Does leg strenght help in long distance running?

Question

Would working out on my lower body with weights improve my ability to run long distances (2.4 miles)? YES or NO? If so,would you recommend, light weights-more reps, or heavier weights-less reps. Any other weight exercises worth doing to help the running...

And yes, I do stretch, eat right (lots of water), and practice running...

Answer 1

Yes it will help your legs will be able to provide more power and they wont hurt as easy. I would think you should do higher reps lower weight, that increases the strength and endurance in your leg muscles without making them bulky.  

Answer 2

yes leg strength will help but upper-body strength is just as important. you have to keep your arm swing going and your lungs are most important if you want to breathe. your leg muscle build up while running but make sure you stretch before and after. same with upper body but you want to do some ab workouts to get your lungs expanding. running is pretty much a fullbody experience that most people don't realize. a lower body workout can help you to an extent but that's not all you have to use.

hope i helped and best of luck!

:)

Answer 3

Don't use weights on your lower body.  They could create a muscle imbalance, which could lead to injury.  Do use weights for your upper body because runners neglect those muscles and it's your arm swing that sets the pace.

Answer 4

Well.....first of all if you're lifting weights don't only do lower body. Do lower, your core muscles, and upper body. However, the best thing to train for running long distances is running long distances, so keep that in mind. Working out with weights improves your sprinting speed a lot, so I would definately recommend it for that....but it's not essential for long distance.

I do recommend it though. It will prevent common injuries you get from running long distance by strengthening your body to more weight. I gave you a running schedule in your other question, if you follow that then the days you should lift weights would be on the normal days and the off days...and you should put at least an hour or 2 between a run and lifting weights, don't do them back to back and eat a meal in between...and stretch and get warmed up before both, especially if you're sore or something will snap.

The main things I recommend you doing are calve raises, a variety of different ab exercises, and most of your upper body(bench press would be most important). You can also do leg extensions, squats, and leg curls, but they will make it harder to run so keep that in mind too(you also work those muscles a lot running, so it's not as important to work them as the other areas I mentioned).

Do 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps on most exercises. On abs you'll have to do more reps of course, I reccomend doing weghted calve raises(10-12) and free ones(at least 50 or in the hundreds) so they will get strong AND enduring to protect against shin splints, and push ups and pull ups and things like that can be high reps too.

And in case you're wondering more flexibility will also help you run that 2.4 miles, stretch before and after everything for 20-30 seconds on each stretch and you should start to get more flexible. You'll be able to take bigger steps/strides and you will be less likely to get injuries.

Answer 5

Well, I am not a big runner but my mother and part of my family is and from what iv seen I personally think that leg workouts should not hurt any as long as you don't get so much muscle that you start to look like a body builder. And if you do decide to do some leg workouts, I would suggest light weight and more reps. But something that my family has found out is that the best exercise for running is to run with light ankle weights, maybe around 5 pounds, no more than that. This way you have to push yourself when running your normal distance and you get to work on your breathing and stamina. So when you do run without the ankle weights you will notice a difference.

Good luck!