Posted on June 2, 2014
By Cari Kelly, PT, DPT
Let’s face it, runners do not often prioritize cross training and strength training. One of the many reason many runners want to run, including myself, is because its simple, efficient and easy. All you need are a pair of shoes and a road, and you simply move one foot in front of the other and go. Strength training just is not as straightforward.
However, in order to be able to no keep on running without being held back by injury, you need sport-specific cross training, stretching and strengthening to target the muscles that keep you stable and propel you forward with each step as you run.
Running is essentially a single leg sport, as you leap from one leg to another. With each step, as your foot hits the ground, you are exerting 3-4x your body weight in force through your legs. In order to dissipate that force and prevent overuse injuries of your stronger muscles, you need to strengthen the weaker muscles so that the force is more evenly distributed. Doing so not just helps prevent overuse injuries of your muscles, such as tendonitis, ITB syndrome, strains and sprains, but also prevents injuries to your bones and joints, such as patellofemoral syndrome, arthritis and stress fractures.
One of the biggest fears every runner has is being injured, because that means not being able to run. The best way to prevent this is by sports-specific strength and stretching designed for running. Training your core muscles, including those of your hips, back, legs and inner abdominals will provide you with both the mobility and stability required for this sport and keep you running healthier and injury-free, as well as running faster and stronger. Strength training will help you reach your running goals, whether that is to run a few miles for fitness, run your first 5K, 10K or marathon, or beat your personal record in your favorite races this summer.
Because runners benefit from sport-specific strengthening, we are introducing the RunSmart training class. Limited to 8 participants and taught by runner and physical therapist, Cari Kelly, DPT, our fun and challenging 60-minute RunSmart class can help you start running successfully, return to your previous performance after an injury or reach your speed and distance goals.
Follow this link for more information or to register: