Strength & Agility Routine

When I began my training cycle for Grandma's Marathon in early 2018, I asked my coach for a strength training workout to best supplement my running.  I'd been going to a bootcamp class that I enjoyed for over 3 years (a major strength training record for me - and I wrote about it here), but as my mileage was increasing and my weekly training structure was changing, I was finding it increasingly difficult to get the classes in, both logistically and physically.  I'd also been reading more about how bootcamp/HIIT classes don't optimize strength training for endurance athletes, and that lifting on easy running days like I was doing wasn't ideal because it makes them into harder days instead of a recovery days.  My coach confirmed that I should lift on hard running days, which was initially intimidating, but I decided to give it a shot.

While I liked the bootcamp class and at first really missed having a scheduled class time and other people to lift with, once I got used to lifting on my own on my hard running days, I grew to like it and believe it's made me stronger.  Now that I am running more mileage, recovery is really important on easy days.  Sometimes it's tricky to get the strength work in, since the entire workout takes about an hour to get through, but I've found some good systems with how I can split it up and ensure that I get through the exercises twice a week.  

Usually I do the full workout all at once on Saturdays, either immediately following my long run or later in the day.  This was really challenging when I first started it, but soon it became normal/not a big deal.  I think when I do it right after my long run I get endurance benefits, and if I do it later in the day I also get recovery benefits (due to increased blood flow).  On Wednesdays I always have to split it up somehow; the best case scenario is that I do about half of it after my morning hard workout and the other half after my second run, but I also have days where I run before work and at lunch, then strength train after work, effectively making it a third workout.  I don't necessarily recommend this though (keep in mind I am also working 8-9 hours on Wednesdays, and often picking up Albani from after school care and driving her to Awana).  Sometimes I complete part of it on Tuesdays to "get ahead" and other times I have to carry part of it over to Thursdays, and sometimes both.  When I do any of these I make sure it's the arm, core, and/or agility stuff that I move, so that my leg strength work is all done on workout Wednesday.  I am guilty of rushing through the routine to get it done sometimes (especially if I'm hungry for a full meal after my run!), but even then I assume something is better than nothing.

Here are the exercises that I do!  I mix up weights, reps, and hold times for variation.

Glutes and core:

Front plank & variations

Side plank & variations

Diagonal sit

Running man
Glute bridges with foam roller roll out

Crunches

Bird dogs

Dead bug

Theraband:

Side shuffles

Monster walks

Standing side kicks

Clamshells

Lower Body

Weighted squats & variations

Lunge variations (I alternate weighted and body weight on different days)

Eccentric calf raises

Weighted step ups

Hip dips
Weighted dead lifts
Wall sits

Upper Body

Rows

Push ups

Curls

Tricep dips

Lat pulls

Agility Ladder:

One step

Two step

Iggy shuffle

Single leg suffle

River dance

Scissors

Centipedes

Karaoke

Cross overs

*You can find videos of all of these on YouTube; I had to watch and practice multiple times when I began this routine because I'd never done anything like this before.

I really struggled to get a good action shot for this post using
my phone's timer, then I gave up...this shows glute bridges
on the foam roller

Although I'm used to this strength routine, if I go even a little overboard on the weighed moves (especially squats, deadlifts, and lunges), I can make myself quite sore.  It always blows my mind how I can get more sore from 5 minutes of squats than from running a marathon!