Endurance Strength for Endurance Athletes
High-rep training for endurance athletes?
When to use high-rep/ low load strength training in your program
Most of us want to run longer and faster, but is increasing your reps in the gym the best way to improve your endurance as a runner? By this I mean, should you stick to reps of 10, 15 or 20 reps/ exercise if you are an endurance athlete? To date, it is generally accepted that heavy/ explosive strength training has the greatest performance benefit for endurance athletes. This style of training is best carried out in lower rep/ higher weight exercises to gain the appropriate muscle changes that help us run faster/ longer. However, there is a significantly greater risk of injury when doing this style of training, especially if you do not have a background in strength training/ have taken some time away from the gym. So where do you start? If motivation is an issue, check out this post here otherwise, read on.
heavy/ explosive strength training has the greatest performance benefit
Although “endurance strength” does not give us as many performance benefits as heavy/ explosive strength training, it’s one of the best ways to build a strong foundation of strength. Doing high rep/ low load exercises allows you to learn and practice new movement patterns in a safe way with less chance of injury. For example, when learning how to engage the muscles around your shoulders, bands are a great way to practice a pulling motion with your arms without your whole shoulder moving around. I will often use this exercise with new clients because it’s difficult to get “too much” resistance compared to using free weights (safe to practice at home) but an exercise that can easily made it harder as you get stronger.
In addition, doing a few weeks of “endurance strength” also helps make your muscles more efficient at moving lighter weights and therefore “frees-up” muscle for lifting heavier things. Despite the weight being light, it is still important that your muscles are actually fatigued at the end of each set. For example, if you are doing 10 squats, the last 2 should be difficult to complete. If after 10 you could do 3 – 4 more squats, it’s time to up the weight. Lastly, in order to get the most of this stage it is important to change up the sets and/or reps EVERY WEEK (called progressive overload). If you do the same exercises with the same reps using the same weight every week, your muscles will have nothing to adapt to and you eventually begin to lose strength.
if is important to change up the sets or reps EVERY WEEK
The most important part of improving strength as an endurance athlete is that you DO NOT STAY IN THIS ENDURANCE STRENGTH PHASE. This is where most athletes get caught up and never really transition out of. Generally, this phase should really only be used for 1 - 2 x 4 week training blocks. There are absolutely benefits of endurance strength training, but it’s the heavy and explosive strength training that helps improve running economy. There is a place for certain endurance exercises in a strength/ power program (such as particular injury prevention/ rehab exercises) but your main focus should be lowering the reps and increasing the weight. Again, if you can do more than the prescribed sets/ reps, it is essential that you increase your weight. This is more challenging to do with heavier sets, as proper technique is a must when doing heavy, loaded movements. Since some of the movements that work great for heavy and explosive training can be complicated to learn on your own, it is ideal to be working under the guidance of a trainer.
