One Reason Runners Should Be Lifting Weights

As I've written about before, I truly admire those people who enter a race knowing they will be at the back of the pack, knowing they will be struggling at the finish line. I love watching their faces when that "I did it!" feeling takes over. As a result, I have often stayed and watched the last people coming in at various races. Something I notice repeatedly at endurance events is how a person's posture can completely collapse by the time they get to the finish line.

One particular aspect of this is the upper back and shoulders. Often by the end of a race, a runner has started hunching their shoulders forwards. This can be due to tension in the chest, or due to fatigue of the upper back. Either way, those hunched shoulders are going to be causing a lot of suffering during, and after the race.
During the race, hunched shoulders will limit the ability to breathe deeply. When you are not breathing deeply, then your muscles are not receiving the oxygen they need to continue going, especially on the last few miles of a long race. If the hunching is a result of tight pectoral muscles and shoulders, full movement of the body while running is limited interrupting stride, and the extra tension is burning energy that could be much more useful in other parts of the body.

After the race, that hunching posture can lead to upper back pain. The longer you run in that position, the more your upper spine has been jarred while in an unnatural position. This position does not allow the spine to absorb the shock the way it should, so you can expect back pain and even shoulder pain afterwards.

Lifting weights, specifically using motions that involve the upper back musculature, strengthens, and builds endurance in the muscles that maintain a neutral spine during endurance events. Running alone doesn't do much for these muscles, so at some point your legs will be able to last much longer than your postural muscles.

The solution for this problem is to stretch the pectoral muscles, and strengthen the rhomboids and trapezius. Some good exercises for this include the reverse lateral dumbell raise and the single arm dumbell row.

If you want help with your running, come check out my class "Run For Your Life." You will do strength training, learn about different types of training runs, and improve your running. This class can make running easier on your body, and improve your race times. So come on down to GT Fitness or get in touch with me. Find more information by clicking the tabs at the top of the page.