Hikin' Mama Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 What lower body exercises do you do? When, in relation to your runs, do you do them? I currently run three days a week and am increasing my mileage so that I can do a half marathon in April. I've quit doing any strength work on my legs for fear of overtaxing my muscles or knees. I do ride a bike twice a week as cross training and one of my runs is 3 miles of uphill, in intervals of 1 minute running and 1 minute fast walking. Should I wait until I'm done increasing mileage to resume the lower body strength training? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 light weight, high repetition... If your focus is running (or even triathalons), your goal is not to build lots of muscle, some muscle, yes... but too much will hinder your ability to really swim, bike or run well. I'd suggest doing something like 75% of your max 10-15x, followed by 50%of your max 12-15x, followed by 25% of your max 12-15x. You can push those reps up to 20. Muscle fatigue is good. Exercises I'd include would be squats, lunges, steps, and calf raises. Make sure you warm up and don't forget to do your static stretches after you exercise... or you will shorten your muscles, which will hinder your running, and possibly increase your chance of injury. Running (and swimming) need nice long (and strong) muscles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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