strength training - The Fit Ethos

Runners Should Lift Weights Part 2

In part 1, we explored common technical faults and injuries of running that can be remedied with strength training.

As mentioned in the previous post, running is a strenuous activity. Proper technique requires a certain level of strength.

In this post, we will go over the various performance gains runners can expect from strength training.

Improved energy efficiency/running economy

Running economy is essentially how much energy a runner expends at a certain pace. Multiple studies have shown that running economy improves with strength training. While the exact mechanism isn’t fully understood, we can make a few intuitive leaps.

First, an improvement in strength will decrease the perceived difficulty of all tasks. A stronger individual will find a given task easier than an individual who is weaker.

Second, an improvement in muscular strength and conditioning will improve energy use and efficiency. With decreased strain will come decreased energy usage. If the overall task of running becomes easier to perform, the overall energy expenditure is lowered.

Third, an improvement in strength will improve technical efficiency. Deviations in running technique caused by weakness will worsen running economy. Good technique exists for a reason: It is the intersection of optimal performance, energy efficiency, and injury prevention. As we deviate further from good technique, energy efficiency will plummet and injury risk rise.

To be sure, a systematic review and meta analysis (one of the highest levels of evidence) in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research confirms that strength training will greatly benefit running economy.

Improved Propulsion and Take Off

Running can be crudely described as your legs continuously pulling and launching you forward. The moment that your foot leaves the ground is the take off phase of running. The ability to propel your body forward takes tremendous strength and power.

Lifting weights will improve propulsion — *Now, no one actually runs like this but this image illustrates the importance of strong glutes and hammies for running. Do you think he would be able to do that with a pancake butt?*

If we improve the force output and power of the legs, we can vastly improve the take off phase of the running cycle. The glutes and hamstrings are the primary muscles responsible for forward propulsion. A program with a good variety of squats, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, hip thrusts, good mornings, hamstring curls, split squats, and box squats will be very beneficial here. In addition, a good mix of plyometrics will help with improving power.

Improved Management of Ground Reaction Forces

For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. When your foot strikes the ground, the ground needs to push back up into the foot. Think about running on solid ground versus running on a soft mattress. The mattress will push back with less force than the solid ground. This is called the ground reaction force.

Running produces tremendous amounts of ground reaction forces, 250% of bodyweight by certain measurements. Needless to say, if you don’t have the eccentric strength and tendon strength to manage this, then you are working much harder than you should and will likely get injured at some point.

Over striding technical fault — *The heel strike produces large amounts of ground reaction forces.*

The usual suspects for a good lower body strength program (squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc) will work well but if bounding, reaction, and eccentric strength are a problem, you should also do include a variety of plyometric exercises like skipping, broad jumps, jump roping, box jumps, and (for more advanced trainees) depth jumps.

One simple way to figure out if you need some help with managing and absorbing the ground reaction forces, perform the single leg hop test.

Hop forward as far as you can with one leg and land on the same foot. Do the same on the other side. If you can stick the landing without wobbling too much or losing your footing, you have good control and strength to manage the eccentric forces. If you are very wobbly, lose your footing, or there is a large discrepancy between your two legs, then you should probably spend some time lifting weights and jumping.

Lifting weights will improve all aspects of sports

As you can tell, lifting weights is not just for the meatheads and body builders. The myth that lifting weights will make you inflexible and slow needs to go the way of the dinosaurs. There is ample evidence to suggest that lifting weights will improve almost every aspect of athletics.

Remember this: A stronger human is harder to kill, harder to injure, and will outlast others who are weaker.

The Serratus Anterior: The Forgotten Muscle of the Shoulder

The shoulder is a complicated region of the body. It contains the most mobile joint in the body (the glenohumeral joint, or the ball and socket we all associate with the shoulder) that must also be strong and stable or else risk injury during heavy movements and exercise.

The fitness and sports industry has come up with many ways to strengthen, rehab, and prehab the shoulder, and for good reason. There are many muscles to address and if injured, shoulder rehab can potentially become a lengthy and complex process.

Your First Day In The Weight Room

The weight room is my happy place. I like to think that it will welcome anyone who has any inkling of interest in lifting.

But… I often forget that for the uninitiated, it can be a bit scary and intimidating. You can feel very vulnerable… You’re doing big movements on display in front of everyone!

This can feel even worse if you feel like you’re unsure of what you’re doing.

So let’s go over some basics to get you through your first day in the weight room.

The One Thing To Transform Your Training Program Design

There is literally just one question you need to ask yourself when deciding how to design a fitness or strength program:

What is the ultimate goal of the program?

I know, I know. This is probably the most cliche and overused advice in the book but cliches exist for a reason. Let me illustrate this point with a story…

5 ways to naturally boost your testosterone levels

Testosterone is known as the chief male hormone. It’s usually associated with “being a man”, muscle gain, and general… manliness?

I often struggle to talk about testosterone in conventional ways and in terms of machismo because my interest and concern usually has to do with optimizing health and performance. While some woke-minded folks may say that testosterone is fueling machismo and ruining society, low levels of testosterone is associated with a plethora of health problems ranging from poor sexual health, decreased lean body mass (and an increase in fat), low energy levels, and even cognitive issues.

The 1 Shoulder Exercise I Refuse to Do or Prescribe

One of the great things about strength training and lifting is the amount of variation that you can find in exercise, programming, philosophy, and culture. Things almost never get stale and people fall in love with this world all of the time. However, in all of that variation, a mediocre idea or two will inevitably sneak in. Or thousands, as seen daily on Instagram.

Such is the case with this one shoulder exercise. It is considered a bodybuilding staple and has torn the lifting community apart since physical therapists and strength coaches alike have discussed (or fought about) the potential harm and misgivings of the movement.

How I Split and Structure Workouts

If you spend enough time in the gym or the fitness realm, you’ll find that there are a lot of things to spend your time doing. Strength, mobility, plyometrics, conditioning… but never cardio. F*** that shit (calm down, this is a joke, people).

You may also figure out that there are a lot of muscles to work. How on earth are we supposed to even begin exercising everything in a feasible and practical way?

One day, you’ll stumble upon training splits. This is essentially the answer to the given problem: How do you address all of the things that a training program is supposed to address?

If You Had to Pick One Muscle to Train… The Glutes

Physical therapists often have trouble getting their patients and clients to perform all of the exercises that they prescribe. Whatever the excuse, this is a good reason to keep any exercise program as short and concise as possible. If you can keep it to less than 3-5 exercises per day, this is plenty. To keep it concise, you need to know what is important and which exercises will give you the most bang for the buck.

Also, if you’re a therapist and your home exercise programs are 20 exercises on average, then you don’t know how to efficiently prescribe exercises.

A Simple Workout For Anyone To Try That Doesn’t Require Equipment

A common topic that my dad brings up are the physical problems that his friends are having.

“Bill is having some trouble standing up from a chair. Is there anything he can do?”

“Jack is having some shoulder problems. It’s bad. Can you take a look at him?”

“My friend fell. This is the second time he fell. Are there any exercises you can show him?”

“You were easily the most popular kid in high school. Way more popular than that one captain of the baseball team.”

How to Quickly Fix For Your Knee Pain (And The Long Term Solution)

Bothersome knees are the worst. They affect almost every activity imaginable from running, going up stairs, and even sitting! For a joint that seemingly only does one thing (hinge back and forth), it seems like a lot can go wrong with it. Of course, there is a component of rotation, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

In my experience, most knee pain (barring any acute mechanism of injury) is relatively simple to address. Outside of acute injury, creaky and bothersome knees really come down to poor strength and mechanics of the hips (particularly the glutes), hamstrings, and quadriceps.

So the long term solution is exercise and strength training (big deal. That tends to be the solution to every problem). But what can we do to get some short term relief?

Tag: strength training