Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 74, September 2015 | Seite 34
Ma
Training
STRONGER,
FASTER,
FURTHER
Mention the words strength work to a runner and images of bulging biceps and watermelons under the arms come to
mind... but none of us can picture ourselves dragging around that much extra muscle baggage on the run. For endurance
runners, strength is one of the important motor skills, but you certainly won’t look like Anold Schwarzenegger anytime soon
just by incorporating strength work into your training. (For that, you’re going to have to spend hours on end each week in
the gym, with no long distance training at all!) – BY RAY ORCHISON
T
here are a number of reasons why runners need to
incorporate elements of strength work into our training
weeks. For starters, our western lifestyles do not lend
themselves to keeping us strong and our muscles
engaged. Just get yourself a pedometer and you’ll be
shocked at how little you walk in a day. Our lifestyles
are extremely sedentary. We drive to work, spend
eight to nine hours sitting in a chair hunched over a
computer, then drive back home to spend the evening
in front وH