and calves (in addition to the cardio!).
An example of a Strength & Conditioning session
The first Strength & Conditioning session we offer you is a circuit training with dynamic exercises to also work the cardio.
Here are the details:
– 2 arm exercises: push-ups and dips.
– 3 exercises for the trunk: bicycle crunches, plank with foot movements and back extensions.
– 4 leg exercises: jumping rope, squats, jumping jacks, and lunges.
– 1 full-body exercise: burpees.
Specific Strength & Conditioning
You can perform exercises specific to your discipline. In road running, movements will be less extensive than in trail running. For example, quarter squats or half squats may be sufficient, without the need to go very low for a full squat.
At the end of these sessions, it is interesting to finish with 4 strides: progressive accelerations (without being a sprint) of 15 seconds, with 45 seconds of recovery. The goal here is to transfer the strength training work to the running stride movement.
Finally, we do not specifically recommend doing stretching after the session because the muscles have already been well used. Stretching is more recommended after an easy run.
When to do Strength & Conditioning for running?
Ideally, Strength & Conditioning starts at the beginning of the season. Generally, strength and endurance strength are worked on earlier in the season, and we switch to more explosive exercises as the main goal approaches (potentially plyometrics).
A Strength & Conditioning session should be avoided on the day of an intense running workout, or even the following day if recovery after a hard or long run has been challenging. Similarly, in the last 7 days before a race, the goal is to maintain maximum freshness, so Strength & Conditioning sessions should be avoided too close to race day.
Progressivity is important. In Strength & Conditioning sessions, we sometimes offer variants to increase or decrease the difficulty. When in doubt, choose a lower level for the first sessions, and increase the difficulty gradually. Listening to your sensations is essential.
Abs, core, and proprioception can be done all year round, up to 3 times a week.
If you want comprehensive muscle strengthening exercises for the road or trail, with a personalized and easy-to-follow circuit (in “Play” mode like on Spotify), you can download the RunMotion Coach app.
Good preparation for your next running goals, whether it’s 5km, 10km, half-marathon, marathon, or even 100km!
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