Offseason Racing as Conditioning

Chris Lawson P.T., D.P.T.

Fit For Life Physical Therapy

Good job on finishing your goal race!  You have put in a lot of time and effort whether you were training for a marathon, half marathon 10k, or 5k.  Now what?  Have you been dealing with nagging pains, or has strength training taken the back burner?  The off season is a great time to take a step back and focus on the big picture.  Incorporating strength training into your routine is a great way to become a more durable runner and decrease the risk of injury.

For strength exercises, it is important to find a resistance that is challenging.  If you are new to strength training, 3 sets of 10 reps is a good number to aim for.  You should get fatigued and barely be able to complete the last few reps.

Some of the most important areas to strengthen as a runner include the hips and ankles.  These areas provide lower body stability as you run.  An important hip muscle to strengthen is the gluteus medius.  During the gait cycle, this muscle helps prevent the opposite hip from dropping and the knee from collapsing inwards.  

• Sidelying straight leg raises are a great way to strengthen the gluteus medius
• Side steps with a band are another great way to target this muscle

The ankle stabilizers are just as important as the hips for providing stability.  A muscle that helps control pronation and provide stability is the tibialis posterior.  

• A great exercise to strengthen this muscle is a heel raise with the addition of squeezing a ball between the heels.
• One of our favorites, steamboats with a resistance band, are also a terrific way to stabilize using the ankle muscles.  
• Lastly, do not forget to strengthen the calves.  Eccentric heel raises where you raise with two feet and lower with one foot, are one of the best ways to do this. 

Lastly, don’t forget to strengthen the calves.  Eccentric heel raises where you raise with two feet and lower with one foot, are one of the best ways to do this. 

These exercises and more can be found in the Fit For Life Physical Therapy Runners & Walkers 10 ( The Runners and Walkers 10). 

One often overlooked way to improve overall lower body strength, stability, and mobility is to perform squats or deadlifts.  When performed properly, these exercises are great for runners to build an important foundation of strength that can help reduce the risk of injury.  If you are new to these exercises, a safe way to start would be to start with the MIT strength program, at Fit For Life Physical Therapy, or with a personal trainer.  They will be able to help guide with technique, progressions, and safety.  If you don’t have access to a gym, you can try using dumbbells and performing single leg squats or lunges.

The off season is also a great time to have fun with lower pressure races.  Try mixing it up with shorter distances or a trail race.  These races can help break up the off-season, give you something to look forward to, and keep the legs feeling fast.  There are many races in Columbus to choose from.  

Fit For Life Physical Therapy cares for people of all activity levels - to help prevent, recover from, or rehabilitate sports & orthopedic injuries.  We are proud to move people every day.

Please visit our website https://www.fitforlifephysicaltherapy.com/, email us at info@fitforlifephysicaltherapy.com, or call or text us at any of the phone numbers for our three convenient locations inside Fleet Feet/FrontRunner stores:

Polaris:  1270 East Powell Road Lewis Center, Ohio 43035 ~ 614-981-2065

Upper Arlington:  1344 West Lane Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43221 ~ 614-981-1979

New Albany:  5792 North Hamilton Road, Columbus, Ohio 43230 ~ 614-581-7441