Wonderful to see more runners having this insight. I specialise in strength coaching for endurance athletes and typically it takes about three months for someone new to heavier lifting to build up to using the level of resistance that'll really see benefits down the line. Pretty much everyone will gain a benefit from strength training although I do still frustrated that there are a lot of overcomplicated programs drifiting around and confusing people. One thing I've noticed personally as someone who has lifted weights for a decade and has been improving their running mileage over the last four years, my uphill running ability is pretty far ahead of other runners who may be statistically faster than me on the flat. This works well for me as my primary sport is fell running, but it's always been a point of interest for me that even before I built my mileage up I was well able to push past a lot of people uphill in races purely through being able to generate more effective power through my legs and use my glutes much more effectively.
I recently went through physio for a running related injury (achilles tendinopathy). At the start I was similar to you, confident I'd score well in the tests but ended up getting embarrassingly low scores. After just 3 months of a pretty straightforward s&c program I ended up scoring well above what my physio wanted from me and have felt great since. Something I believe is that little and often is enough to maintain, but it can sometimes take more effort to reach the level you need to be. Anyway, nice work Cole, top vid!
Super interesting to see the results of those tests, especially from a great runner like yourself. I haven't been doing as much S&C as I should and this video has helped encourage me to give it more focus.
Front squats, hang power cleans, quarter barbell jump squats,box squats, Bulgarian split squats, pogos, single leg pogos, bounding, plyometrics, bench press, pull ups, circuit training, med ball throws are all things top sprinters do to get stronger and faster, Joe Ferguson has a great youtube channel
Great video and I'd like to say that this experience would resonate more so with a Masters runner who sits in a car and meetings for long periods of the day.
Great video Cole and glad to hear you’re implementing a plan to deal with the findings! I can’t emphasise enough how much of a waste of time low weight/high rep exercises are if you’re looking to gain strength as a runner: Besides the obvious, they create unnecessary fatigue that can impact your training. Some great suggestions for functional strength and power exercises in the other comments.
Important video this, Cole. I wish I had realised in my 20's the importance of building leg strength and muscle power whilst there was lots of natural testosterone around to help! Only realised in my 40's what I had missed and it was too late. I too lacked the kick at the end of races and power on hilly courses. Now at 65 working with the muscle fibres that are still going! Do the heavy lifting and you will see the benefits. Good luck!
An interesting perspective. Let me put the counter view. Physical performance depends upon four key things. 1. The ability of the cardiovascular system to deliver oxygen to the muscles. Fact, muscles can take much more oxygen than can ever be delivered, so the CV system is a limiting factor 2. The ability of the muscles to buffer hydrogen ions at higher intensities. Hence, speed endurance work helps to improve this system to delay the onset of fatigue at higher intensities 3. Muscle fibre type, the percentage of fibre type distribution and hence contractile forces 4. Neural response. Linked to point 3, but this can be improved with ‘quick feet’ work. Example, the sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, weighs 50 kg, is 1.52m (so tiny), but has incredible leg speed and turnover, hence runs very fast. The point about specific strength training ? Is it waste of time as a performance improver ? I would say yes. For example, running up a 6% gradient hill for 200 m for a 65 kg athlete will generate around 180 kg of resistance load, each leg pushing against this force with each stride (working against gravity) - pretty good strength training in my book !
Thanks for this, it’s a very interesting topic. I don’t know enough about running economy / power etc, but my take would be that sha’carri only needs to propel her bodyweight on the flat for 200m max, whereas my legs need to be able to support my body weight for a 5-21km race depending on the distance? I’ll definitely research more into it!
Be interested to know what a typical week would look like knowing you will be putting in some heavy training. Definitely thinking about the same approach, heavy deadlifts, squats, lunges and calf raises and plyometrics.
I use to be a cross country ,track runner and became a triathlete than now I do calisthenic body weight training . I miss being a runner now I’m 27 years old keep getting injured from running
Super insightful video, I’d love to try the tests to see how I fair! On an anecdotal note, I’d really really recommend implementing some heavy strength training. Squats, deadlifts, bench press. BIG compound lifts 2 to 3 times a week. Stay away from high reps and trendy ‘runner specific’ strength exercises. I used to think if I built muscle and gained weight that it would hurt my running. Not true. 2021 I was 130lb and had a 47 min 10K. 2024, I’m 155lbs, same body fat and have 37 min 10K, 1:20 half and 2:54 marathon. Nowhere near as fast as yourself, but it’s clear that it’s possible to get faster and stronger at the same time! Think you’re onto a winner with this one, maybe throw in some bicep curls as well (studies show biceps win races 👀🤣)
They’re imbedded into the app, it’s a company called VALD. It’s a subscription for sports therapy clinics so I don’t think you’ll be able to access them :(
Do you think Kipchoge has a great vertical leap? Because I doubt it. The idea that having more strength and power allows you to run more easily at slower paces makes sense in theory, but in practice we really don’t see that. The shorter the distance the more need for strength and power, but that doesn’t mean that a sprinter or a 1500m guy have greater potential to run a fast marathon than a 10k or a marathon runner. Speed, strength and power don’t always translate to more endurance, specially at the extremes. In fact is quite the opposite. A faster runner is usually a less resistant runner.
Thrusters are a good powerful exercise and also don't forget the basics like squat jumps, lunge jumps and skipping is something more runners should be doing. I know Crossfit has its critics but it sounds exactly the type of place you need to be trying. Just don't join the cult. 😂 Good luck 👍
Is that a photoshop head then? 😂 I never understand why runners feel the need to keep going faster each run only ends up in injury from what ive seen on TH-cam. 20/80 is the key id say
Wonderful to see more runners having this insight. I specialise in strength coaching for endurance athletes and typically it takes about three months for someone new to heavier lifting to build up to using the level of resistance that'll really see benefits down the line. Pretty much everyone will gain a benefit from strength training although I do still frustrated that there are a lot of overcomplicated programs drifiting around and confusing people.
One thing I've noticed personally as someone who has lifted weights for a decade and has been improving their running mileage over the last four years, my uphill running ability is pretty far ahead of other runners who may be statistically faster than me on the flat. This works well for me as my primary sport is fell running, but it's always been a point of interest for me that even before I built my mileage up I was well able to push past a lot of people uphill in races purely through being able to generate more effective power through my legs and use my glutes much more effectively.
Every runner has those easy wins we either don't know about or try to ignore. Good luck with the strength work 💪
Thanks Steven! 😄
I recently went through physio for a running related injury (achilles tendinopathy). At the start I was similar to you, confident I'd score well in the tests but ended up getting embarrassingly low scores. After just 3 months of a pretty straightforward s&c program I ended up scoring well above what my physio wanted from me and have felt great since. Something I believe is that little and often is enough to maintain, but it can sometimes take more effort to reach the level you need to be. Anyway, nice work Cole, top vid!
Spot on. My aim is to get quite a bit stronger over the winter! Thanks mate!
Super interesting to see the results of those tests, especially from a great runner like yourself. I haven't been doing as much S&C as I should and this video has helped encourage me to give it more focus.
Great to hear buddy, I think i need to emphasise more on the S part of S&C at the moment!
Front squats, hang power cleans, quarter barbell jump squats,box squats, Bulgarian split squats, pogos, single leg pogos, bounding, plyometrics, bench press, pull ups, circuit training, med ball throws are all things top sprinters do to get stronger and faster, Joe Ferguson has a great youtube channel
Thanks for the recommendation!
@@ColeRunning
Garage strength is another good channel, he trains Olympic athletes and nfl players
Great video and I'd like to say that this experience would resonate more so with a Masters runner who sits in a car and meetings for long periods of the day.
Definitely more important the older you get I reckon!
Great video Cole and glad to hear you’re implementing a plan to deal with the findings! I can’t emphasise enough how much of a waste of time low weight/high rep exercises are if you’re looking to gain strength as a runner: Besides the obvious, they create unnecessary fatigue that can impact your training. Some great suggestions for functional strength and power exercises in the other comments.
Important video this, Cole. I wish I had realised in my 20's the importance of building leg strength and muscle power whilst there was lots of natural testosterone around to help! Only realised in my 40's what I had missed and it was too late. I too lacked the kick at the end of races and power on hilly courses. Now at 65 working with the muscle fibres that are still going! Do the heavy lifting and you will see the benefits. Good luck!
An interesting perspective. Let me put the counter view.
Physical performance depends upon four key things.
1. The ability of the cardiovascular system to deliver oxygen to the muscles. Fact, muscles can take much more oxygen than can ever be delivered, so the CV system is a limiting factor
2. The ability of the muscles to buffer hydrogen ions at higher intensities. Hence, speed endurance work helps to improve this system to delay the onset of fatigue at higher intensities
3. Muscle fibre type, the percentage of fibre type distribution and hence contractile forces
4. Neural response. Linked to point 3, but this can be improved with ‘quick feet’ work. Example, the sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, weighs 50 kg, is 1.52m (so tiny), but has incredible leg speed and turnover, hence runs very fast.
The point about specific strength training ? Is it waste of time as a performance improver ? I would say yes.
For example, running up a 6% gradient hill for 200 m for a 65 kg athlete will generate around 180 kg of resistance load, each leg pushing against this force with each stride (working against gravity) - pretty good strength training in my book !
Thanks for this, it’s a very interesting topic. I don’t know enough about running economy / power etc, but my take would be that sha’carri only needs to propel her bodyweight on the flat for 200m max, whereas my legs need to be able to support my body weight for a 5-21km race depending on the distance? I’ll definitely research more into it!
Strength training is a waste of time?! Now I've heard everything....I guess every olympic athlete is an idiot then. Absolute rubbish
@papatunde6136 that isn’t what I said at all 😂 I said I’ve been lifting too light in the gym… ?
@ColeRunning it was a reply to the guys comment that hill running was all you needed!
@@papatunde6136 ahhh gotcha! My bad! Hills do work wonders tho!
One word: Overload!!
Be interested to know what a typical week would look like knowing you will be putting in some heavy training. Definitely thinking about the same approach, heavy deadlifts, squats, lunges and calf raises and plyometrics.
I imagine the 5x5 program might work well for runners. Twice per week and all compound strength.
I haven’t heard of that, I’ll look into it 👊🏻
3x5 probably better for runners if they’re doing it twice a week. Powerlifters who follow 5x5 just do that for the whole day. Runners have to run also
I use to be a cross country ,track runner and became a triathlete than now I do calisthenic body weight training . I miss being a runner now I’m 27 years old keep getting injured from running
thanks for sharing mate, have you ever had your biomechanics analysed to see why you keep getting injured from running? :)
Thanks for sharing! Well done.
I would love to see your final gym routine, once you have it fully developed.
I’ll make a video for sure!
Super insightful video, I’d love to try the tests to see how I fair! On an anecdotal note, I’d really really recommend implementing some heavy strength training. Squats, deadlifts, bench press. BIG compound lifts 2 to 3 times a week. Stay away from high reps and trendy ‘runner specific’ strength exercises.
I used to think if I built muscle and gained weight that it would hurt my running. Not true. 2021 I was 130lb and had a 47 min 10K. 2024, I’m 155lbs, same body fat and have 37 min 10K, 1:20 half and 2:54 marathon. Nowhere near as fast as yourself, but it’s clear that it’s possible to get faster and stronger at the same time! Think you’re onto a winner with this one, maybe throw in some bicep curls as well (studies show biceps win races 👀🤣)
Very interesting! I’ve always fixated on weight, cool to know!
Could you leave a link to where you’ve got the normative data values from possibly? Cheers
They’re imbedded into the app, it’s a company called VALD. It’s a subscription for sports therapy clinics so I don’t think you’ll be able to access them :(
yes i totally agree
Hey Cole!
Sorry for calling you Ben today in the queue! 🤦🏼
Keep up the great work and best of luck Sunday! ☘️
Hahaha no worries buddy
Do you think Kipchoge has a great vertical leap? Because I doubt it. The idea that having more strength and power allows you to run more easily at slower paces makes sense in theory, but in practice we really don’t see that. The shorter the distance the more need for strength and power, but that doesn’t mean that a sprinter or a 1500m guy have greater potential to run a fast marathon than a 10k or a marathon runner. Speed, strength and power don’t always translate to more endurance, specially at the extremes. In fact is quite the opposite. A faster runner is usually a less resistant runner.
It's as simple as understanding the two types of muscles. Slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers both have different functions
Yeah, I never train my hand grip either. 🤥 💪😳
Powercleans would really help with these. But what do I know
Would short hill sprints also help ?
Yes I reckon so!
Is there any special name for the tests that you did? Would potentially make it easier for way a place that does these.
Just some athletic performance testing using a VALD force deck :)
Diet comes into it even more if incorporating strength training. Without more calories & specifically protein would be a waste of time.
For sure, I agree
wats ur 1rpm deadlift/squat?
Not a clue, I’d imagine max squat would be around 100kg but idk
@@ColeRunning 100k is pretty solid tbh. update on us wen if u do try out 1rpm's
Thrusters are a good powerful exercise and also don't forget the basics like squat jumps, lunge jumps and skipping is something more runners should be doing.
I know Crossfit has its critics but it sounds exactly the type of place you need to be trying. Just don't join the cult. 😂
Good luck 👍
Ooo thanks kev, I’ll give those a try!
You need the complete opposite from what you have been doing as heavy as you can manage for a max of 6-8 reps.
Exactly!
Girls like muscle
Were your legs fresh? I suspect that if you hadn't worked your legs for 2-3 days your results would be dramatically different.
Relatively fresh!
Great video content Cole. Will you consider doing gym 🏋️♂️ sessions. 👏💪
Yes I will for sure
Read the triphasic book by cal dietz. Its a game changer
Oooo interesting, thanks mate
I clicked just to say you kinda remind me of Colin Farrell
Appreciate that thanks 😂
@@ColeRunning You're good, baby. I'll give you that. But me? I'm magic.
dont kid yourself about your squeeze grip strength lad
🤐
😂
Is that a photoshop head then? 😂 I never understand why runners feel the need to keep going faster each run only ends up in injury from what ive seen on TH-cam. 20/80 is the key id say
Nice thumbnail, you are super duper mentally strong either way
Appreciate that bro