Make yourself a stronger runner.If you're still in the "running is all I need" camp, you might want to consider adding strength training to your routine. Evidence continues to pile up that strength training enhances not only your overall fitness, but also your cardiovascular fitness cardiovascular fitness Fitness A benchmark of a subject's cardiovascular and respiratory 'reserve', assessed by exercise testing; improved CF ↓ risk of acute MI. See Aerobic exercise, Exercise, MET, Thallium stress test, Vigorous exercise. Cf Anaerobic exercise. and running performance. And it provides protection against injury (see Running & FitNews, January 2000). In a new study, 35 healthy, active women were randomly assigned to either 25 minutes of bench step aerobics step aerobics n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Aerobics performed in a choreographed routine by stepping up onto and down from a portable platform. , 25 minutes of aerobics plus additional resistance exercise, 40 minutes of aerobics (controls) or regular daily activities only. At the end of 12 weeks of training the aerobics plus resistance group outperformed the 40-minute aerobics group in all measurements including muscle performance, muscle morphology and cardiovascular fitness. Nearly double the aerobics activity didn't provide the same boost as the addition of strength training. In another study, runners with iliotibial band syndrome iliotibial band syndrome Tensor fasciae latae syndrome, TFL syndrome Sports medicine A common running injury, which is the most common cause of lateral knee pain in runners Muscles involved Gluteus maximus, tensor fasciae latae Clinical Lateral knee pain, a were found to have weaker hip abductor ab·duc·tor n. A muscle that draws a body part, such as a finger, arm, or toe, away from the midline of the body or of an extremity. abductor that which abducts. muscles on the injured side compared to their uninjured side. More important, their symptoms improved when hip abductor strength improved. For more information, visit The American Running Association's Web site at www.americanrunning.org and click on strength training. (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2001, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 259-269; Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine sports medicine, branch of medicine concerned with physical fitness and with the treatment and prevention of injuries and other disorders related to sports. Knee, leg, back, and shoulder injuries; stiffness and pain in joints; tendinitis; "tennis elbow"; and , 2000, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 169-175) |
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