I started strength training, and I’m too sore…

Published on by Hanna

Roughly speaking, there are two types of runners, those who do strength training and those who avoid it. Sometimes those who avoid strength training start it, but they find excessive body soreness a couple of days after the training session. This often leads to quitting the whole thing. Before you give up with strength training, here’s what you do.

Too much too soon

Too much too soon, you have probably heard this when speaking of running, but it also includes strength training. If you are a beginner with strength training, start slowly. Keep weight resistance small, even though you could raise, pull or push more. Focus more endurance strength, which means more reps, less sets. For example 12-15 reps with 3 sets. You can also use your body weight.

Don’t do more than 6-8 different exercises. Focus on the main muscles group, avoid doing 8 different hamstring movements at one time. You can easily do a whole body workout. Once your body gets used to strength training, you can gradually start to increase resistance and divide workout sessions into different muscle groups, especially if you are doing strength training more than once a week.

Timing

Running or other endurance sports is your main sport and strength training is just supportive training, timing is essential. You don’t need to go to the gym every day, 1-3 times is enough. Three times a week can be too much for many. Avoid performing strength training before the running training, especially before the intervals or other speed workouts. Also, stop doing it during the tapering week. The best time to start strength training is the beginning of the season or during the training season, not during the race season.

Strength training should be planned as well as running training, there are several different phases of strength training; endurance, speed and maximal strength. Most of the training will take place on endurance strength, the amount of maximum strength training is lowest in endurance runners.

If you are unsure of the exercises what to do, there are strong body series, which help you! It is suitable for the gym and home!