The Ultimate Guide to Cross-Training for Runners

Cross-training for runners is essential to a sustainable, healthy, strong, and injury-free running journey. Activities such as weight training, cycling, or swimming can help you level up your running, keep you injury-free, and hit new PRs. However, when done incorrectly, cross-training can negatively impact your running game.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CROSS-TRAINING?

Overall, cross-training makes you a well-rounded running machine by building strength and endurance and minimizing weak spots where injuries or imbalances can develop.

“The majority of running-related injuries are tied to overuse. Most overuse injuries can be prevented or at least prevented from returning,” explains Steve Stonehouse, certified Run Coach and Director of Education for Stride Fitness. “If you’re a beginning runner who hasn’t yet developed strength and flexibility, you can get big benefits from endurance cross-training,” explains Stonehouse.

“Your ankles, knees, and lower back aren’t used to the repetitive impact of running, so you can use cross-training to improve endurance without beating up your most vulnerable joints, muscles, and connective tissues.”

WHY RUNNERS NEED TO CROSS-TRAIN

#1 Helps Prevent Injury

Running involves repeating the same motion, usually in one direction, thousands of times. Naturally, this leads to imbalances in our kinetic chains. One muscle tightens, another weakens, and the next thing you know, your runner’s knee flares up.

Cross-training allows runners to address those imbalances. It can also help prevent injury by strengthening muscles and supporting ligaments and tendons. 

#2: Improves Running Economy and Accelerates Recovery

Stronger legs, hamstrings, quads, calves, and glutes, combined with proper running form, make runners more efficient. Full-body strength training will also help you maintain good running form in longer events like marathons and ultramarathons.

Light cross-training activities like cycling or the elliptical can improve muscle blood flow, thereby accelerating recovery time between runs—think of them as active recovery days.

#3: Allows You To Target Specific Deficiencies

Cross-training allows runners to train in specific fitness areas without adding unnecessary miles. For example, a runner who wants to work on cardiovascular fitness could do an elliptical session or go swimming.

#4: Prevents Burn-Out and Over-Training

Many runners will run miles and miles on end, day after day. However, doing the same thing over and over will work only those specific running muscles, which could lead to overuse injuries, overtraining syndrome, and mental burnout.

Cross-training—whether it’s yoga or even a round of golf with some friends—can not only give you a break from running but also provide a needed mental-state change that can promote recovery.

#5: Makes You Multi-Purpose

What good is being able to run 100 kilometres if you can’t even do a couple of pull-ups or push-ups?

In my experience, people with consistently happy and healthy running careers know the value of being multi-disciplined. Having some athletic range—whether it’s to play football, know your way around the gym, play with your kids, or go mountain biking with friends—is a life skill.

Best Cross-Training Activities 

There is no one-size-fits-all cross-training exercise for runners. Remember that every activity has its pros and cons, which can benefit or hinder your running performance.

Runners should choose a low-impact exercise that complements their running and preferably includes some strengthening work.

Cross-training activities can include strength training, swimming, aqua jogging, cycling, yoga and pilates, elliptical, walking/hiking and golf.

Strength training is one of the best forms of cross-training for runners as it targets explicitly the areas neglected or weakened by running and boosts those leg muscles in a way that regular running doesn’t (more akin to hill running, perhaps).

What type of strength training is most effective? Simply put, weightlifting. Focus on lifting heavier weights that target your legs, lower body, and core, and you’ll soon notice improvements in your running performance.

Activities to Avoid

Some activities can be harmful to runners because they involve quick lateral movements that increase the risk of injury. 

“Runners may want to think twice about exercises that require fast movements with a lot of change in direction, such as tennis, basketball, soccer, or downhill skiing,” explains Todd Buckingham, lead exercise physiologist at Mary Free Bed Hospital, Michigan. “Because a runner is used to moving in one plane of motion (forward), adding these activities to a runner’s repertoire too quickly could result in injury.”

Incorporating Cross-Training into your schedule

Generally, I like to recommend two strength-training sessions per week, plus another cross-training session – yoga or swimming being good options. When in the throes of a high-mileage training plan, we’d maybe dial this back to one or two cross-training sessions a week, to keep you strong and injury-free without pushing you too hard.

“More advanced runners can use cross-training to replace recovery runs,” explains Stonehouse. “This becomes their active recovery between crucial running workouts like speedwork, tempo runs, and long runs.”

The Dos Of Cross-Training

• “Do incorporate cross training regardless of whether you are a novice or experienced runner,” says Buckingham.
• Do keep your cross-training easy when it’s a recovery cross-training session or after a challenging running workout. 
• Do warm up and cool down before a cross-training session as you would before a run.
• Do choose the type of cross-training you enjoy that fits the purpose of what you need on that day, whether focusing on endurance, strength, flexibility, or something else, advises Stonehouse.

The Don’ts of Cross-Training

• Don’t do too many new types of cross-training too soon. Doing so could result in injury, says Buckingham.
• Don’t treat a cross-training workout as something you just have to ‘get through.’ 
• Don’t skip your run to do a cross-training session. 
• Don’t let cross-training distract you from your running goal. “Sometimes we can add so many ‘other’ things that the additional volume is just too great,” warns Stonehouse. This can put you at risk for burnout.

This article has been edited for length and reprinted with permission from www.marathonhandbook.com

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