Strength training is vital, and to do it you don’t have to frequent the gym — all you need is a seat on the green, says JEN FEIGHERY. Photos: Donal Glackin.
We runners tend to focus exclusively on running and cardiovascular fitness. When I pose the question as to why strength training isn’t part of someone’s regime the answer I get is, ‘Why would I waste time adding strength training to the mix and lose out on valuable road time logging the miles?’
Running will undoubtedly build your aerobic engine and make you fit. But what people often forget or ignore are the biomechanical forces at play in running; it’s as if with each footfall the impact is equivalent to twice body weight — hence constant wear and tear. The key to counteracting all that attrition is strength training.
Runner-specific strength training improves structural fitness — the ability of bones, ligaments, muscles and tendons to withstand impact — and wards off injury.
The good news is that you can easily add strength training to your schedule without recourse to a gym.
With this in mind I have designed a park-bench strength workout focusing on body-weight compound movements. These multi-joint exercises work on muscles and movement to help you recover from running and increase your body’s structural strength, which is the key to avoiding overuse injuries.
