I have a high school mile/ 3K runner whos weakness is definitely strength and speed. In order to give him proper recovery for his track workouts and mileage days when is the best time to incorporate lifting? Have 2 days/wk dedicated to resistance training only? after an easy run day?
Resistance Training for mile/ 3K
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Participant
I believe it is always better to lift before running than after. I find that athletes are usually too worn out to lift heavy and/or with good form after running. Conversely, running doesn’t usually seem to be too impacted, especially with middle distance+ athletes.
Currently this is what I am doing with my guys:
Monday
Deadlift 3×5 superset with
Box Jumps for height 3×5 (I go for height rather than time, most guys are above 30″)
Bench Press 3×5 superset with
Plyo “depth” Pushups 3×5
Vertical Core WorkTrack:
repeats of either 100-150-200 depending on the week/athlete/eventTuesday:
OffWednesday:
Squat superset with
Dumbell Box Cleans
Pullups
Horizontal Core WorkTrack:
400-800 runs, short recoveryThursday:
OffFriday:
2-3x 1 mile, moderate recoveryThat’s just what I’m doing. Maybe it will give you some ideas. This is winter conditioning for some high school boys coming off of cross country.
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Participant
I would work first and foremost on getting some athletisme into the athlete. Introducing resistance training might create some drastic changes but its important for the long run that the athlete moves well.
1. I would work on pelvic stability, but add it slowly to not provoke any IT band problems. This through open chain excercises aswell as lateral squats and lunges.
2. I would add hurdle drills, medball drills, and some light plyo work both linear and lateral.
3. I would leave out any MXS upper body work, but keeping doing some kind of upper body work in cirquit programs.
4. Adding cirquits is a great way to add volume without overloading the joints from running. Some kind of secondary aerobic production work, which is not running would be great aswell (interval of +3 min, at 90-100% HR). The ideer is to improve work capacity to handle high volumes of stress.
5. Improve soft tissue quality and length of the hip flexors throught stretching, foam rolling, long dynamics warm ups and manual therapy (massage and other modalities)
6. I would slowly add some weighttraining 8 hours apart from running. Focusing on technic. The focus should be on excercises which are eccentric and reactiv in natur. That means halv squats are better than deadlifts. Plyos better than Olympic lifting. The point is to both increase neuromuscular capabilities aswell as tendon stiffness. Hypotrofi is useless, accept for some glut and hamstring development.
In general.
1. For any mid to long distance runners you need to work progressivly on increasing mileage to a relativly high amount.
2. Increase vo2max and aerobic threshold through interval training. 2 times per week.
3. Improve running economy through running volume and more specifik work. Specific work would be plyos, resistance training, hills and sprints.
4. Improve movement quality and health of the athlete. Forefoot landing, good hip extension/internal rotation, relativly little knee bend, good foot mechanics and pelvic stability. The stride needs to be springy but not jumpy.
Runners are at high risk of injury, and their is some evidence that around 60-80 km per week the injury risk increases significantly. So progress slowly and get the movement quality of the athlete high before you get to the high ranges volume wise. The high the volume the hard it is to improve running economy and movement qualities.
Also remember that any athlete that needs to improve many qualities at once, improve what can be improved easily. Some athletes just dont react well to certain types of training. Reap the benefits from where you can. Maybe the athlete will never get faster = focus on something different then or change competition distance.
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Participant
Thanks. that definitley gives me some good ideas.
The mileage seems pretty low. strategy behind that? any easy runs on off days or purely for recovery?
I don’t believe in “easy runs”. Waste of time and energy.
Most of my 800+ guys are coming off of cross country. I don’t see the point in running them into the ground. They won’t need to run longer than 3200 this spring, which they can all do pretty easily. I’ve found that taking a few months off and doing shorter runs with an emphasis on speed, lactate levels, etc is better suited. I already know they can run 3k-10k. They know that too. They are good at it and it is their thing. I’d rather work on getting them stronger and faster. A change of pace is good for their minds too. Plus doing some shorter runs, sometimes its more competetitve and fun and it allows them train without the usual mental focus you need for long runs.
You can obviously do the running part however you like. But I can’t see a reason a reason in the offseason to long endurance runs.
The poster above mine brought up some good points of stuff you MIGHT consider, but I think doing all that stuff as stated with everyone is overkill and and one size fits all approach isn’t best. Some of that stuff I do in my warmups, which I didn’t list. I do a lot of hip mobility stuff. I think circuits are bogus for what its worth.
The offseason is a good time to work on stuff that can’t be worked on in the season. There will be plenty of time for the usual longer runs later. A good strength barbell program will improve posture, especially if you put in stuff like farmers walks, plank variations and legit hanging leg raises from a pullup bar (no “ab straps”. SOmetimes I teach my guys some advanced bodyweight stuff like one leg squats (pistols), handstand pushups, bridges and have pullup challenges, See which one of your distance guys has the fastest 40. Not everything has to be 100% applicable to their event. Sometimes its just getting them to love training and have some fun and do somethings they don’t normally do. This stuff build confidence too. Of course I’m not saying to completely abandon running for these guys. But if you want them move better, as the above poster said, you probably need to do some things they don’t normally do.
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Participant
the scientific litteratur and the programs of the world elite prove that mid-long distances runners need to do volumes of easy running around 60-70% of HRMAX. Its hard to argue otherwise and its a hugh problem in relation to having a focus on intensity and movement quality.
Periodization, staying injury free and slow progression is the key. Reducing running volume on a regular basis while keeping aerobic intensity high is a great way to progress past stagnations.
The key is also to start young with focus on intensity and movement quality. Its very hard to change the physiologi of children. They dont respond well to either aerobic or strength work.
Of cause its possible to create results without high running volume… and this is particular relevent if the athlete has alot to work on without many years of training at hand.
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