Strength Training for a Half Marathon
Whether it's your first half marathon or an upcoming half marathon, strength training will be an integral part of your performance.
Want to hit your goal marathon time? Here are some strength training recommendations you can follow for your next marathon.
Why is Strength Training Important for Long Distance Runners?
Strength training is an important part of building tolerance to the forces of running and allows you to handle that force, especially over a distance like a half marathon. Every step you take when running is equivalent to 2x to 2.5x your body weight on one leg… that's a lot of force!
Here's why strength training will play an important role in your next half marathon.
How strength training helps long distance runners
It can help us get out of pain. As we get stronger, our muscles contract harder, and their surface area increases to help unload the joint. Pain comes from overuse of joints, but if you get stronger, you can have the muscle take that load, and not our joints.
You improve your bone density - Contrary to popular belief, running can be bad for us, particularly for our bone density. To get a good response and improve our bone density, we must have a stronger muscle pull and stronger tendon pull on the bone. There's a lot of plyometric movement with running, but we put a lot more contraction and pull on the bone with strength training.
Allows us to run and perform better - your muscles will put more force on the ground when you get stronger. It also allows our tendons to get thicker, stronger, and adapt better. Tendon stiffness is a massive factor in runners' success. If we can have muscles that are stronger and contract better, we will run faster.
Top 5 Strength Training Exercises for Your Next Half-Marathon
Five exercises you should be performing throughout the half-marathon training cycle are the:
Bulgarian Split Squat
Soleus Calf Raise
The Kickstand Deadlift
Kettlebell Swing
Shoulder Row
Now, let’s get into each strength training exercise to crush your next half marathon!
1. Bulgarian Split Squat
The Bulgarian Split Squat allows long-distance runners to work on both strength and mobility. This exercise allows us to work on three things needed to train for a half marathon.
Muscle imbalances - single-leg dominant. Load up on one side, address muscle imbalances, and address which side is weaker or stronger.
Improve balance - when you run, the leg out in front does all the work, while the back leg is there for support. As you lean onto the front leg, you turn it into a single-leg exercise. This exercise allows you to work on your balance.
Improve hip mobility - the leg behind you is stretched into hip extension. A lack of hip extension is not a good sign of longevity. The Bulgarian split squat allows you to feel a massive stretch on the front of the leg behind you.
Variations:
No weight variation
Lean forward variation
Goblet variation
Kettlebell one-side variation
Barbell variation
2. Soleus Calf Raise
This is an essential strength training exercise because it targets the powerhouse muscles when running: the hamstring and soleus muscles that propel us forward. The soleus is used much more when our knees are bent and for long-distance runs.
Tightness in your calves, Achilles tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis often could be due to the soleus muscle not firing the right way, so getting your soleus stringer can help that so many runners are plagued with.
Variations:
Double-leg variation (no weight)
Single-leg (no weight)
Single-leg (weight added)
Split squat soleus raise
Split squat soleus raise (weight added)
3. The Kickstand Deadlift
The kickstand deadlift is a fantastic exercise for runners because it works both the glutes as well as the hamstrings. The hamstrings are one of the two most used muscles that runners need to address.
Like Bulgarian split squat, this exercise addresses your weaker side and isolates each side to find imbalances.
Variations:
Kickstand deadlift (no weight)
Kickstand deadlift (weight added)
Single-leg romanian deadlift (no weight)
Single-leg romanian deadlift (kettlebell)
Single-leg romanian deadlift (barbell)
4. Kettlebell Swing
The kettlebell swing can be an intimidating exercise for runners, but it is an investment in your running health.
This is a full-body exercise that works your core, lats, glutes, and hamstrings.
During a kettlebell swing, you're moving fast, like when you run. This stimulates and trains tendons to stretch and contract quickly and efficiently.
Variations:
Hip hinge
Banded kettlebell swing
Full kettlebell swing
5. Shoulder Row
This strength training exercise aims to build strength in your upper body, especially your traps and lats, muscles that most runners lack.
What ends up happening with weakness is we develop this rounded shoulder position. It's a terrible position for our shoulders but can also influence our legs and hips while running and mess up our form.
Another reason to improve the strength of your lats and traps is the posterior sling. As my right shoulder and left leg move behind in a running pose, the left glute and right latissimus dorsi work together. If you're weak in your traps and lats, then your glutes don't have much else to pull on, and it creates instability in your body and your back, negatively affecting your running efficiency.
Variations:
Banded T
Banded Row
Banded Row with Back Lunge
Bench Row
Bent Over Row
Following a Strength Training Program for Your Upcoming Half Marathon
For the five exercises mentioned above, we recommend doing five sets of five repetitions 3 times a week if you are accustomed to strength training. If you are new to strength training a good starting point is 3-5 sets of 10 repetitions 3-4 times a week.. Then, decrease the volume 2 weeks before your half marathon.
If you're interested in solving your problem for good, we encourage you to reach out to our running physical therapists.
Alpha Project Phyzio & Performance is a PT clinic that works with athletes and active adults, with clinics in Gaithersburg, Frederick, and Columbia.