Cross-training gives runners the edge they need

Strength-training, yoga, or any low-impact cardio exercise can help endurance, reduce injury risk.

A key solution: cross-training.


If you're participating in the One-America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon or Geist Half Marathon in May, or any upcoming race, that means doing strength-training, yoga, Pilates or any low-impact cardio exercise, such as swimming or biking, along with running or walking.

The same advice goes for swimmers, bicyclists, weight-lifters and basketball players -- give your body a break from repetitive types of training.

"With cross-training, you're using your body in a different way to prevent overtraining and reduce your risk of injury," said runner and triathlete Heather Fink, coordinator of the National Institute for Fitness and Sport's half-marathon training program. "You want to make sure you are using different muscle groups."

Not enough runners and walkers, though, take cross-training seriously, she added.

What some exercisers don't realize is cross-training can make you better at your primary exercise, as well as improve your overall fitness.

A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that runners who add three days of strength-training exercises to their weekly program increase leg strength and enhance endurance. Runners with better endurance can run longer.

Not everyone, though, needs to add three days of strength-training. Most trainers say one day of cross-training -- strength-training or different types of cardio -- is the minimum and two days are better for a moderate exerciser. Advanced exercisers can handle three or four sessions, occasionally on days they run or do their primary exercise moderately.

"We highly recommend cross-training," said Ashley Johnson, co-owner of The Running Co., who helps lead its training program. "It's almost as important as getting the volume of training in."

Johnson, 48, formerly one of the world's top-10 road racers, says three runs and two cross-training sessions weekly is a good regimen for most people. "In some ways, it's better than running five or six times a week, plus adding cross-training on top of that."

By Barb Berggoetz