What follows are some of his thoughts on why it is necessary. Not surprisingly, Cerutty rejects the current type of weight work that is done by most distance runners.
Later posts will show the specific lifts and strength training he recommends.
To begin, so why weight training for distance runners?
"Good running starts in the upper body and is then transferred to the legs. Strength is the main factor that will enable a person to reach his potential.
Great strength, properly acquired, makes for quicker reflexes, greater agility, longer stride, more endurance(since great strength can be parcelled out in a short terrific effort--or a longer easier one)."
Cerutty believed in an 'intensive' system of weight training which is contrary to the accepted,more repetitions, lighter weights system advocated these days.
Heavy weights, few reps is what he believed in.
The reason?
"The intensive system is known to alter the nature of the muscle fibre--and to strengthen it--rather than get added strength by increased size of muscle."
To close, Cerutty wrote this:
"The whole purpose of weight conditioning, as any form of conditioning, such as running the sand hill, is to acquire enhanced 'power' in order that we can do a thing more powerfully, faster, better."
Makes sense to me.
Intensive strength training helped my transition from cycling to running that I started in Fall 2013 at age 63. Not that running was totally new for me but hadn’t done much since 2003. From 2001 to 2013 I did about 145,000 miles on the bike and it was not easy to re-find my running legs.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine it wasn't easy! You are proof that weight training most definitely can be a huge benefit to runners. Weight training for running, as you probably know, was once thought to be unnecessary. I think this belief is less so these days.
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