Heavy Lifting (weights) for Distance Runners
In everyone else’s sports world, the term strength is about developing muscular force.
Strength itself has a few different components and definitions.
Many preconceptions about strength have been curtailed as of lately with the success of NOP, but one of the first advocates of heavy strength work was Percy Cerruty and later, Seb Coe/Peter Coe.
Here we go.
Low-End Power – This is the ability to move heavy weight very slowly. Think of a diesel truck pulling a heavy load, the engine is very powerful, but the top speed is also somewhat slow. Imagine the heavy lifter at the gym who is overloaded with muscle deadlifting 600+lbs. An impressive lift, of course, but then imagine this same guy sprinting a 100m. He may not break 13.0, which is not “fast”. Now, imagine this person pulling a 100lb sled for 100m. He may do this more impressively than sprinters who can run 10.5 or better.
Type of Reps: 3 x 4 reps 90%Deadlift or Squat – Bar Speed is not a consideration, just absolute work. Muscular force is typically limited by eccentric side of lifting. Torque at muscular joints is at its highest.
High-End Power – Sports Cars are built with high-end power, much like how sprinters function. The ability to apply forces very quickly and move very fast. Sprinters express smaller amounts of power very very quickly than say a Powerlifter. The engine is not really tuned to “move things slow” like a diesel.
A perfect example would be Allyson Felix. Her lifts would not be near the 600 lb deadlifter, as mentioned above, but she would smoke the “diesel truck” in a 200m race.
Developing High-End Power is necessary for pure sprinting and beneficial for distance running.
Type of Reps: 8 x 30% of max Hang Pulls or Power Cleans – Pure Sprinting 6 x 60m or Bounding
Limit Strength (Maximal Strength)
This is the absolute strength. This is how much weight you can lift. For instance, if you grow your deadlift 50+lbs, you increase the limit strength. There is no measure on speed.
As for distance runners, focusing on this area in the posterior chain is important. They tend to be weak in this area. Gradual development would be squats and deadlifts. Learn to lift first, then put in some work in this area. It is the “base” of the other exercises increasing speed. Without a foundation of limit strength, muscles can be underdeveloped to increase other levels of strength.
Reactive Strength
This type of strength is also known as plyometric strength. This is the ability to quickly (under 120 ms). Reactive strength is quickly using the strech-shorterning cycle to create force after absorbing force. It is the elastic recoil of the tendons/muscles during sprinting/jumping. It is also in the upper body, like letting a bench press hit the chest, then lifting it back up. If you let the bar just sit on the chest for a moment, the exercise gets much harder. This is also one of the most important parts of sprinting.
Easy ways to develop this would be jump roping, hurdle hops and more extensively would be rebound jumps or depth jumps.
(Hail Geb used plyos, hops, and sprinting in his early days to develop his stinging kick)
Tip: The main limiter in this strength is usually the MAXIMAL eccentric loading ability under control. For instance, the controlled movement pattern of lowering the squat bar would be eccentric strength, which is why limit strength is important
Explosive Strength
Explosive strength takes longer to develop than reactive strength (130 ms +), but the speed is still very high. Developing explosive power in the hips would be:
– 30% max squat jumps 4 x 6 reps
-50% max Power Cleans 4 x 8 reps
-60% max Hang Pulls 4 x 5 reps (my personal favorite, one of the more safe lifts)
Pre-Strength Tips
Now, how do we incorporate this into a distance program? First, LENGTHEN the hip flexors/quads and strengthen the lower abdomen region. When these are tight, it pulls the hips forward and stretches the hamstrings a bit. This makes using/firing the glutes a bit more difficult. We want to get the hips more neutral.
-A good recommendation will be to flatten the lower back and lift the legs up, then slowly lower them. The eccentric part of lowering the legs will strengthen the lower abs effectively.
Also, the hip flexors are typically very tight, which puts the hips in a bad anterior pelvic tilt.
-Roll out the quads/IT band/VMO/Abductors with a foam roller
-Do a lunge that lengthens the hip flexors and hold
After loosening up the hip flexors, you can avoid some of the early issues
The Program
Next, start a strength program, which will fatigue you at first. The program should not be long or overly taxing. Aim for 2-3 x a week, about 45′ to an hour in the gym.
Use 1 Limit Strength Exercise – For instance Deadlifts or Squats
Use 1-2 Explosive Strength Exercises – Squat Jumps / Power Cleans
Use 1-2 Reactive Strength Exercise – Hurdle Hops + Bounding
Simple. Easy to do. And worth the time.
When to lift?
This is a tough question. I typically lift on medium days or before hard days. I won’t lift too much if 1) session was too hard 2) run was too long.
Example in schedule
Mon: 1 hr easy PM 30′ Easy + Gym Work
Tues: Warm UP + Steady State 8 miles PM Easy Run
Weds 1 hr Easy PM 30′ Easy
Thurs Warm Up + mile repeats @ 10k pace PM 30′ Easy Run
Fri Recovery Runs
Sat: 1 hr + hill sprints or flat sprints PM Gym Work
Sun: 2 hr progression Run
The genetic response of endurance exercise will cancel some of the strength gains from gym work. Try to space hard runs from gym work. Also, nutrition is important. Use heavy protein meals around lifting like a whey protein shake or a steak dinner. Try to keep the window within a hour of ingesting protein.
[by Rio Reina – RX3Running)
