strength training?

[jessie]

Any thoughts on strength training for marathon running?

[sharsell119]

I'm training for a marathon and I'll be strength training once a week just to keep my muscle tone, if nothing else. But I don't think it can hurt... we need strong legs! I know opinions vary, but as I said, even if nothing else, I want to keep the shape I've built, so I'll do it once a week when training.

[NYC_Native]

It's a must. Even my running coach has emphasized to me and others who are training for a marathon (I'm training for an HM, btw) that at least 2x's a week we get in strength training, whether through her bodyweight-based plan, or continuing with weightlifting. It's cross training that helps to prevent injury, and keeps our muscles robust for endurance and speedwork.

I've noticed that the strength workouts my coach has designed emphasize a lot of upper body and core work, too. But it makes sense, because your whole torso needs to be strong from top to bottom to achieve good running form. Even though the lower body is the focal point in running, the other stuff should never, ever be overlooked because everything needs to fit perfectly in order for a runner to be at her best.

[Ron_Hendrix]

Focus on unilatreal work if you are going to do strength work and run, I'd do all BW work. Lunges, step ups, pistol squats, etc. No one runs 100% biomechanically correct, so you might as well prevent any imbalance before they start to rear their ugly head.