I’m a relative noob when it comes to strength training. I realised a little too late on in marathon training quite how weak I was, and so now I’ve decided to implement a strength-training routine into my everyday life. For me, the approach that’s always worked best for me is gently gently – little and often. And so this is the routine I do, every day before bed, 6 days a week:
1. Planking: A simple rule- every day I try to hold my plank for longer than the day before, whether that’s by a second or half a minute. I’m up to 2 minutes 35!
2. Glute bridges: A vital part of avoiding more back, calf, hamstring and foot issues, according to my very lovely physiotherapist. I also do these before each run to get my glutes to ‘fire up’.
3. Push ups: I have so little upper body strength it’s embarrassing. However I’m now at 10 ‘baby’ pushups, and I can even do a few ‘proper’ ones now.
4. Tricep dips: Even smaller than my biceps are my triceps. We’re getting there.
5. Lunges: I’m still not 100% sure why lunges are good for runners, but everyone tells me they are, so I’m doing them.
Whilst this is only a small adjustment to my daily routine, I’m noticing a remarkable distance in both my running dynamism, which is reflected in faster pace times. A win all round!
What’s your favourite strength and conditioning move?
Lots of love,
Pippa
Pip in Motion 
A running coach told me to do very controlled lunges, such that they mimic proper running form. It strengthens your glutes and creates muscle memory to keep you steady and your movement evenly distributed when you run…or something along those lines 😛
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I love that planking was number one on your list! — Every runner that comes into my clinic gets assigned these exercises at some point in their training / rehab. Great picks!
https://runningvibesblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/02/injury-free/
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Bridges every day! The single most effective thing I’ve found for glutes and hamstrings although the stretch where you cross one leg over the other and pull both in (sure there is some technical name!) is great post-run too. The great thing about strength training is the quick results so you’ll see a difference soon!!
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Yep, lunges are good, though go easy on them if you’re older than, say, 20 😉
They can be hard on the knees.
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Looks like you have a pretty perfect routine there! I did one very similar to this yesterday except I also did single-leg bridge lift, side plank twists and courtesy lunges. Try the courtesy lunges! It targets a different groups of glute muscles! Keep up the solid work. Marathon training will most def put us in our places 😉
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