Don’t deny your strength via running for miles and doing no strength training. You are not the only one who prioritizes quantity over quality, but I must admit that I’m one of them. We, the runners, tend to neglect our own strength one way or another after focusing so much on mileage that we have simply put energy first and weakened that importance is the next step in our lives as athletes injury prevention. After many years of running without strength training, I decided to start adding regular strength work to my weekly routine– and the results are amazing. There is no doubt that I have made the right choice.
This is a great way to improve your running fitness. One of the training sessions which falls under the category of the 35-minute dumbbell workout for runners that I like the most is quite simple and it doesn’t take too much time out of my busy days. The workout is specifically designed to make your leg, core, and glutes strong which eventually will enable you to move while maintaining the correct posture easily especially in your long-distance runs. Moreover, the best part is that you just need a pair of dumbbells and a little floor space.
Why Runners Must Think of Strength Training as One of The Most Important Things?
If you want to take full advantage of strength work truly, you need not be focusing on a marathon PR. Whether you are engaging in 5Ks, trail runs, or just trying to be in good shape-strengthening the body slightly or more supports more correct ways a person can follow, waste less energy and enjoy fewer injuries. This workout is a superb way to lay down the basis of that support.
Most Importantly, One of the key intents achieved through this session’s appropriateness is that it concentrates on one-sided activities (unilateral movements). This is so since running is a unilateral movement, training one side of the body at a time is very beneficial in itself, as it can solve the problem of imbalances and, from the flip side, it mainly tightens the stabilizer muscles that now remain idle. That’s why I suggest these exercises to be included in your running schedule since each of them concentrates on one side of the body.
The Structure of the Workout and How the Expectations Deviate
It is a complete workout that has been divided into three principal steps: the warm-up, two strength rounds, and a fast core finisher. It takes 35 minutes to do all the activities including the warm-up, strength, and cooldown—everything is mashed into one.
The Warm-Up: Brief and Efficient
Prior to grabbing a dumbbell, the beginning of the workout suffices with a dynamic warm-up which not only awakens your glutes, hips, and hamstrings but also gets them ready for the exercises to come. It won’t take you more than a couple of minutes, but you will be sweating because the warm-up steps are really that hard. You can also run the movements ahead as a good pre-run exercise. If this is all the time you’ve got, a wake-up planette is an activity to go for before you hop on the treadmill next-time.
The Strength Section: One Side at a Time
Focus on one side is a major game-changer. You are going to perform the sets of nine exercises by doing the reps only on your right side first and then moving on to your left side in the second round. The interval of each exercise lasts for 40 seconds, which is followed by a 20-second break.
Look for these types of exercises:
- One-legged deadlifts
- One-leg extended glute bridges
- Step-up calf raises
- Front-loaded squats
- Dumbbell rows and presses
The switch to a one-sided workout approach makes it possible not only to increase your strength but also to test your motor-ability and to reveal imbalance situations that might otherwise go unnoticed on your runs. In case one of the sides is weaker or feels less stable, you can take advantage of this opportunity to correct it.
Core Finisher: Short, Smart & Spicy
When you have completed two full rounds of strength exercises, finish by completing a quick-paced core circuit. Of the entire workout, each movement is completed in 40 seconds, whereas the time for rest is only 10 seconds. Your abs are under tension and your heart rate is up tempo.
These core exercises are essential because not only do they help you tone your core but they also help you keep your running posture stable and prevent you from bending forward when extremely tired which is the case with the long-distance-run.
What You’ll Need
The essentials are a pair of dumbbells—going with the variety that can be adjusted would be better in that situation so that you could change the weight according to the movement—and a step or any other elevated object that can be used for calf raises. Let’s say you are out of town or the place is small, in that case, a weight plate or just a stack of thick books can serve to take the place of the step. Note that the workout is not supplemented with an on-screen timer; you will have to rely on audio cues or your own clock if you are more of a visual person.
Why This Workout Belongs in Your Weekly Routine
This set of dumbbell exercises for runners has all the characteristics of an ideal workout for running—it’s time-saving, it targets the lower body, especially, and is intended for the particular requirements of running. The sequence of activities runs from developing the muscles around your hip and lower leg area and the ones for the stride down to your core being worked on for balance and stability. If you do everything exactly according to the instructions, your workout will be comprehensive.
If you aim at a marathon, or you are in the process of increasing your base mileage, or you just want to be faster, then you should definitely try this 35-minute plan. I have made a point of running this routine once a week and the effect was incredibly good results and a faster recovery rate even after an extended period of hard work.
Even the most ordinary of runners can get stronger involving weights and by keeping the resolve to proceed. The only thing you are required to do is to drop the idea of merely being a runner and focus on the fitness of the runner.
