Episode #146 why runners need to strength train

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Transcript

0:36

Hello. Hello. Welcome back to the podcast. I've taken a couple weeks off with these Monday episodes simply because I ran out of batched episodes and that is on me for not being prepared, but I figure it's not the end of the world. And I can just get right back to it. Alright, so. I am excited about these next few Monday episodes because they're all going to be talking about why strength training for people who run is essential, and, this matters to me because a lot of my clients who come to me are runners. They enjoy running. They're not necessarily super hardcore runners, but they are more recreational, everyday runners and they enjoy being able to do races with their friends whenever they want. And it's just like a hobby they enjoy and a lot of times. Especially if you're not strength training you tend to end up in pain if you're not doing the right things. And so half of my client roster are people who run and so I. Kinda leading up to this mini program I'm doing in October. These Monday episodes are going to be on that topic. So I'm gonna start with sharing a client story about one of my clients who is a returning client. She came back to work with me a couple of years ago at this point, but she is one of those people who loves to run half marathons and. She was having this knee pain that was keeping her from being able to do step ups from being able to do these runs and she wanted to get rid of it. So that is what we worked on when she initially came back to me and. Within a year, she was back to running a half marathon, pain free. But when we did that assessment and testing portion of my process, we found things like she was lacking big toe extension. She had one leg that was significantly stronger than the other. Like on one side of her body, she could not even do. A step up without this intense knee pain. She had weak adductors her, so her inner thighs, her. Glutes were not lengthening when they should be lengthening. And her hips were lacking internal rotation. And so it was just kind of these this collection of things that were going on mobility wise, strength wise, that was causing these compensations to happen when she was running. And that was showing up as knee pain. And this is what I mean when I talk about like, it's always, it's, it's never just about the sight of pain. It's never just about where you're feeling pain. Because with her, it wasn't just about. The knee, it was about what's going on below the knee, what's going on above the knee, what's going on strength wise, right to left. And it's just so much more complex than just simply like, oh, I need to do more leg extensions because my knee feels weak. You know? And this is why having a coach, a trainer who. Knows how to deal with these types of things can save you a lot of time, if I'm being honest. Save you a lot of time in the long run because you can really see, okay, what is going on? And like, why am I feeling this pain in my knee? Right? It's not just about that knee. And this is exactly why just doing more running is not necessarily going to make you. A stronger runner doing specific strength training geared towards your weaknesses, your body focusing on these certain areas that are important for running actually make you a stronger runner. So it's not like one or the other. It's more like if you run, you should also be strength training in a specific way for your quote unquote sport hobby, whatever you wanna call it. And this is because when you're running certain areas of our lower body experience, a large amount of force, much more than you probably realize. So for example, your knees experience forces of about four to six times your body weight in like while you're running and. Specifically your patellofemoral joint, AKA, your kneecap area may encounter even higher forces when you're running more like seven to 11 times your body weight. So if you think about it, if your body is not prepared or strong enough to handle those types of forces over time, eventually things are going to break down and you are going to experience pain somewhere. Because simply because your body's not prepared to handle these forces. When we have pain or a nagging injury come up, it's more about your body's not prepared for the stimulus that you're giving it. And so then pain shows up. And that is feedback that like, hey, something's going on. Your body's raising its hand and being like, I'm struggling and not strong enough to handle this. Hello, can you pay attention to me? Right. It's not asking for more Advil. It's not asking for more ice, it's not asking for a cortisone show. I, it's simply asking to like, I need to be, be stronger. I need to be more mobile. I, you know. And that's like, sounds silly to say it like that, but I hope that resonates with you because'cause a lot of people don't realize that. And then on this same topic, our calf are specifically our sous can experience six to eight times our body weight of force. And the calves are super neglected when it comes to runners. I feel like, but they are super important to be really strong'cause they also experience a lot of force. And when it comes to that foot and ankle area, our big toe is often forgot about when it comes to running as well. And that big toe extension, our big toe range of motion. It matters so much for your stride. Because if we are limited in our big toe range of motion, that is going to put stress on other areas of the body leading to breakdown and potentially showing up with pain. So that is also really important. And another area that is forgotten by runners. Is the adductors. Adductors are super important for pelvic stability. They can help control absorbing impact and things like that. And weak adductor adductors slash these are your inner thighs. Like I see a lot of people with super weak adductors. Okay. And so that, so like if you have weak adductors, it might be showing up as like, oh, I'm having this hip pain, or Oh, I'm having this knee pain. And so that is another thing to think about. So these are the main areas that I see often forgot about with people who like to run. And when it comes to their strength training, things that show up in assessments, and so my takeaway for you with this episode, I hope, is that it opens your eyes to saying like, wow, strength training is actually super important to be a stronger runner, and specifically focusing on these areas are probably in my best interest if I want to keep running pain free and feeling good. So. My challenge for you is to work on some of these things. So if you're somebody who's like, wow, I don't even do any calf raises, like ever add in some single leg calf raises to your workouts, add in an adduct or strengthening exercise if you're not doing that type of stuff already. Those are a couple of things that you could start with strengthening in these areas that are super important for the activity you like to do. So if you enjoyed this episode, if you learned something, we'd love for you to share it with your running buddy, with your gym friend. And keep an eye out for what I am going to be launching soon. For runners, it's gonna be a mini program for runners called strong enough to run. And we're gonna be taking four weeks to focus on your weak links when it comes to being strong enough to run. So I'll keep you in the loop with that, but that is all for this week.