If you were to ask what the benefits of cross training for runners are, I think you would find most to say that cross-training workouts helps prevent overuse injuries, improved running economy, and increased overall cardiovascular fitness.
Endurance activities found in cross training include any number of cardiovascular workouts. Cross-training workouts include pool running, speed workout, cross-country skiing, weight training, inline skating, and strength training. Any one of these exercises is as good for the beginner runner as it is for more experienced runners.
Cross training for runners is also a focus for trainers and coaches. If you asked any coach, they would say is that there is not one endurance cross-training workout better than another. There are different benefits obtained, but overall, you will find cross-training among runners to be a favorite get away from running, and the secret to running performance is to always be improving in some area.
As you notice, injury prevention is just one benefit of cross-training; lowered heart rate is a widely recognized benefit of cross-training activity, it increases running economy and overall cardiovascular fitness. The list goes on and on.
Let us discuss a few of the specific benefits.
Injury Prevention
Injuries is the number one sideliner for any runner, especially those of the lower-body variety. Now cannot say you can stay away from getting injured, but there are certain aspects of this sport which can put you in risk of injury. The four most common injuries include improper, or worn-out running shoes, biomechanical issues, inadequate recovery, and muscular imbalance.
Outside of selecting proper running shoes, cross training is the key to injury prevention, as it works your muscles differently. This is especially true of beginner runners where they have not clocked enough miles and have limited experience. Endurance cross-training will help build strength and increase flexibility that they would otherwise probably not get. Low-impact exercises is the best choice. In addition to the above mentioned activities, you could use walking, elliptical machines, or other conditioning tools. gradually, you can mixing in other various activities, like weight training and swimming, to further increase your overall conditioning.
Get Motivated
Enhancing your motivation is another key benefit of any form of cross training. Maybe you have already experienced the boredom running the same route over and over again can bring about. The passion is still there, but you require some diversity to help stimulate you and away from the monotony of your typical schedule. It keeps your end goal in mind the work to there more enjoyable.
Better Running Economies and Cardiovascular Fitness
As expressed, there is significant reasons to cross-train to keep you on the road, but what all runners eventually is to get faster. Even if you are not ‘leading the pack’, you still pay attention to your time and compare it to previous races.
By supplementing your run training with cross-training workouts, you are sure to enhance a few areas of your overall running fitness, such as your runner’s efficiency, you will get increased power in your strides, and better your stamina, reducing fatigue and risk of injury.
Recovery and Rehabilitation is a Great Benefit of Cross Training
When we discussed types of injuries above, the main culprit in all this is overuse. We you continue to use muscles, especially the wrong way, without proper attention, they will become fatigued and break down.
Based on decades and dozens of studies conducted, you cannot have active days without rest and recovery. In terms of recovery, it is not about how long you can sit still on your couch, it is about proper nutrition, hydration, and proper exercises, like cross-training workouts we have previously discussed.
Studies have also been done between full and rest and recovery-promoting exercises. What has been found is that those who have took the angle of recovery in stead of flat out relation, often recover faster and dramatically increase their running fitness. The optimal time to start this type of activity is within two hours of your major workouts. Anything later, and you lose some of the momentum from your routine.
When that nagging injury appears its ugly head, you will be already on your way to a full recovery if you had already been participating in cross-training activities. Since this type of exercise helps strength and build better fitness, your body will hard to recover from the injury. Also, this allows to you to continue doing some form of exercise, including that ever-dreadful pool workout. Keeping your body conditioned with endurance cross-training workout during this time period is very critical to picking up where you left off.
Allow Your Body to Rejuvenate
As much as you may like running, it just may not be an easy task to run throughout the year. Not just from a climatic position, but it would be pure insanity. Your mind, much like your body, requires down time, away from the monotony of the typical week in and week out running routines. You can still push your body with any number of workouts, allowing for that all-important adrenaline to kick in.
Look at this period as more of a transitional period, rather than taking the season off. Everything you do during this time period will affect your performance the following race season, Spring through Fall.
Set a date on your calendar in late Fall, early Winter for some, where you will start to make the change. take a couple weeks off and enjoy other things, but do not over-indulge or take too much time off, as you can lose it faster than you can gain fitness. Have a plan of action in place to start a full-week cycle of endurance cross-training workouts, and get away from the usual training you are accustomed to doing.
There is not a wrong or right way to developing a beneficial schedule, so long as you are active doing some sort of workout. Remember, you will see your running vastly improved over the previous year by following a complete weight training or workout.
