Strength Training for Runners
Strength Ali Marty Strength Ali Marty

Strength Training for Runners

Strength exercises, as you know, as so important to your training. They can help you feel better, stronger and overall perform better. When done incorrectly they can wreak havoc on your plan, and when done properly they can open doors to racing possibilities. In this article I’ll be going through the what, the who and the how, including a big mistake to avoid so you can optimize your strength training and running plan.

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Run Better With Strength Training
Strength Ali Marty Strength Ali Marty

Run Better With Strength Training

So you want to run a 5k better, faster, stronger… you’re doing all the running and not feeling any better when you run. You want running to feel like less work and have it feel more fun. Adding this type of training will help you run farther, better, faster, stronger. See it’s not just about running… you have to incorporate this, too.

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Strength Training for 5k Running
5k, Strength Ali Marty 5k, Strength Ali Marty

Strength Training for 5k Running

If you want to run 5k and your breathing feels good but your legs feel like lead it’s not that you’re out of shape, it’s that your muscles are out of shape. Your cardio is excellent, great job! And it’s not that your cardio isn’t important for running, it is, it’s that only focusing on cardio holds you back from optimal performance. See adding in strength training allows your muscles to strengthen so they can keep up with your breathing. There are multiple places to find good strength exercises for runners. It’s important to know if the exercises are the right ones for you, if you’re doing them right, how to modify them, how to advance them and many more, which is why I work with clients individually so they can ask the question and get the answer based on their needs without having to search google or youtube again and they get to focus on the workout.

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Exercises For Ankle Sprain
Strength Ali Marty Strength Ali Marty

Exercises For Ankle Sprain

If you roll your ankle it’s important to strengthen the ankle to prevent a worse ankle sprain in the future. Learn some exercises to do and remember if any of the exercises hurt or you aren’t sure if you’re doing them right get evaluated by your local physical therapist.

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My Least Favorite Exercises
Strength Ali Marty Strength Ali Marty

My Least Favorite Exercises

My 3 least favorite exercises ever are the burpee, the push up for people with shoulder problems and sit ups in general. I hate burpees because they put you in a vulnerable position to get hurt in so many ways. Push ups put a lot of pressure and stress on your shoulders and the small shoulder muscles like the rotator cuff and can contribute to tendinitis. Sit ups are so often done incorrectly that it puts stress on the back and the neck, and most people do sit ups for core strength and sit ups aren’t even a core exercise.

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My Favorite Exercises For Leg Weakness
Strength Ali Marty Strength Ali Marty

My Favorite Exercises For Leg Weakness

My favorite exercises for leg weakness are the straight leg raise, sidelying hip abduction, birddog, squats and deadlifts. When I do strength training I aim to get the muscles tired, have no pain, so I may or may not add resistance with ankle weights, resistance bands, dumbbells or barbells. The newest favorite exercise is the deadlift and surprised me the most with the benefits with the tightness in the front of my hips from sitting too long is gone when I deadlift regularly.

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Do I Need to Do Squats For My Knee Pain
Strength, Knee Pain Ali Marty Strength, Knee Pain Ali Marty

Do I Need to Do Squats For My Knee Pain

Squats are an important motion in our everyday lives. We use a squat to be able to pick up items from the floor, sit down and get up from various things in our lives like a chair at dinner, the couch, the car, and the toilet. If someone can’t do a squat because their knees hurt too much and they want to or need to squat I recommend starting with the sit to stand exercise from high level chairs like a bar stool and over the course of weeks or months progressively lower the height of the chair until the height needed is reached.

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When is it a Quad Problem?
Strength, Knee Pain Ali Marty Strength, Knee Pain Ali Marty

When is it a Quad Problem?

A quad strain can happen, it is more likely to happen to athletes than the non-athletic population. If you are in the general population you may have an injury to the quad tendon if you fall forward on your knees and give a quick stretch to the quad. The pain will likely be sharp at first and can remain for a while and become a more dull pain. A progressive strengthening and stretching program can rehab the quad strain.

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