Strength Without Weights Part Three
By
Woody Green
of
RUNNERS NICHE
Many runners go to the weight room and do squats, leg press, leg curls and
leg extensions in the hope of increasing strength and decreasing the risk of
injury. This is sound training, but it can be hard to keep up with if you
can't always find the time or location to do weight work.
One of the best things you can do to increase leg strength is to incorporate
hills into your regular running. By doing hard uphill running, you are
increasing the effective load that the legs must carry. In addition, by
running faster than normal, you are increasing the force which your legs
must exert. This is the same overload principal as lifting heavy weights.
Some people enjoy running up long flights of stairs, which has the same
positive effect as running hills.
Hopping on a bicycle and doing short, hard uphill bursts is another way to
increase leg strength. You can simulate the same thing on an exercise bike
by turning up the resistance and getting out of the saddle to really push it.
This has a particularly positive effect on the muscles on the front of your
thigh - the quadriceps. These muscles are important to strengthen if you
have any tendency toward knee problems.
Other simple exercises can prove effective. For your calves, try standing on
the edge of a stair step with just the front of your feet. Hold on to a hand
rail for balance. Let your heels dip below the level of the stairs, then push
up on your tippy-toes. Repeat this several times, but stop if you feel any
pain in your Achilles tendon.
For the quadriceps and gluteus (butt) try step-ups. Use a stable bench or
chair, and step up on it and back down several times. Alternate your lead
leg, since that is the leg doing all the work.
For your hip flexors a good exercise begins by hanging from a chin-up bar.
Pull one leg up with a bent knee until your upper leg is parallel with the
floor, then let it down. Alternate legs.
For inner and outer thigh, lay on your side. First, put your top leg forward
with the knee bent. Raise your bottom leg up, keeping it straight and in
line with your torso. Repeat until fatigued. Next, lay your upper leg on top
of the lower one and lift it up from the hip, leg straight. Repeat this until
fatigued. Roll on your other side and repeat.
If you do any of these exercises, start easy and progress slowly. If you do
too many early on, you will most certainly pay for it with very sore
muscles.
