30 Sep The One Vital Thing Most Runners are Missing

By: Dr. Ian Carroll 

When treating runners here at Body One Physical Therapy, we find a common theme that can both lead to injury and affect performance. Many runners focus only on running, and aren’t including strength training in their fitness program! If you’re like many runners and love running – but don’t regularly perform strength training – here are three great reasons to start:

• Strength training can help improve your running economy: Studies have shown that a combination of strength and plyometric exercises can help improve your body’s VO2 max, or the ability to use oxygen while exercising. Other benefits include improving your body’s neuromuscular properties, or your muscles’ ability to fire during higher-level activity. By improving strength, your body can be more efficient with movement and allow you to run farther – and better.

• Strength training can help reduce injury. Many running injuries are associated with overuse. By adding strength training days into your program, this can improve your body’s ability to accommodate to increased load through your joints, therefore decreasing chance of injury. Strength training can also be used to target specific muscle weakness that can improve running mechanics.

• Strength training can help improve speed. Performing strength training can increase your muscles’ power, or ability to produce force quickly. More power in your running stride leads to quicker running speeds!

If you’re a runner and would like to learn more about how strength training could be beneficial to you, reach out to any of our Body One locations and schedule a running assessment where a trained physical therapist will analyze your running mechanics and identify areas of improvement, while tailoring a specific-to-you plan for maximizing your running potential.

Body One has three convenient north-Indy locations: Fishers, North Meridian, and Zionsville. We provide one-on-one, expert Physical Therapy and a variety of Wellness Services, including Strength Training,  Free Running Screenings and the Running Performance Program. Contact us today to see how we can help you run better and live better!