Adding Weights to Your Running Routine
4:33 PM PST - 10/26/2009
by: Denise Carbone, CPT
Our maximal muscular strength is reached somewhere in our 20’s or early 30’s. That is why anyone over 30 should consider adding weight training to their routine. The older you are the more you should look into a weight training routine.
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On the average, women tent to be half as strong as men in their upper bodies and about 30 percent weaker in their lower bodies in terms of strength. Much of this strength difference is due to hormonal factors that give makes greater muscle mass. Women may not have the same goals to be as strong as men within their sport. But they can use weight training programs to increase their strength per pound of body mass and lean muscles mass.
Increased body weight is one of the reasons many runners try to avoid the weight room. Recent studies have found that long distance runners when adding a strength training program to improve running without increasing body weight.
Some of the benefits that runners who weight train have are:
Strengthen very thin and not naturally muscular
Those who are weak in the upper body
Those with muscular imbalances
Tips for Starting a Strength Training Program
Begin with light weights to allow your body to learn the correct movements and minimize the risk of injury.
Make multi-joint exercises the priority and do single-joint exercises as time allows. (For example, squats (three joints) and knee extensions (one joint).
Mimic positions and movements of running, swimming or cycling as close as possible. (Depending on your sport)
The best way to make sure you have the right form and doing the right exercises when adding weight, it is the best to seek advice or hire a trained professional.
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