Incorporating weight lifting in your distance training

June 10, 7:51 PMIndianapolis Running ExaminerRyan McNeil

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Weight training is done by most people to build muscle mass and bone density as well as trim their bodies of fat. Weight training is not only good for the exercise enthusiast, but also runners. Increasing muscle mass and bone density is particularly important for older runners in which those areas decrease with older age. Strengthening of your muscles and ligaments can aid runners in their recovery time during workouts and prevent injury. Being leaner helps runners burn more calories than that with fatty tissue.

For distance runners, your concentrated weight lifting will primarily be to your upper body rather than your lower since you strengthen your legs during runs. Upper body training will help aid in finishing races strong but you don’t want to neglect your lower body altogether. For distance runners, the hamstring muscles are used quite excessively and so they can become stronger than quadriceps muscles. This is something you want to try and avoid, and weight training can help maintain the appropriate balance between quadriceps and hamstring muscles which should be about a 3:2 ratio.

The typical weight lifter usually does 3 sets of 10-12 reps per set with enough weight in order to make the last few reps in final set very difficult to finish. This type of weight lifting is ideal for moderate muscle growth. Those looking to gain significant muscle mass do enough weight to only allow them 2-3 reps per set. For distance runners, you don’t want to over do the amount of weight you lift as not only could it hinder your ability to run by causing injury, but you are also not really looking to build muscle mass but rather to work on muscle endurance. To achieve this type of weight lifting you’ll do about 15-20 reps per set with just enough weight to finish a full 3 sets.

You’ll want to incorporate weight lifting with an overall program that includes speed and distance workouts. You should not weight lift and do a long distance run on the same day and lift only about twice a week. Also avoid lifting one day after another, as you’ll want to allow your muscles time to recover.

Some suggested weight lifting exercies: