Sunday, September 2, 2012

Strength Training - How Important is it For a Marathon Runner

By Mark Samitzberg


Do you know how important strength training is when it comes to preparing yourself for a marathon race? A huge number of marathon runners tend to ignore the importance of strength training and prefer to work on other aspects of a typical marathon training like Endurance and Hydration. Training to boost your physical endurance as well as learning the best ways to stay hydrated during a marathon race might be very important but you should know that working out to build up strong muscles is equally important.

Apart from the fact that it will greatly improve your performance, doing some strength training is also going to make you less prone to injury. If injuries are one of your main preoccupation, from now on you might want to include some strength exercises into your weekly training sessions.

Doing the right strength exercises properly and regularly will make your ligaments more solid, your muscles much stronger and your bones more resistant and like I've said before already, this will greatly improve your performance as well as reduce the chances of injuries. So now, let's get into it and let's discuss about the different exercises that you could include into your weekly training sessions;

Many marathon runners prefer doing exercises like dead-lifts and squats. Those aren't easy exercises but they produce the results that are needed, so don't ignore them and try doing them week-in, week-out if it is possible.

Other things that you could do include pull-ups and bench-presses. Bench-press exercises will produce even better results if you do them on an elevated surface, so try doing that and increase the angle of elevation with time to make it just slightly harder. Bicycle exercises and crunches are best if you are looking to strengthen your core.

For most of the exercises that I have written above, you should do 2 - 3 sets each and you should try to do between 6 - 8 reps for things like bench-presses, making sure that the last few reps are really hard to do. If they are not, then you are not using enough heavy weight. Don't hesitate to add more weight if you need to.

I know I've already said it before but I just can't emphasize enough on how important strength exercises are. Trying to improve your endurance and doing long-runs each and every week are good but simply not enough if you want to become an unbelievable marathon runner. You'll need to work hard to achieve your dreams because nothing comes easy in life! But in the end, when you will see the results, you'll know that it was worth it.

Besides all of that, if becoming a great marathon runner is not enough for you, but instead you want to become an elite marathoner....... I mean, one who is always sure to finish among the best in a race, then I might have something for you. Keep reading to find out how you could improve your marathon skills even further and become the runner that everyone is always jealous about.




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