Building strength on the run
By Michael Yessis, Ph.D.
Oct. 25, 2006 -- As a rule, strength training is usually incorporated into a triathlete's training regime for two reasons: to further develop the muscles that are involved in running (and cycling and swimming) and to prevent injury. The greater your strength and endurance, the more capable you are of having better performances and fewer injuries. Understand also that the main reason for injuries is poor neuromuscular coordination; how much strength you have is secondary. Thus, knowing proper running biomechanics and developing good technique are important for injury prevention.
To simultaneously enhance technique and increase strength, your weight training should be specific to the joint actions involved. The strength training exercises should duplicate what happens in the running stride. As a result, you will see immediate and dramatic changes in your running. Such specialized strength exercises have three major criteria:
1. The exercise must duplicate the exact movement pathway witnessed in the specific joint action of the running stride.
2. The exercise must involve the same type of muscular contraction used in the actual run. For example, in the running push-off, the calf muscles undergo a fairly explosive shortening contraction (after being pretensed) to produce greater force and resultant running speed. Thus, the exercise must include an explosive muscular contraction as it occurs in the ankle joint action.
3. The specialized exercise must develop strength in the same range of motion as in the running stride.
The concept of exercise specificity is new to running, but the term specificity is not. Many authors have used the term specific exercises but few exercises fulfilled the previously mentioned criteria. The specificity referred to by these authors was usually strengthening or stretching the muscles that are involved, but not in the same way they are used in the running stride.
For example, running uphill to develop strength is usually considered specific to running. But, raising the thighs when running uphill is not in the same range of motion as in running on a flat surface, and omits the important initial explosive contraction of the hip flexors when the leg is behind the body. In addition, the ankle extension drives the body upward rather than forward. This ankle action is still of benefit, but because of the need to drive the knee and body upward, it plays a secondary role to leg extension. In running, ankle extension is the primary push-off force, not knee extension.
Researchers who have done electromyographic studies to determine the muscular involvement in running found that the abdominals play a major role. To strengthen the abdominals, the researchers recommended the crunch and the crunch with a twist. These exercises do strengthen the abdominals, but only through a very small range of motion that is not specific to the running stride. In running, when the abdominals come into play, it is mainly the abdominal oblique muscles (to prevent the hips and shoulders from rotating too much), and the lower abdominals (to rotate the hips back into position during the knee drive).
The crunch, or sit-up, however, strengthens mainly the upper abdominals. The crunch with a twist involves the obliques but the range of motion is extremely small and, more importantly, the twisting occurs when the spine is flexed. This is a potentially dangerous action since trunk rotation should always take place when the spine is maintained in its normal curvature. Thus, even though the crunch and crunch with a twist strengthen the abdominals, they are not specific to the actual muscle actions involved in running. In addition, greater upper-abdominal muscle strength can lead to poor posture while running by pulling down the chest and shoulders.
For maximum effectiveness, your strength development must be synchronized with your running to ensure that it is usable strength, i.e., strength that can be displayed in your running. This is what specialized exercises can give you that general exercises cannot. Triathletes and runners who use specialized strength exercises find that they run faster and farther without doing more run training!
Because of the need for skill duplication, most of the exercises are best done with elastic tubing. The Active Cords set that I developed consists of three elastic cords with different tensions and a swivel clip at each end for easy connection as needed for various exercises. There are two handles for arm actions, an ankle strap for leg and hip exercises, a non-slip hip belt and a dual attachment strap for use on a door or for attachment to a beam or post. While these work great for the following exercises, any elastic tubing can be used.
Running-specific exercises
1. The Knee Drive (hip flexion)
One of the most important exercises to improve running speed and distance is the forward knee (thigh) drive. This exercise duplicates the action of driving the thigh forward, which is needed for increasing stride length. Keep in mind that the hip flexor muscles are typically the first to fatigue. As you become unable to drive the thigh sufficiently forward, your stride length decreases and your running speed slows down.
To execute this exercise, attach one end of the elastic cord to a stationary object about knee-high and the other end behind your ankle. Stand far enough away from the attachments so that there is tension on the tubing when the leg is behind the body. Hold on to a partner or a stationary object to stabilize your upper body. Your body should be basically erect or leaning forward slightly; the leg to be exercised is behind the body as far as possible in order to duplicate the thigh position after push-off. When you are ready, inhale slightly more than usual and hold your breath as you drive your thigh forward. The knee should bend so that the shin remains basically parallel to the ground as the thigh is driven forward until it passes the vertical position by approximately 30 to 45 degrees. Do not drive the thigh up to the level position. In running, if the thigh does go this high (in sprinting), it is because of momentum and not because of the muscles pulling the leg upward.
2. Pawback or Straight-Leg Pullback (hip joint extension)
This exercise duplicates the leg pawback action, i.e., the down and back pulling action of the leg to make contact with the ground. This is a very important action for increasing stride length and running speed. Note that the major muscle involved in this exercise (hamstring) is not strengthened at the hip joint when doing knee curls. Knee curls are essentially for knee stability, while the pawback is the key exercise that duplicates what occurs in the hip joint when running.
To execute the motion of the pawback, attach the rubber tubing to a high stationary object with the free end attached to the front of the ankle. Stand with the leg raised approximately 60 degrees to the vertical. Straighten and pull the leg down and back fairly vigorously to make ground contact on the whole foot or ball of the foot, directly under the body. Balance your body in an erect, stable position during execution. Initially you can hold onto something for greater stability, but as you become more proficient, balance yourself as you execute the exercise.
When you execute the pawback in your running, you will have more of a whole foot or ball-heel landing more under the body. The heel hit is very inefficient as you must land with your leg out in front of your body; this creates high braking forces and does not allow the muscles and tendons of the foot or leg to go into action. The stronger and harder you bring the leg back when it makes contact with the ground, the more the upper body goes forward. This makes the push-off more effective and helps to eliminate up and down movement, which is very inefficient and leads to early fatigue as well as slower speeds.
3. Heel Raise (calf raise)
The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the muscles that duplicate ankle joint extension - the main action in the pushoff.
To execute, stand on a stable board, 2-4 inches high, on the balls of your feet so that your heels are free to move. Secure the middle of the elastic cords around and under the balls of your feet or under the attachment board. Attach the other end to a belt around the waist or hold the handles. Be sure there is adequate tension in the tubing. Keeping your legs straight, lower your heels until you feel a stretch in the Achilles tendon. Then rise up as high as possible and hold for one to two seconds. Lower your heels and repeat going through a full range of motion on each repetition. If you have difficulty balancing yourself, hold onto a stationary object.
4. Knee (Leg) Extension
Knee extensions strengthen the quadriceps muscle group with the primary goal of keeping the patella in its groove to prevent some of the more common knee injuries. This muscle plays its most important role in holding you upright and in preventing you from "sitting" in the support phase. The movement involved in this exercise duplicates the swing out of the shin prior to pawback.
To execute the knee extension, assume a standing position, facing away from the stationary attachment of the rubber tubing with the other end of the tubing attached to an ankle strap. Raise your thigh to an angle of approximately 45 degrees and hold this position. Extend the leg against the resistance of the cord until it is straight and then relax, return to the original position, and repeat. You will notice that as you do this exercise, there is slight movement of the thigh that acts as a safety valve for the knee joint and provides a more realistic, running-like action.
5. The Lunge
The goal of the lunge is to actively stretch the hip flexors for greater flexibility and stride length. Having tight hip flexors does not allow you to achieve full separation between the thighs in the push-off and leads to a shortened stride. This brings about additional fatigue because of the extra steps that you must take.
To execute the lunge, assume a well-balanced standing position with your feet hip-width apart. When you are ready, inhale and hold your breath as you step forward with a very long stride keeping your trunk in a vertical position. Upon landing, hold the vertical trunk position and then slowly lower your upper body straight down. In the bottom position, you should have approximately 90 percent of flexion in your forward knee joint and most of your weight should be on it. Your rear leg should remain straight but relaxed. You should feel muscle tension in your front leg and lower back together with a strong stretch of the hip flexors of the rear leg.
After reaching the lowermost position, hold for one to two seconds then shift your weight backward and as you do so, strongly extend your forward leg to return to the original position. Exhale and repeat stepping out with the other leg. When greater resistance is needed, hold your arms overhead or hold a barbell across your chest or dumbbells in the hand.
6. The Reverse Sit-Up (crunch)
This exercise strengthens mainly the lower portion of the rectus abdominis which is involved in posterior pelvic girdle rotation. This action is needed for a full range of motion in the forward knee drive.
To execute this crunch, lie on your back with your arms alongside your body and your feet off the floor, knees bent, and thighs vertical. This is the starting position. When you are ready, inhale slightly more than usual and then hold your breath as you rotate your pelvis up and toward the shoulders until your hips are off the ground. Keep your knees tightly bent so the action is isolated to the lower abdominals. Push down with your hands to raise your hips (and legs) and to insure adequate rotation of the pelvis girdle. In the ending position, your knees should be chest high. Keep your head and shoulders relaxed throughout the upward movement. Exhale as you return to the initial position, pause and then repeat. When doing this exercise in this manner becomes easy, place your arms over your head so they cannot assist in execution. Then do the exercise concentrating on only lower abdominals to rotate the hips upward.
These exercises were excerpted from my book Explosive Running.
Workout routines
When first beginning to do these exercises, you should start with approximately five to 10 repetitions. Concentrate on exercise execution and learn the feel of the movement. This is especially important if you will also be aiming to modify your running technique. Once you develop the muscular feel for the action, you can then incorporate it into the run with little difficulty and with maximum effectiveness. Keep in mind that when you do these specialized exercises that duplicate what happens in the running stride, you will see immediate and dramatic changes in your running. Thus, being cognizant of their effect and how they feel from the very beginning is most important.
Once you become familiar with the movements and muscle actions involved, you can increase the number of repetitions. At this time, the exercises should be done with adequate resistance so that the muscles are fatigued at the end of the set. Work up to approximately 15 to 20 RM. RM stands for maximum repetitions, or the most you can do with the tension you are using. This routine, which develops both strength and muscular endurance, should last for up to four to 10 weeks.
When doing 15 to 20 RM becomes relatively easy and you can continually go beyond 20 repetitions, then you should increase the amount of resistance so that you stay within the 15to 20 RM range. At this time, you will begin to see dramatic changes in your running. Do only one set at the beginning (first 3-4 weeks). If you need more strength or endurance, do two to three sets, depending upon the number of exercises that you do. In general, the fewer the number of exercises, the greater the number of sets.
The exercises should be done three times a week several hours before or after your main training. In the very beginning stages, you can do them five times a week if mainly for learning and familiarization.
Specialized strength exercises that duplicate what you do in running are very functional. They have a direct effect on your running. Because of this, you see results very quickly. Specialized exercises are best done prior to and during the season and usually after you have done general strength exercises and base conditioning. In season, it is most important to continue doing the exercises so that you do not lose strength or endurance prior to competition and so that you can run faster longer. When the special exercises are done prior to the season, they can serve several purposes:
1. Develop greater muscular endurance by doing a greater number of repetitions (35-50 RM). By developing greater strength endurance, it will enable you to run farther with good technique and delay the onset of fatigue.
2. Increase running speed. By executing key exercises such as the knee drive and pawback in a more vigorous manner, you can increase running speed even more.
3. Make modifications in technique. By developing greater strength of the muscles as they are used in running and by developing a better muscle feel for a specific action, you can make the running more efficient and effective.