Strength training for runners, hikers, and bikers (cyclists)

Apr 9

Written By Coach Mac

April’s Theme: Adventure Training

Today’s topic: Training for movements like running, hiking, and biking!

The majority of my trainees participate in some form of running, hiking, or biking.

Why do I lump these activities together?

They are unilateral (one-sided), sagittal plane (front to back), lower-body dominate movements.

That’s Trainer Speak for you’re constantly shifting your balance from one leg to the other to propel yourself forward.

This creates a unique set of strengths and, more importantly, WEAKNESSES that need to be addressed.

Let’s follow the story of one of my runner trainees—onward, gentle reader!

By the end of her year in the Academy, she had:

Demolished her previous run times
Dropped 3 pant sizes
Won an arm wrestling match with her kid’s teenage athlete friend because of all the upper body strength she built! (think of the glory!)
Ditched her chronic hip pain
Got wicked cocky about her lifting abilities as a self-identified cardio princess 😆👏

Here’s how I helped her do it:

After she built a strong foundation in the Base Strength program, she went right into the Run/Hike/Bike program.

(PS. everyone in the Academy goes through all of the training programs in order to build a balanced body that can handle anything, but sometimes we focus on one program to build up specific strength and skills)

The general goals of the Run/Hike/Bike program are:

Improve single leg balance transfer
Increase aerobic capacity
Increase primary muscles' power
Bring up weaknesses in secondary and supportive muscles

She strength trained 3x/week, which left ample time and energy to work on her conditioning.

The primary lifts in the program focus on the hamstrings, quads, glutes, hip flexors, and core.

The secondary lifts and accessories train the supportive muscles and/or the muscles neglected by running: Shins, feet, calves, chest, upper back, arms, and shoulders.

In Phase One we built up her work capacity, where we train to build the capillary density in her muscles, enabling them to be more efficient!

In Phase Two we focused on building muscle, because more muscle is how we’re able to continue adventuring til we die, dammit. Muscle mass it literally anti-aging.

In Phase Three we focused on building pure strength, which is largely your body’s neurological ability to fire your muscle fibers at the same time, creating more power. (it’s how tiny people can lift big weights!)

Here’s the lesson:

I’ve noticed that cardio athletes think they just need to cardio harder in order to get better.

While it’s true you need to practice the skill of your activity and build aerobic capacity, the literal strength of your muscles is what makes it all feel easy.

🌟 So you need to strength train. BUT, if your activity has a season (or a time of year where you do a lot of it), that training can’t make you too tired for your sport!

🌟 So you’ll need to strike a balance between training and also feeling fresh and energized for your real-world adventures.

🌟 Any repetitive movement will create weaknesses. You’ll need to build strength in the main muscles while also bringing up the weaknesses in order to avoid injury.

As always, keep training as simple and progressive as possible.

If you want to outsource the effort of figuring this out on your own, that’s what coaches are for 👋