Daily Awesome Dosages

A great article I came across on competitor.com site. 

As we start to train for half marathon, full marathon or ultra marathon, we all know there are more running on the training schedule & less of other types of training. Nevertheless, we have to make it a habit to switch things up. Cross training is important to strength those “other” muscles we don’t often use. Most beginners tend to think that the more you run the better you become (which is true) but they don’t realize that to become a better/faster runner, you’d also need to strengthen the rest of other body parts/muscles. For instance, you’d want a strong core to improve your running form since the core is what holding you up. 

Anyway, read below to find out why you need to do cross train & I hope you will incorporate at least 2 days of cross training into your training schedule. 

Fewer Injuries

Many overuse injuries are caused by instability in the hips, knees, and ankles resulting from inadequate strength in important stabilizing muscles. For example, weak hip abductors (the muscles on the outside of the hip) can cause the pelvis to tip toward your unsupported side when your foot lands, placing undue strain on the hip and/or knee joints. Strength training can correct such problems.

Tightness in certain muscles and tendons also contributes to some running injuries. For example, runners who develop iliotibial (IT) band friction syndrome typically have tight IT bands. Stretching can loosen tight connective tissues and therefore prevent such injuries.

Finally, by replacing one or two weekly recovery runs with easy workouts in non-impact modalities such as bicycling and pool running, you can reduce the amount of repetitive impact your lower extremities are subjected to and in this way reduce injuries (without sacrificing fitness). Impact forces are the true origin of nearly every running injury.

Faster Rehabilitation

When you do get injured, cross-training comes to the rescue by correcting the root cause of the problem, allowing you to get back on the road quickly and reducing the risk that this particular injury will recur. (An estimated 50 percent of all running injuries are re-injuries.) For example, eccentric strengthening of the calf muscles is a very effective way to correct the root cause of Achilles tendinosis, which is essentially an inability of the calf muscles to properly absorb impact forces.

Non-impact cardio workouts can be used to maintain your aerobic fitness while your running is limited due to injury. Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi used this strategy with great success when injuries hampered his running in the lead-up to the 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon. By replacing a number of runs with bike workouts, he was able to build enough fitness despite his injury setbacks to finish second in that race and earn a trip to Athens.

Greater Aerobic Fitness

Due to the pounding running inflicts, even the most gifted runners can handle no more than about 15 hours of running per week, whereas athletes in non-impact endurance sports such as swimming and cycling routinely perform twice this amount training. By adding non-impact cardio workouts to your running schedule, you can gain a little extra aerobic fitness without increasing your injury risk.

More Power

Another benefit of strength training — particularly of jumping drills, or plyometrics — is increased stride power, which translates into greater stride length and reduced ground contact time and consequently faster race times. Among the recent studies demonstrating these benefits was a Swedish study in which trained runners replaced 32 percent of their running with plyometrics for a period of nine weeks. After nine weeks, their maximum sprint speed, running economy, and 5K race times were all found to have improved, whereas runners in a control group that maintained their normal training schedule showed no improvements.

Greater Efficiency

Dynamic flexibility is the ability to perform sports movements such as running with minimal internal resistance from your own muscles and joints. Dynamic stretches are movements that enhance dynamic flexibility by mimicking the way your muscles and connective tissues actually stretch during running. An example is giant walking lunges (i.e. walking with the most ridiculously long steps you can take). Performing dynamic stretches on a regular basis reduces internal resistance in your running movements and thereby enhances the efficiency of your stride.

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About The Author:

Matt Fitzgerald is the author of numerous books, including Racing Weight: How To Get Lean For Peak Performance (VeloPress, 2012). He is also a Training Intelligence Specialist for PEAR Sports. To learn more about Matt visit www.mattfitzgerald.org.