How resistance training can help improve your running

When carrying out a resistance training session, the aim generally is to get stronger by conditioning the muscles to lift/push or pull either heavier weights or a certain weight for a longer period of time. Resistance training is an extremely important component of any fitness programme, especially because as you age, your muscle mass decreases unless you work out to counteract the effects of ageing. For the runner, this is just as important, if not more so, as the body need to be in a good condition to deal with the stresses and strains that running puts the body under.

Our quick guide to resistance training includes information on:

• Different types of resistance exercises
• Benefits of resistance training
• Training precautions when resistance training

Different types of resistance training
The term ‘resistance training’ generally makes people immediately think of the gym. Gyms and fitness centres are excellent places to work out with weights, as they will usually have many fixed weight machines and loose dumbbells – but there are other forms of resistance training that can be carried out.

Exercises using your own bodyweight (Calisthenics), circuit training classes, and rehabilitation exercises (using thera-bands to provide resistance) are also forms of resistance training and can improve your muscular strength and aid your running.

Benefits of resistance training
A resistance workout will bring a range of benefits to the runner, including;

• Increased strength. A correctly structured resistance training programme, will improve the strength of muscle, tendons and ligaments in the body. Stronger muscles and connective tissues helps take the take stress away from the joints and muscle attachment sites while you are running, thus reducing the risk of injury.

• Decreased body fat. Adding resistance training to a running program will decrease body fat.  This means that when running you will have less ‘non-working’ weight to carry on your runs.

• Increased calorie burn. The energy cost of toned, stronger muscles results in your metabolic rate (the speed at which your body burns calories) rising. These calorie-burning benefits occur not only when you are running or doing other forms of exercise, but 24 hours a day! Every additional pound of muscle put onto the body through resistance training will burn an extra 50 calories per day.

• Improved posture. When you strengthen your body correctly, you can address muscle imbalance and realign common postural problems such as a tight lower back, rounded shoulders and weak abdominal muscles. Developing a strong core will make your running movement easier and more efficient.

• Reduced risk of illness. Studies have shown that a regular programme of resistance training increases the body’s production of the special white blood cells which help fight infection. Regular resistance training can therefore enhance your immune system and ensure your run training goes uninterrupted.

How much resistance training should I do?
To get maximum benefits from your resistance training workout, you should aim to do two separate 45-minute sessions each week. Less frequent workouts, for example one session per week will still bring benefits, but exercise gains start to diminish after a 72 hour period has elapsed – so two sessions, separated by 48-72 hours, will bring the greatest results.

Resistance training precautions
When starting out on a resistance training programme, make sure you get instruction from a fitness professional for correct technique, so that you learn the right way to handle weights. Time spent at the outset learning the correct training protocols will pay long-term dividends in faster and greater improvements, and will also help to ensure that you don’t suffer an injury which will halt your progress.
Whenever you do resistance training, it is very important to keep your body in balance. Simply concentrating on the ‘mirror muscles’ (i.e. the ones that you see when you look in the mirror, such as the abdominals and chest muscles) will result in postural imbalances and potentially also injury.

A good example is someone who exercises their chest. They would also need to balance that exercise with some upper back exercises. A person carrying out some sit-ups, would need to do a series of lower back exercises to balance this out. Providing you train sensibly and follow balanced training plan, resistance training exercises will bring you a huge range of benefits, which will also aid your running progress too. Just concentrating on running with no other complementary exercise will hold back your progress and increase the likelihood of injury, so ideally should be avoided.