Why Runners Need to Cross Train

Why Runners Need to Cross Train

Runners aren’t just runners – at least not the good ones. A good runner who’s interested in staying safe and improving their overall health and fitness is incorporating more than just a couple of 5ks a week into their routine. Cross training might not get the glory when it comes to making improvements in your running, but it’s an important part of keeping yourself motivated, well-rounded and injury-free.

If you’re a runner – especially if you’re new to the sport – you’ve got to incorporate cross training into your routine. Here’s why you need it, what it can do for you, how to incorporate it and, while we’re at it, why runners absolutely need to be getting enough protein.

Cross Training Helps Prevent Injury

You’d think that the best way to keep yourself from becoming injured while you’re running is to perfect the way you run. You build up the muscles you need to run faster, harder, stronger. You perfect your form so there’s no pronating or ankle rolling or uneven footfalls. Doing all of this is great and it will keep you safer than if you were sprinting down the street, arms akimbo with your feet landing every which way. But cross training can be an even more effective way to make sure you won’t injure yourself on a run.

“Many overuse injuries are caused by instability in the hips, knees and ankles resulting from inadequate strength in important stabilizing muscles,” says Competitor.com. This can create undue stress to your joints which could result in injuries. “Strength training can correct such problems.”

Cross training, especially with low-impact activities, can give your joints a break and help you build up those stabilizing muscles that are going to keep you safe and sturdy while you’re running. Swimming, rollerblading and martial arts can help you build strength. Yoga can help you gain flexibility. All of these activities give the muscles you use for running a chance to recover with a different type of workout.

Cross Training Makes You a Better Athlete

All of this additional strength and flexibility is going to result in making you an overall more well-rounded runner. Cross training, in short, is going to make you a better athlete. Running is a great way to workout, but it’s not going to give your body everything it needs to be strong and capable no matter the situation. That’s where supplementing with other forms of exercise can help.

“The trick is to approach cross training as a runner,” according to Runner’s World. “Runners have their obvious strengths: power, endurance, tenacity. But within those strengths lies the potential for weakness: quads that overpower our hamstrings, neglected upper bodies and poor flexibility – qualities that could lead to problems.”

To combat these problems and improve your general fitness, Runner’s World suggests not straying too far from running when you’re planning your cross training workouts. Stick with something similar in terms of muscle groups used and aerobic systems taxed, but that’s different enough to provide some benefit. Ellipticals, cross-country skiing, cycling and swimming are all good choices. Work these into your schedule a few days a week and you’ll be a better athlete and a better runner before you know it.

Beginners Can Benefit the Most

If you’re new to running, cross training could be more of a benefit to you than to a more seasoned runner. Running’s tough and amping up your mileage like you do when you’re first starting out can take its toll on your body. Cross training can help minimize that.

“It’s no secret that running takes a toll on your body,” says Health. “So it’s key to complete low-impact workouts on days you don’t run.”

When you’re a newbie runner, Health suggests starting out with a routine that incorporates three days of running workouts per week with your specific goal, be it tempo or distance. Supplement with one to three days of cross training workouts. Consider soccer, rollerblading, kayaking, even walking your dog as opportunities to get a little cross training in. Here you have an opportunity to use an activity you love as a chance to build more strength and endurance to help your running. It’s the best of both worlds, especially when you’re new and the thought of a marathon, half marathon, even a 5k is daunting.

Runners Need Protein Too

In addition to cross training, a successful runner needs protein. Sure, the image you may have of a runner in your head is someone who hits the road for a few miles each day and enjoys nothing more than a nice banana at the end of it. But the reality is that runners do training exercises that aren’t running and they take in a lot of protein.

“Adequate protein intake accelerates muscle growth and speeds recovery by helping rebuild muscle fibers stressed during a run,” according to Runner’s World. “Since protein helps muscles heal faster, runners who consume the right amount are less likely to get injured.”

Runner’s World says the usual recommendation of .8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight isn’t enough for athletes. “Athletes like runners needs 1.0 to 1.6 grams per kilogram a day (or .45 to .72 grams per pound.” One of the best ways to get what you need when you need it is with Performance Inspired Nutrition’s Performance Whey protein powder. It’s got the all-natural, high-quality protein athletes need to grow their muscles, improve their performance and prevent injury.

So don’t view time spent on a bike ride or a few laps in the pool as time that could have/should have been spent running. When you’re cross training, you’re actively making yourself a better, more well-rounded, less injury-prone runner. You’ve got to do it. And you’ve got to get enough protein while you do.

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