I promised a strength workout too. This is going to be ultra-simple - but preceded by my usual lecture ;-)
Primary goal is to progress safely to being able to do a single leg squat. This exercise will hit the key running muscles really hard, require balance and coordination, and take minimal time and energy. And once learned it can be done anywhere.
As a secondary optional goal, learn Olympic lifts using submaximal weights (e.g. barbells up to half of bodyweight). No prescriptions on weight/sets/recovery, just learn the technique. I am on this learning curve myself now and really enjoying it.
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Quick summary of theory and reasoning:
Traditional strength training guidelines for runners has been about the same (to those in the know e.g. national coaches, sprinters) for 30-40 years: 3-6 exercises, 3-6 reps, 3-6 sets, 3-6min between sets. A typical routine involves
- squats (as deep as possible)
- cleans (use just about everything)
- romanian (stiff legged) deadlifts for the hams
For a complete body workout, add some pushups as the squats and cleans use just about everything bar the chest.
A good international 400 runner should progress over the years to 2 sets of 6 reps on 1.5 x bodyweight. Coe did this. Paula apparently does too. Jon Edwards, the triple jumper, was over 2 x bodyweight. If learning to squat well, start on as little as 0.25xbodyweight (just an Olympic bar) but you will probably quickly get up to 60% bodyweight.
However, in the early weeks one should start on an 8-12 rep range, as jumping into new exercises at 90% max strength is dangerous. And for Masters in danger of muscle loss, being in the 8-12 rep range is probably good, as we could all use a tiny bit of hypertrophy.
If one can get taught properly, Olympic lifts are even better than back squats, as they intrinsically need and build explosive power. Every top T&F coach in the UK (and AFAICT in the USA) going back 50 years has said these are the ultimate tools for athletes.
This kind of workout needs proper Olympic bars (fat bar + big rubber discs), and a really solid squat rack, ideally with side bars for safety. So it's best in a weights room and not practical for the home. You cannot safely get a barbell onto your shoulders which is heavy enough to do near-max squats anyway.
My "coach" (actually my club's coach, who has a sprint/hurdles background, so we're sort of mentoring each other and I'm trying to teach him more about distance) learned his stuff from UK Athletics' top strength coach, and he got me doing this 2 years ago. I got a LOT stronger and I am sure it has helped prevent injury. But I have also discovered I am one of a significant minority whose back gets very tired from heavier squats, which affects my running, so I am working single-leg exercises now with great results.
Mike Boyle's book "Functional training for sports" is excellent on this. I have it, but don't have his later one which may be better. He covers Olympic, traditional and body-weight exercises. He has recently changed his position and moved heavily away from squats to single-leg exercises, to take weight off the back for all his athletes, and 'one legged' is more relevant to running.
Unfortunately almost nobody has written much about balancing this stuff with serious (70mpw+) endurance training. They conflict quite badly: if you lift to exhaustion you will be unable to do decent running training for 48 hours afterwards. So, for distance runners, the guidelines seem to be
- do small quantities of work where you try to recruit 90% of your fibres (maybe 2 sets, once a week); other lighter sessions of circuits or weights are fine, as is 'greasing the groove' with lighter sessions to practice the technique
- do it a few hours after some other quality session, when you were planning an easy day afterwards
- when you have a quiet patch in your running cycle (e.g. end of season break) then work like mad on your strength 2-3x per week as you can progress faster without the miles getting in the way!
Onto the routine...
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1. Warm up very thoroughly. Mile jog, lunges, light core, whatever.
2. Get a light barbell and start working through some preparatory lifts, focusing solely on technique - nowhere near failure, ever. Split squats, front squats, jumps/burpees etc. Plenty of online tutorials, and Mike's book helped me a lot.
3. We finish with a single leg 'progression' building towards a single leg box squat. Ultimately we're just looking at two work sets per leg, with anywhere from 3 to 12 reps, but if you want to build up through some lighter sets that's fine. The exercise has elements of a "party trick" in that once you've learned it, it's easier to repeat.
I found stacks of different Youtube videos on these. I am hoping I can get a link or twi past the Letsrun spam machine. Here is what I am doing..but DO NOT TRY TO COPY IT YET!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EqFCj5V06Y
I used to hold a 10lb weight in front as a counterbalance (as Mike Boyle recommends) - makes it much easier. I got up to 12 reps lately so have started to add weight and dropped downt to 3-4 reps again.
One way to build towards it is via these exercises. By all means spend a week or two on each of them.
Bulgarian split squat with barbell (great for mobility)
Single leg squat holding a strap (google "TRX single leg squats then use a sheet/rope)
Single leg squat holding a doorframe
Another way is with no weight as this guy says...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqmYSjE6C2Y
There is also a great demonstration by Zuzana on
www.bodyrock.tv
- she is much nicer to look at ;-)
Enjoy!