The Best and Worst Cross-Training Activities For Runners
We highly recommend cross-training once a week as part of your marathon prep. Using muscles outside of your running pattern and strengthening different muscles will help you maintain efficient running mechanics and balance to your body. However, many runners are concerned that certain activities might be detrimental to their training and others want to pick the best activity that gives them the most bang for their buck. Below is a list of three best and three worst activities for runners and you can use the reasoning behind our choices to help you make decisions on other activities you might be interested in. Best: 1. HIIT Training: Doing interval training with callisthenic and light resistance exercises at high intensity (High Intensity Interval Training) is a great compliment to marathon training. You’re still challenging your cardiovascular system and the variety of exercises you can do keeps things mentally interesting and physically beneficial. There are lots of great classes, apps, and free videos out there but it’s easy enough to make your own workouts too using just the timer on your phone and a little creativity (lunges, squats, step-ups, push-ups, and mountain climbers are a great place to start). 2. Tennis: This is one of the best sports you can pick to balance out your running routine. The reason is that running simply involves moving forward in a straight line which means muscles involved in rotation and lateral motions aren’t getting any attention. The lateral motions involved in tennis are great to workout muscles that don’t get used much with running but are still needed to provide support to your joints. Not to mention you can still get a great cardio workout and it’s a non-contact sport. Basketball is also a great choice but is higher impact and can involve a bit of contact depending on your level of competitiveness. 3. Yoga/Pilates: These are great options for building body awareness and increasing balance and stability. Even if you’re someone who is already
® really flexible, this might even be the best choice for you to learn to better stabilize your joints through those greater ranges of motion you’re able to go into. These are also great options for incorporating rotation and reaching the limbs outside of that forward plane. Worst: 1. Elliptical: People often consider this a great no-impact version of running that lets you get more mileage in but we wouldn’t even count this as cross-training since you’re using almost exactly the same motions as running and staying in that single forward plane. Using this machine won’t necessarily make you a worse runner but it makes the top of our list since it defeats the whole purpose of cross-training. 2. Rowing Machine: People who have never rowed competitively will tell you that this is primarily an upper body exercise but that is false. There’s a specific technique to using the rowing machine properly and your legs should be your powerhouse with your upper body assisting. Since cross- training should give your legs a bit of a break from being the powerhouse, this isn’t a great choice for complimenting your marathon training. On the other hand, doing row exercises with pulleys or weights using just your upper body could be a great component of some HIIT training. 3. Cycling/Spinning: For the same reasons as above, this requires all leg effort in a single forward plane. Sure, you can get a great cardio workout in but you’re not really mixing things up for your body in the way that cross-training is intended to do. If you want to pick something where you’re still only moving in that forward plane, then swimming is a much better way to go. If you’d like to know why swimming didn’t make our top 3 list, email social@bodygears.com to find out and also receive our free dynamic warm-up routine for runners.
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