TRAINING BREAKDOWN
"I’m a runner, why does my S&C program have a dumbbell bench press in it?"
By Emma O'Toole
Hello,
Many of us will soon be thinking of jumping back under the bar as the season wraps up. I recently wrote an article for Precision Fuel & Hydration where we dive into the 3 common strength training mistakes made by runners, cyclists and triathletes.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the mistakes and how you can avoid them:
Mistake 1: Only doing S&C in the winter.
It’s far too common for endurance athletes to forgo their S&C as soon as their training volume begins to ramp up. The time that would've been spent in the gym or in a home workout setting is swapped out for extra miles on the road or the trails.
But, the old adage is true; if you don’t use it, you really do lose it!
Solution: 2-3 × 30-45 minute S&C sessions per week to enhance endurance performance.
For the time-crunched endurance athlete, you can also pair exercises together to ensure you're getting the work in before resting to move on to your next exercise selection. For example, A1: Romanian deadlift, A2: Medball slams. These 'supersets' alternate targeted muscle groups to incorporate work for one wile the other is resting.
Mistake 2: Having to ‘really feel it’ to believe it.
We’re used to pushing ourselves to the limit and training for hours on end. It’s easy for us to take this ethos into our strength sessions and rate workouts based on how ‘sore’ we feel the next day, with more soreness = a better workout.
Solution: Minimal effective dose for maximum return. Stimulate your body enough with strength training to reap the rewards, but not leave you sore and unable to train the next day.
Use a monitoring scale that you're familiar with, eg. RPE / Reps in reserve. Target a 6-7/10 RPE score in your S&C sessions or work to the prescribed 'reps in reserve' (RIR) in your sets. 3-4 reps in reserve would look like this: athlete X successfully completed 8 reps and felt like they had 3 more in the tank.
Mistake 3: Leg day, every day.
“I’m a runner, why does my S&C program have a dumbbell bench press in it?”
This is often the question I’m asked by my athletes, and they're not alone as many more endurance athletes are fixated on only training their legs. The answer, however, is that your legs are not the sole determinant of endurance performance; they are a piece of the jigsaw puzzle but not the complete picture.
For me, the marathon best encapsulates this:
In the first 5-10km of the race, we typically see runners upholding their technique with a consistent stride frequency. Roll on another 20km and it's a completely different picture for some. Their technique has fallen apart, their stride pattern is now heavy and long, their chest is collapsed forwards and their shoulders are hunched. This happens because their bodies, in their entirety, are so fatigued that they cannot support the demands of the marathon any longer.
Solution: Incorporate upper body work into your S&C training programme. Aim for push and pull movements which target the back, chest and shoulders. For example, single arm row, shoulder press, press ups (see here for more). These can be paired with your bigger lifts or as an accessory set.
Please give it a👍 if you enjoy it and share with fellow like-minded athletes like you.
Thank you!
Emma x
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