Jason Scotts - Strength Training For Runners

If you are a runner and you choose not to doany form of strength training then you are going to increase the chances ofhaving to stop as you develop some kind of injury.

Many runners that do not believe that liftingweights is crucial are sadly mistaken. In fact even though running itself maynot actually cause an injury it does help to highlight any weaknesses that youhave and which may prevent you from seeing any improvements taking place eventhough you may be running every day. There is no better way to determine whatneeds to be done to improve our bodies than by listening to it when out runningand making changes.

If you are able to pinpoint your weaknessesthen you can work on strengthening them in the early part of your runningcareer. It will also help to make your musculoskeletal system far stronger,which in turn will help make your life much more rewarding later on because youare likely to be virtually free of any kind of pain.

The major problem that the majority ofrunners are faced with when deciding to take up strength training is that theyhave no idea of what form they should take up, when it should be done and howit should be done. It is for this reason I have decided to write this book tohelp you create the perfect strength training for runners program for you.

When it comes to creating the perfectstrength training program for you there are certain basic key features thatneed to be followed. First you must make sure that your program ensures thatyou are lifting weights. Second you must make sure that you are lifting weightsconsistently and finally you must make sure that you are lifting weightscorrectly and at the right intensity.

When I talk about you lifting weightsconsistently what I mean is that you should be lifting weights at least 2 or 3times each week over a period of several months. This will then help you tobuild the right strength base.

Whereas when I am talking about you liftingweights correctly I am referring to you performing each exercise to build upstrength in your body safely as well as in the most effective way possible.This means lifting the weights using the right techniques with the right amountof muscle control.

Finally when I talk about you lifting weightsusing the right intensity it relates to the actual amount of weight that youare using for each exercise. Also it relates to how difficult each exercise isduring each training session you undertake.

There are several reasons why anyone whoenjoys distance running should improve their overall strength in relation totheir upper body and legs.

Reason 1 - You will find it easier managingworkloads that are far more intense.

Reason 2 - The much stronger your muscularstrength then of course the risk of you causing injury to your joints isreduced as you are placing less stress on their connective tissue such as theligaments, tendons and cartilage. You will also find that this form of traininghelps to maintain the integrity of the joints.

Furthermore a good strength training programfor runners will help to reduce the severity of the injury should one developin the future.

Reason 3 - Using a progressive resistanceprogram will help to strengthen the connective tissue and as a result of thebodys entire support system becomes more durable.

Reason 4 - Not only does strength traininghelp to reduce the risk of you injuring yourself when running, but it also canhelp to improve your performance. In a few studies carried out it has beenshown that doing as little as 10 weeks of strength training can help you toreduce the time it takes you to run 10K by over a minute.

Reason 5 - As well as seeing improvements inhow fast you can run you will notice that the amount of oxygen your body isable to take in also increases. As you are able to take in more oxygen you willfind that over certain distances you wont start to feel so tired so quickly.

So as you can see from above there are plentyof reasons why you must include some form of strength training into yourrunning program each week.