7 Gym Exercises To Make You A Better Runner

For any athlete, strength training forms a vital part of achieving your full potential. However, strength and conditioning work is often neglected by runners, who may feel less comfortable in the gym than they do out on a scenic trail. Luckily, Heather's here to guide you through a gym workout specifically for runners.

Is strength training part of your regime? Let us know down below 👇

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[iqbalwahyuperdana]

Timestamp
1:03 cable abduction
2:07 calf raises
3:14 box jumps
4:09 split squats
5:20 deadlifts
6:57 lat pull down
8:02 bench press

[MaxG]

An awesome home alternative to cable abduction is side plank leg lifts: Hold a side plank and lift the upper leg up and down. Same muscles worked, plus you are working out your core. Tough as heck! Or you can do the cable exercise at home with a resistance band. You can substitute pulldowns with pullups at home but if you're not quite at the level of being able to do them well, you can add a resistance band to help yourself along. Loop it around the bar and place your knee or foot (depending on length) to help you along.

When I was first forced to transition to home workouts due to the lockdown, I had no equipment for bench presses. I substituted by putting a ton of heavy stuff in a backpack and doing pushups with it. Just make sure your form is good and you'll find that it's no less effective.

Thank you so much for this great video!

[jamiefuhrman]

Hexbar is a great deadlifting option for those with back concerns. Also a big fan of single leg deadlifts with dumbbells to isolate the hammies. Split squats, box jumps, and lat pull downs are some of my favorites, you nailed the essentials Heather!

[robscherer]

Super thankful GTN exists. Incredible content for years, constantly crushing it! Thank you for what you do!!!

[zeeshan.khan]

1. Cable abduction - glute minimus, glute medius...
2. Calf raises- strong calf and Achilles tendon.
3. Box jump- land lightly.. glutes..hip drive and core strength
4. Lunges / Bulgarian split squats- Unilateral, challenging, specific to running
5. Deadlift- posterior chain, back muscles.
6. Pull ups/ lat pull down (upper body)
7. Bench press/ push ups.( upper body)

[BurnyTone]

Reverse nordic curls! Anybody struggling with IT band and quadriceps tendon tightness, this is the magic exercise. It solved my year-long issues!

[jonathanweatherill]

I over did the squats and ended up injured right before starting base training. Almost over the injury now but will have introduce strength training carefully so probably will be using leg press over back squats at first. Deadlift is king 👍

[santoshadwani]

Strength training is very important for running

[bowmanvillain]

Great video thank you! I have been doing deadlifts the last few months and have noticed a difference for sure.

[MichaelChristodoulides]

Very well paced presentation and examples . Thank you

[damienabbott]

Absolutely amazing Heather - thank you so much!!!

[bfrazer]

Starting to train for my first half and full marathon, which means much less lifting....but seeing that bench press and lat pulldown is going to continue to help me run better makes my heart happy haha

[justagerman]

Great video! Can you please provide some more body weight exercises for when gyms are in lockdown?

[kwgrunner]

As a senior runner with 78 marathons on my legs, I still desire to run faster & well, but whenever I do runner's leg & core strengthening reps, I have to take 2 or 3 days off from running because my legs are so sore from these movements!

[kimalexander]

I really appreciate this video and the workout, i am adjusting my strenght training to model what u presented, I have been running for 42 years and really never done this but at age 67 I see the need now. One side question regarding the Dead Lift how many sets and reps for a beginner. Agsin Thank you and your team there.

[paulcarlson]

Yes like the older runner said, im only 63vbut with injury some things seem to make it worse or rest period seems to take to long, so don't over do if you love running

[philippeguegan]

Thank you for this very nice video. Easy to follow and practice.

[michaelellison]

Heather, what about core strength and balance? Great content as always

[MrTigerlilly]

Hi GTN,
Great video, please do a similar for cycling...

[goodyeoman]

Best thing is to pick about 4-5 exercises that target a mix of hams, quads, glutes and calves. Then add in a couple of exercises for particular areas of weakness, such as hip flexors, shins, lower back etc.