November 22...Running Room, benefits of adding Cross-Training to your running routine!

I though this would be a good idea to do a re-cap of the exercises we did at the Running Room and below is the notes from our talk.

So in order to be able to maintain doing what I love to do, I have to make sure that I train smart.  I need to keep my muscles balanced.  How do I do that...I Cross-Train.  By incorporating cross-training into your running routine, it will help to maintain a balance with your “non running” muscles.  If you don’t maintain a muscular balance, you increase your risk of injury.  What happens is one set of muscles stay strong for a period of time, the less used muscles start to become tight and or weaker, and this puts stress on the body and eventually injuries start occurring.

By mixing it up a bit, and incorporating cross-training workouts, you can take off the repeated stress that running puts on the same joints, over and over.  Plus it can alleviate some of the boredom of your routine, if you’re doing longer runs. 

GO THROUGH CIRCUIT

I train for “functional movement” meaning using as many joints as possible for an exercise...i.e Clean and Press DEMO...like picking up a box off the floor and putting it up on a shelf or picking your child up off the floor.  The more joints and muscles moving at once, the better results you’re going to have.  I don’t do isolation exercises, i.e. bicep curl...good for making bigger biceps not much else...so you can either have all joints and muscles moving OR have 1 joint and 1 muscle moving...

CORE...Super important in running, why?  Your core and pelvis play key roles in your body’s stability while walking or running.  Reoccurring knee injuries can be a result of weak gluts.  Cross-training helps to strengthen your core which helps, runners avoid fatigue and maintain a strong upper body that can maintain proper form, and greater efficiency. 

When should I incorporate cross-training and how often?

If you are just starting a running program, you want to wait at least 4 weeks in order to have a “build up” period.  This time lets your body get used to the activity and volume before adding intensity.

How often...if you run 3 days a week, you could add 2 cross-training work outs.

M-run / T-x-train/ W-run/ Th-OFF/ Fri-x-train/ Sat-run / Sun-OFF

If you have any further question, I'd love to hear from you, followtheleede@shaw.ca