Strength Training for New Runners

Essential moves for beginner runners to build power and prevent injury.

Sure, it’s easy to get hurt when you’re just starting out.  There are countless aches, pains, and ouches that you’re bound to feel when you’re pushing your body farther and faster than it’s gone before. But here’s the good news: There’s a lot that you can do to prevent the most common running injuries.

Be sure to get good shoes, follow a training plan that gives you a chance to recover from your hard efforts and keeps you from doing too much too soon, and integrate a strength-training program into training. 

Strengthening your feet and legs can increase the strength and control of the smaller muscles in your feet and the larger muscles that control movement at the pelvis, hips, and knees. This strength-training routine was designed by Heather K. Vincent, Ph.D., director of the Human Performance Laboratory and Sports Performance Center at the University of Florida. Do this routine three or four times per week. After you’ve been at it for about two months, you can ratchet it back to three times per week.

Unless otherwise noted, for each of these exercises, start by doing as many repetitions as you can on each side while maintaining proper form. Start with one set of 20 reps, and build up to three sets of 20 reps, resting for 45 to 90 seconds in between sets. Then increase the resistance so the effort feels harder, and you can get keep getting stronger. Maintaining proper form is the most important thing. So when your form starts to suffer, that’s a sign that you’re tiring and have done your final rep. “Doing these exercises with improper form puts you at risk of injury,” says Vincent. Not to mention, it’s a waste of time!

LEG STRENGTH

These exercises will help build strength in your hips, legs, and feet. To perform many of these, you’ll need a rubber resistance band. These can be found in most sporting-goods stores or online. Strip bands are the least expensive, and these rubber strips can be cut to different sizes. Tube bands come with handles and can be held during exercise. There are varying levels of strength: light (which provides 3 to 5 pounds of resistance), medium (which provides 8 pounds of resistance), heavy, and extra-heavy. Heavy and extra-heavy bands provide 12 to 20 pounds of resistance and are designed for people who are already trained. To determine whether the band is right for you, test it out in the store. Look for extra features that matter to you, like extra clips, handles, cuffs, or rings. Consider buying two different resistance levels for different exercises.

Seated Hip External Rotator

1. Sit down fleon a bench. Attach a resistance band to the left end of the bench and loop the other end around your right foot.
2. Keeping your knees together, lift your right leg out to the side to a count of two, then release it back down to a count of two. Repeat on the other leg.

Standing Hip Flexor

1. Put your right foot in the resistance band, then stand and turn so you are facing away from the band’s anchor.
2. Keeping your right leg straight, lift it forward to a count of two, then release it back down to a count of two. Repeat on the other leg.

Standing Hip Abductor

1. Attach a resistance band to a stable object.
2. Loop the other end around your right foot so the band crosses in front of you.
3. Standing with your left leg slightly behind you, keep your right leg straight and lift it out to the right side. Lift it to a count of two, then release it back down to a count of two. Repeat on the other leg.

Side-Lying Leg Raise

1. While lying on your side on the floor, raise one leg straight up to about 45 degrees.
2. Do not let your leg move toward the front of your body or go behind your back.
3. Raise the leg 15 times. Repeat on the other leg.

Pelvic Drop Exercise

1. Use a stair, or a step from a step exercise class.
2. Stand sideways on the step on one leg. This is your support leg. Keep that leg straight, and keep your abdominals engaged.
3. Allow your other leg to hang off the edge of the step. Let that leg slowly lower toward the ground by allowing your pelvis to slowly drop down. Do not let that foot touch the ground. Just control the movement with a slow, steady drop. Keep your support leg as straight as possible.
4. When you’ve gone as low as you can without touching the ground, hold this position for two counts, keeping your abs tight.Raise your pelvis up to raise the foot back up. When the pelvis is level and your hips are even, that’s one rep.
5. Do 10 to 15 reps on each side. When it becomes easy, build up to two or three sets of the exercises, or hold a lightweight dumbbell in your hand to increase the resistance. 

FOOT STRENGTH

Any time you’re sitting down you can work on strengthening your feet. This will help you as you’re starting to run or transitioning to any new kind of training program. You can do these exercises while you’re watching television, sitting at your desk, or taking a break. Perform 15 reps of each exercise. Do each of these exercises three or four times per week. Choose four from the group, and rotate different exercises each day.

Heel Raise

1. With your feet on the floor lift your heels up while keeping the balls of your feet on the ground.
2. Lower your heels.
3. Repeat.

Toe Grip

1. With your feet flat on the floor, move your toes as if you are raking them backward and curling up the arches of your feet.
2. Flatten your foot again.
3. Repeat.

Dorsiflexion and Plantar Flexion

1. With your legs stretched straight out in front of you, push down your toes like you are pointing them (plantar flexion).
2. Then bring your toes back.  (This is dorsiflexion)
3. Repeat.

Toe Spread

1. With your feet flat on the floor, envision spreading your toes like you would spread the fingers of your hand.
2. Relax your toes.
3. Repeat. This is tricky and takes some practice.

Toe Tap

1. With your feet flat on the floor, tap each of your toes up and down on the ground in sequence like you would tap your fingers on a table.
2. Repeat.

Exaggerated Inversion and Eversion

1. Starting with your feet flat on the floor, drop your arch in and lift the sides of your feet outward.
2. Hold for two counts, then lift your arch while you push the outside of your feet firmly down on the ground.
3. Hold for two counts.
4. Repeat.

Grabbing and Passing a Towel

1. Place a small hand towel on the floor.
2. Alternate which foot will pick up the towel using your toes.
3. Pass the towel from the toe grip of one foot to the other foot and hold in place for two counts to strengthen the grip.

5 Key Speed Workouts Every New Runner Should Try

Adding a structured workout into your running routine will make you faster.

When you’re first getting moving, it’s important to just focus on getting into the exercise habit; making your run or walk a regular part of each day, finding times and places to exercise that feel convenient and comfortable, and finding a way to enjoy it so you keep it up for the long term.

As you’re becoming a runner you may start to wonder, how can I get fitter and faster?  You can simply add time to your workout as you get stronger, or increase the distance you cover. Another approach is to add some structured workouts to your routine. These workouts, which involve running specific intervals or time or distance at a specific pace, can help you develop endurance, speed, and stronger legs and lungs. But most important, it can keep your exercise regime from getting stale, says coach and exercise physiologist Susan Paul, author of our For Beginners Only column. And by breaking up the distance into smaller intervals, you can cover more distance overall.

“If you just go out for 30 minutes over and over every day, it can be very boring,” says Paul, who is program director for the Orlando Track Shack Foundation.  With workouts, “the time goes by much quicker. They engage your mind, and the body goes along with it.”

Below find workouts that Paul suggests, whether you’re just getting moving, starting to run, or returning to running after taking time off.

Some of these workouts are best done on a track. Yes, tracks can be intimidating. But just because you’re at a track does not require you to run fast. A track is an ideal setting for a beginner because it’s flat, traffic-free, and the distance is measured. Find out everything you need before hitting the track in this article. If you don’t have access to a track, a treadmill or any flat traffic-free stretch of road will work.

Try one of the workouts below each week. When you’re ready, increase the time or distance of each of these workouts by 10 to 20 percent. Stay alert for aches and pains (beyond typical muscle soreness) that persist during your run and after you’re done. Find out more about when to run and when to see the doctor.

Straights and Curves

How to Do It:

Walk for five minutes to warm up. Then run the straight stretches of the track and walk the curves. Repeat that cycle twice. Leave water at a spot that you can drink after you finish each loop. On the run segment, get into a rhythm that feels comfortable, says Paul. “Don’t sprint.” As your fitness improves, you can start to pick up the pace.

If you don’t have access to a track, you can run this on the road. Just use different landmarks to mark your walking and running intervals. You might run to a tree, mailbox, telephone pole, or stop sign. Then walk. Once you catch your breath, pick another landmark to run to. Then walk to recover. Repeat the cycle two or three times.

What It Does

This helps you get your body and mind accustomed to picking up the pace and running faster for short periods of time. The short intervals make the bouts of hard work seem doable. With each walk break you have a chance to recover enough for your next bout of hard work.

Gear Shifter

How to Do It:

In this workout, alternate between your easy, medium, and fast paces. Warm up with three to five minutes of walking. Then ramp up to your easy pace (see below) and hold it for two to three minutes. Then shift into your medium pace and sustain it for one minute. Then shift into the fast pace for 30 seconds. Repeat the cycle two or three times. Walk for five minutes to cool down. Use this guide to find each gear:  

Easy: Conversational pace; a pace where you could chat with a friend running alongside you. This is a rhythm that feels like you could maintain it all day long if you had to.

Medium: This should be faster than your easy pace, but you shouldn’t feel like you’re speeding. You would prefer not to hold a full conversation, but if someone asked you a question, you could answer in two- or three-word sentences.

Fast: Quicker than your medium pace. In this gear you should be able to say one or two words but, if someone asked you a question, it would make you mad because you wouldn’t want to expend the energy to answer them. Don’t sprint all-out or push to the point of pain, or where you feel you’re going to pull something. You should feel like “I’m okay, I just don’t want to do this for very long.”  

What It Does:

This workout will elevate your heart rate, boost your fitness and calorie burn, and keep you from falling into a rut with the same easy pace. “It makes running fun, ups the intensity, and recruits different muscle fibers,” says Paul. “It’s like adding spice to a recipe.” By getting used to what different paces feel like, you can get more benefits out of all your workouts going forward, whether you’re doing a recovery run or racing in your first 5K. Why is that important? “If you’re aware of your running pace, you can control your effort based on the distance or the purpose of the workout or in the race,” says Paul. What’s more, it can help you stay injury-free. If you run the same pace all the time, you recruit the same muscle fibers, in the exact same way over and over. That, says Paul, sets the stage for many common overuse injuries, like runner’s knee and IT-band syndrome. “If you mix up your paces, you recruit different muscle fibers, and some different muscles,” says Paul. “You get more balanced out.”

The Even Steven

Walk to warm up, then run three laps around the track. Try to run each loop at the same pace, within five seconds faster or slower than the previous loop.

WHAT IT DOES: This workout builds endurance and teaches you to maintain a steady, consistent effort, which is what you’ll want to do in your first race. “Runners of all abilities tend to just start running as fast as they can, until they tire out and have to quit,” says Paul.  Knowing that you have three loops to do, you’ll learn to start your first loop slower and get into a rhythm that you can maintain for all three loops.

The Long Run

How to Do It:

Want to stretch out your workout for longer? Take walk breaks before you need to at even intervals. That may mean running for just 20 seconds, at first, says Paul. You should be running at a pace that’s easy enough to hold a conversation she says. “If you can’t, slow down.”  On the other hand, if you’re running so easy you can sing, pick up the pace, she adds.

What It Does:

This helps you build endurance without getting injured or discouraged. Taking walk breaks will help you sustain a 

Destination Run

How to Do It:

Covering the same old route can get downright old. Run or walk to someplace nearby that you usually drive to and that involves going farther than you usually do. Go to the grocery store; meet a friend at the gym and arrange to get a ride home.

What It Does:

This builds endurance, and it’s fun. “It feels like you’re on an adventure,” says Paul.  And it really changes your perspective! Never noticed that hill before? You will now!

6 Rules for Eating Right as a Runner

Keep it simple, keep it balanced, and stay hydrated.

When you start exercising regularly, you might have to revamp some of your everyday eating habits in order to feel your best while you’re working out and avoid unwanted bathroom stops. Here are some general rules.

Go on Empty (Sometimes)

What you eat before you hit the road or the gym all depends on when you’re exercising and what kind of workout you’re planning. Many people don’t have the time—or the stomach—to eat and digest food before a workout, especially if that workout is taking place in the early morning.

For an easy workout of one hour or less, going without food or drink probably won’t do you any harm. (Just make sure you’re staying hydrated.) But for any event that’s longer or more intense, preworkout fuel is critical. Go out on empty and you’ll fatigue sooner, plus you’ll have a much tougher time meeting your goals.

Keep It Simple

So what’s the perfect preworkout meal? Familiar foods that are easy on your system, low in fat and fiber, and high in carbs will boost your energy without upsetting your stomach.

Time It Right

When it comes to fueling your workout, timing is everything. Before your workout, you’ll want to have something that will give you a boost of energy without leaving you with an upset stomach on the road. So focus on carbs, and foods that are low in fiber and low in fat. You can find lots of prerun meal and snack ideas here.

In general, the bigger the meal the more time you’ll need to digest. Each person is different, but you’ll want to eat at least 30 minutes before you head out so you don’t have GI distress when you’re on the road. Within 20 minutes of finishing your workout, have a protein-rich snack to repair muscle tissue, and carbohydrates to restock your spent energy stores. This will kick start the recovery process so that you can bounce back quickly for your next workout. Learn more about postrun fuel for recovery.

Drink Up

Hydration is important, and not just when you’re exercising. Fluids regulate body temperature, move waste from your body, ensure that your joints are adequately lubricated, and help flush out the damaged cells that can lead to inflammation. And proper hydration can help control cravings, which is important because it’s often easy to mistake thirst for hunger.

While there’s no set recommendation for daily fluid intake, a good rule of thumb is to aim to drink about half of your body weight in ounces each day. (So if you weigh 150 pounds, drink 75 ounces of water.) And you don’t have to just guzzle water. Fruits and vegetables can also help you stay hydrated. Plus they’re packed with antioxidants, which boost muscle recovery and immunity.

Get the Balance Right

Even if you’re not exercising with a goal of losing weight, you still need the right mix of foods and nutrients to feel energized on your runs and to stay injury-free. About 55 percent of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates, 25 percent should come from protein, and another 15 to 20 percent should come from unsaturated fats. But there’s no need to start carrying around a calculator. Don’t obsess. At each meal, just simply devote half of your plate to carbs, one-quarter of your plate to protein, and another quarter to healthy fats.

Take out the Trash

If you have a family to feed, it may feel like you’re constantly surrounded by diet-dooming foods. Your kids and partner may not be trying to get in shape, but eating more fruits and vegetables, and less junk, is good for them, too. So next time you’re at the store, shop with a “clean kitchen” in mind.

Limit the high-sugar, high-fat foods you toss in your cart; if they’re not in the house, you won’t be tempted to eat them. Stock your fridge with fruits, veggies, and whole grains, so they’ll be there when mealtime rolls around. Those foods will keep you feeling good when you’re working out, plus they’ll keep your heart healthy, your cholesterol low, and your blood sugar stable.