The Importance of Strength Training for Distance Runners
The Demands of Marathons and the Relationship Between Distance Running and Strength Training
Close your eyes. Think of the last time you watched a marathon on television. Now, with that picture in your head, describe the elite runners. Mostly tall, right? And slender. Lean limbs. Even the shorter runners are wiry, aren’t they?
It’s always been this way. Distance running is about endurance, not strength, isn’t it? Any extra weight will make it more difficult to stay the course, wouldn’t it? And we all know that muscle weighs more than fat. Besides, marathon running is hardly an explosive event. Why do you need to build your strength to run a marathon?
If you think like this, you really need to read this article.
We’re going to debunk the common misconception about marathon running, as we discuss the benefits of strength training for runners.
Why is strength training important for runners?
Undoubtedly, aerobic capacity is crucial to runners. Especially distance runners. You may be able to run a mile in five minutes, but can you repeat that over and over to run 26 miles in two hours and 10 minutes?
Improve your aerobic capacity with cardiovascular training, and you improve your aerobic endurance. It’s all about how efficiently your heart, lungs, and blood vessels deliver oxygen to your muscles and the speed with which they eradicate waste products like lactic acid.
And therein lies the first clue as to why strength training is crucial for long distance runners and must not be ignored.
If we’re helping you prepare for a marathon, the first thing we need to assess is your capacity to maintain running for a long period of time. So, of course, aerobic capacity and cardiovascular capability are important. But one thing that must not be overlooked is the strength of your bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
As more research has been conducted into running, scientists and running coaches have become increasingly aware of the demands that running places on your body.
For example, as your foot strikes the ground your soleus (calf muscle) is subjected to stress that equals as much as eight times your body weight.
Now consider how many strides you will run in a marathon.
We’ve done the math for you. It’s between around 55,000 and 65,000.
With each stride, you are subjecting a calf muscle to eight times your body weight. In rapid succession. For more than two hours.
That’s one hell of a load on your legs.
Now it’s plainer to see why strength training for marathon runners is crucial.
But consider this: most people’s aerobic capacity develops faster than the strength of their muscles, bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments. This creates something of a bottleneck. You feel good to continue, except for the pain you’re having.
“This is the thing that stops people so often. They don’t realize the difference between normal pain and the ‘I shouldn’t run through this’ kind of pain. They don’t know whether to run their way out of this or rest their way out,” explains Ryan Chow, our CEO. “But neither is most efficient. There are clear biomarkers that we can measure to say, ‘You have enough strength to handle this amount of mileage’.”
It's really about physics. The biomarkers we measure tell us about your body’s ability to manage the demands of the speeds and distances that you are going for.
Distance running and strength training: connecting the dots
Here’s a common misconception: great running is all in the legs and arms. It really isn’t. While most of the focus is on your limbs, there is plenty happening throughout your body.
Each vibration travels through your back. Your chest is working hard, and your shoulders, too. From your toes to the top of your head, each part of your body is collaborating in the effort required to keep moving:
You need strong feet and legs to support and propel you
A strong core will stabilize your spine, which is needed to create a solid foundation for running
A strong core also helps your legs to develop strength
Your upper body – arms, back, shoulders, and chest – are crucial to driving your running impulse as your legs tire
Of course, strength training is also crucial to your general physical fitness and confidence – which is critical to your running capability.
The benefits of strength training for distance runners
Strength helps to increase bone density, muscle mass, and bone strength. Specifically, strength training will help you:
Reduce injury risk
For starters, strength training exercises are a great way to reduce the risk of injury. Running is a high-impact activity, and it is important to strengthen muscles that help absorb force from the ground to avoid injuries.
Increase running efficiency
Strength training is key to improving running performance and efficiency. It can help you improve your running posture, and make the transfer of weight less onerous on your body.
Improve endurance and reduce fatigue
When you train your muscles for strength, you also increase your endurance capacity. This means you will be able to run longer distances with less fatigue or risk of injury.
Develop a faster pace
As your running form and endurance improve, your speed should follow suit. Improving your muscles will help you make the explosive strides necessary to run at a faster pace.
Physical performance qualities that will be improved by marathon strength training
A runner’s running economy is influenced by their body structure and anthropometry, muscle composition, tendon and ligament strength, joint range of movement, aerobic fitness, and the efficiency of their running technique.
By training your muscles to work together, you’ll be more able to maintain an even pace throughout a race. As you progress with your strength training, we would expect to see improvements in:
Force production (more explosive running and greater pace)
Ground force absorption (greater ability to endure and less prone to injuries)
Efficiency of force distribution across a series of joints/muscles (all body parts working in tandem)
Tendon resiliency (stronger tendons and less pain)
Reduction of joint forces (fewer long-term joint issues)
Does strength training help you with running?
The biomarkers we measure help us understand how your muscles, bones, and joints support you when running. The important thing is that you have both the aerobic capacity and strength to run a marathon. A lack of aerobic capacity, and you won’t have the endurance needed. A strength, and you’ll be prone to pain and injury.
Therefore, we take time to fully assess a client, in our first meeting and then continue on their journey. The marathon running culture encourages people to run. But, while preparing for a marathon means practicing running, you don’t need to run to develop aerobic capacity and strength.
Indeed, knowing all we do today about the relationship between muscle quality and distance running, we can conclude that the culture of marathon running should include strength training. This way, you can get ahead of (and avoid) potential problems instead of trying to fix them when it’s too late – just a few weeks before a race.
Problems don’t develop overnight. They won’t go away overnight. So, ask yourself this:
“Is my body strong enough to run my next marathon?”
For the answer, Sign up for a complimentary performance assessment with Reload today.
