Working the calves and thighs ?
- Thread starter candleman
- Start date
Running uses more than just your calves and the rest of your legs. To improve it train everything in balance.
Consider that the distance you want to run will have a huge impact on the style of training you want to do, sprinters need to do masses of heavy weight training, for marathon runners this would be counter-productive in most cases.
Consider that the distance you want to run will have a huge impact on the style of training you want to do, sprinters need to do masses of heavy weight training, for marathon runners this would be counter-productive in most cases.
I'm going to support as well as argue against some of what COM said.
Yes, running uses more than just your calves and thighs, so if you're going to train muscle groups, you need to train globally. Calves, quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, core, even some arms.
About what COM said about weight training being counter-productive for long-distance runners, I dispute that. You do need quite a bit of muscular strength to do long-distance runs, not just for short-distance sprints, and running alone will often not give you that strength you need. So yes, I'm a big supporter of runners doing regular weight training, not only because it will give you the base of strength your muscles need to hold up during a long duration of activity, but also because weight training will also often correct improper biomechanics that will transfer over to your running form. (As an anecdote, as a long-distance runner myself, my performance shot WAY up when I first added resistance training to my regular routine.)
That being said, no way should you only be doing weight training. You still need to be practicing the running distances you intend to compete at. Also, even while weight training, don't isolate. It will not help your running at all to train one muscle at a time, as you're not using just one of them at a time while you run. (Especially calves, I feel the need to say. Never, EVER isolate calves. It's a quick road toward shin-splints.)
Yes, running uses more than just your calves and thighs, so if you're going to train muscle groups, you need to train globally. Calves, quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, core, even some arms.
About what COM said about weight training being counter-productive for long-distance runners, I dispute that. You do need quite a bit of muscular strength to do long-distance runs, not just for short-distance sprints, and running alone will often not give you that strength you need. So yes, I'm a big supporter of runners doing regular weight training, not only because it will give you the base of strength your muscles need to hold up during a long duration of activity, but also because weight training will also often correct improper biomechanics that will transfer over to your running form. (As an anecdote, as a long-distance runner myself, my performance shot WAY up when I first added resistance training to my regular routine.)
That being said, no way should you only be doing weight training. You still need to be practicing the running distances you intend to compete at. Also, even while weight training, don't isolate. It will not help your running at all to train one muscle at a time, as you're not using just one of them at a time while you run. (Especially calves, I feel the need to say. Never, EVER isolate calves. It's a quick road toward shin-splints.)
Jrahien made me re-read my post and it does look like I am implying no weights for distance runners. I did mean masses of heavy weight training, power-lifter or body builder style would be counter-productive, but should have made that clearer. Thanks Jrahien.
I did some weights when I was doing marathon, not to build mass I would have to carry or short burst power I wouldn't use but to improve muscular strength and endurance. Even with this I had a famously bad sprint kick in the last mile, it was quite pathetic.
I did some weights when I was doing marathon, not to build mass I would have to carry or short burst power I wouldn't use but to improve muscular strength and endurance. Even with this I had a famously bad sprint kick in the last mile, it was quite pathetic.
Olympic lifts!
Just to throw an extra tidbit in, Olympic lifting is amazing for both long-distances as well, not just sprinting. Even though endurance running is obviously not a power-based sport like sprinting, your body is still performing smaller explosive contractions every time your feet hit the ground and rebound.
Most of the stuff I was doing were all over movements, including highpulls etc. associated with Olympic training. The MSE bias was more set in higher rep ranges.
Of course this was over 20 years ago and my training would probably be seen as incomplete and inefficient now. This is a good thing as it means marathon running training as with most has moved on.
Far too heavy to consider a marathon now. At 9 stone (126 pounds) I was completing marathons in 02:40:00 to 02:45:00 and felt that 3 hours would be slow. Now at approaching 14 stones (196 pounds) I would be extremely lucky to get close to 4 hours and fairly lucky to get 4.5. Just doesn't interest me anymore.
Of course this was over 20 years ago and my training would probably be seen as incomplete and inefficient now. This is a good thing as it means marathon running training as with most has moved on.
Far too heavy to consider a marathon now. At 9 stone (126 pounds) I was completing marathons in 02:40:00 to 02:45:00 and felt that 3 hours would be slow. Now at approaching 14 stones (196 pounds) I would be extremely lucky to get close to 4 hours and fairly lucky to get 4.5. Just doesn't interest me anymore.