Upper Body Strength & Why It's Important For Runners
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Strength training (also referred to as ‘resistance training’) is defined as: a form of physical activity that is designed to improve muscular fitness by exercising a muscle or a muscle group against external resistance. The external resistance can be dumbbells, exercise tubing, your own body weight, bricks, bottles of water, or any other object.
The benefits of strength training in our weekly routine are numerous:
It makes you physically stronger: Your body will be able to cope better with the physicality of day to day life, carrying shopping, digging in the garden and lifting heavy objects
It can make you more defined and leaner: As you increase your muscle mass and decrease your body fat percentage, your muscles look more defined and create a stronger, leaner appearance
It decreases your risk of falls: As you become stronger, you are better able to support your body so your risk of falling reduces. One study has shown a 34% reduction in falls among those who participated in a well-rounded exercise programme including resistance training
It increases your bone strength: Weight bearing exercises work your muscles which puts temporary stress on your bones, sending a message to bone-building cells to take action and rebuild stronger. This reduces your risk of osteoporosis, fractures, and falls, especially as you age. As women are more at risk of osteoporosis, it is very important for females to undertake some resistance training as part of their fitness programme
It increases your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): Your BMR is the number of calories you burn performing life sustaining functions (such as breathing and beating your heart). This means you are burning more calories when at rest
Why is upper body strength important for runners?
When we go back to our specific goal of being able to run faster or further, it is self-explanatory why improving our leg strength would have a positive impact on our running but why do we need to improve our upper body strength? Much of running performance comes from technique and movement efficiency. The greater your efficiency, the less energy you need to expend. That helps prevent fatigue and improves endurance. Below are 4 ways in which your running will benefit from adding upper body conditioning exercises into your weekly routine:
A strong upper body is essential for guaranteeing an efficient transfer of energy from your body to your legs. Without this, the arm technique cannot provide optimal support to your legs. Efficient upper body movement helps power the body in forward propulsion enabling you to run faster
Building the muscles in your upper body boosts your potential to hold more glycogen for longer. It’s glycogen depletion that leaves you ‘running on empty’, so this is a way to upgrade to a bigger fuel tank
The abdominal and back muscles play an important role in stabilizing your upper body. A weak core leads to compensatory movements, thus decreasing your forward propulsion
Well-developed abs and back muscles help protect your spine from the impact of running. Therefore, a strong core is essential for minimizing the risk of injury
You may have noticed that during our weekly strength and conditioning sessions we include 3 sections: upper body, lower body and core strengthening exercises. The sessions change every week and they are deliberately designed to get progressively harder over the course of the programme. If you haven’t done much strength training before, it may not come naturally but stick with it. Although it is a small part of the programme, strength training (including the upper body) shouldn’t be neglected and it won’t be long before you notice the difference and the benefits it has on your running!