Let's get honest.
Is this you?
"I don’t know what exercises to do on my own! I know like individual ones that are good for certain areas but I don’t know how to put it all together."
" I’d like to work out once on my own, but I don’t know where to start!"
"How do I structure workouts, like combining mobility, plyometrics, strength?"
I feel you.
As a practicing physical therapist, there are visits where my runner-patient and I organize their mountains of exercises they've accumulated from all their running injuries.
Hip flexor strains, achilles tendinopathy, runner's knee.
Because otherwise, they're drowning in 55 exercises and only 20 minutes to try and get everything done. (sound familiar?)
Organizing rehab and strength exercises may not sound sexy,
until you realize... IT IS.
When you have a 2- 3x a week mobility, strength, and plyometrics program that is designed specifically for you and your weak links...you're freaking unstoppable.
So lets talk about the 6 different strength training mistakes I see as a physical therapist.
And when I see these, I immediately know, that hamstring injury they're working so hard to fix, is going to be sticking around for long, long time.
Let's make sure you're not falling into these traps.
MISTAKE # 1: Trying to avoid soreness like the plague believing it'll leave you with lead legs and wreck your running workouts,
If you're strength training 1x a week (or every blue moon) you're actually making it worse for yourself. Inconsistent strength training actually leaves you MORE SORE because you're not giving your body the time or the stimuli to adapt.
It's like the first time you push a higher mileage: you're probably feeling it by the last day and you might even be sore on your rest day. But you recovery. And repeat.
My tip for you: give yourself 2 weeks. Just 2 weeks to strength train 2 times a week. By week 3, I promise you'll start to notice waaay less soreness.
MISTAKE # 2: Using only 2-Legged lower body exercises.
I know goblet squats are easy. And they're especially at-home friendly. But we don't run in a squat-position.
Limiting yourself to double-leg bridges and squat variations can make you stronger, IF you use a heavy enough weight. But take it from hard-earned experience, as a runner you MUST do single leg exercises.
There's simply no substitute for the strength you build in lunges, splits squats, and RDLs. These kinds of exercises help teach your body to be strong in positions that look like your running stride.
MISTAKE # 3: Relying on body weight exercises for everything from core to leg strength.
Don't get me wrong: sometimes we NEED to start with body weight only. In 2020, I had to. I could not do weighted walking lunges. So up and down my hallway I went, doing my walking lunges. And for 1 week, that was enough. But eventually, I needed to get brave and pick up weights.
There's a limit with body weight. In order for our muscles to get stronger, we have to provide it the right physiological stimuli or message. And that message needs to be "oh WOW, this is heavy! I can do it, but woof."
Without that kind of stimuli, our muscles...don't get stronger. And when you're muscles aren't as strong as they should be, you get injured.
MISTAKE # 4: NOT repeating the same strength workouts.
hmmhmm. You read that right. I've worked with runners here online and occasionally one will reach out and say "I wasn't expecting to do the same workouts for a whole month. Why aren't they different?"
Because muscle confusion is a LIE. Like a mile repeat, there's a reason we keep the distance the same. How else do we know we've gotten faster?
If we never repeat the same strength workout, we will never know if we've actually gotten stronger, because it's only through getting stronger and being able to lift heavier that we get the result we're looking for: becoming injury-proofed.
MISTAKE # 5: Using only 5-10lb dumbbells
remember my story above about needing to do only body weighted walking lunges for a week? The following week I added 5lbs weights. And the next, 10lbs. And the following, I think it was probably 12 lbs (I wish it was 15lbs, but I'm not going to lie.)
Starting with 5-10lbs dumbbells ISN'T the problem. ONLY using 5-10lbs dumbbells is. When you limit yourself to what weights you'll use, you hold yourself back from getting stronger, faster, crushing new PRs, and becoming a better runner.
I promise, you will not get bulky from lifting heavier weights (this is for my ladies, in particular). Lifting heavier makes you toned, stronger, injury-proofed, and makes hills a heck of a lot easier.
MISTAKE # 6: Doing a poop ton of reps.
If you see a strength training program that has you doing 3 sets of 20 or 4 sets of 30, I need you to run away.
Old research was stuck on the idea that endurance runners needed matching "endurance" strength. Meaning, since we ran a lot, we needed a billion and one reps to build the strength we need.
We know now, that is NOT true. It's through lifting heavy and actually with fewer reps that we are able to build the greatest strength and the best strength for keeping us running and injury-free.
WRAPPING UP
I feel ATTACKED. What if I'm guilty of one of those mistakes?
Don't worry.
I've made those same mistakes, too. (that's how I know)
You're runner's knee will not spontaneously combust. And you're ankle won't fall of.
Knowing what NOT to do, is equally as powerful as knowing exactly what you should be doing.
Because now you understand.
It's always more powerful to understand the WHY behind a reason. You remember it better. And you act on it sooner.
But what do I do NOW?
If you're tempted to do a massive overhaul of all your strength workouts and throw half of them in the trash: DON'T.
How well do 17 new habits stick when we try to do them all at once?
It goes about as well as trying 2 new fuels in one long run. Not a pleasant experience especially if you can't find any bathrooms near by.
So let's not.
Instead, what if I gave you a step-by-step approach?
Where I personally walk you through:
where to start and give you the exact weight you should using for exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts. (spoiler: it's different for men and women!)
the 3 signs of when you need to graduate to heavier dumbbells
And to top it off, what if I guide you through 2 entire workouts built with the right exercises you need as as runner to stay injury free?
And all of this: LIVE.
So you can ask questions.
Learn.
And build the right strength training habits from the ground up.
Come hang out with me in Injury Proofed, me NEW and FREE 2-day live event for busy runners who want to go from injury prone to injury proofed.
Let me teach you how to target injury-preventing muscle groups with the right weights so you can lift heavy confidently and run your next training cycle injury free.
2 PARTS: Monday March 17 & Wednesday March 19 at 5pm CT.
I can't wait to see you there!
Dare to Train Differently,
Marie Whitt, PT, DPT // @drwhittfit
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