Running track takes a toll on your leg muscles; increasing the strength of your legs will help you run better. Although you could go to a gym and perform strenuous lower body workouts to pack on the leg muscle, a runner's legs aren't meant to be the size of tree trunks. Strength training exercises performed while running is the best way to improve your running.
Instructions
1. Run up hills. If working out at a gym, put the treadmill on a steep incline or find an intimidating hill in your neighborhood. Run hills 1 to 2 times a week. Start slow and ease yourself into it. Run up the hill once (or run .25 miles on the treadmill) and as it becomes easier run up twice or three times. Running hills strengthens your leg muscles and makes running flat courses much easier.
2. Train with intervals of extreme intensity. Run for a specific set of time such as 20 minutes, broken into 4 segments of increasing intensity. Each 1st minute would be a very light jog, every 5th minute would be a full-on sprint. Not only is this great for overall fitness, but interval training improves your muscles recovery time and increases your leg strength, steadily improving your speed. Do this 2 times a week.
3. Run with ankle weights. Running with the weights, as with weight training in a gym, increases the strength and muscle of your legs. Use the ankle weights on medium distance runs of 3 to 6 miles, 2 to 3 times a week.
4. Combine elements. Run up a hill with ankle weights on as your body becomes accustomed to the various strengthening efforts for ever-increasing muscle growth. Wear the ankle weights while running intervals. Try running intervals along a hilly course.
Tags: ankle weights, times week, your muscles, minute would, running intervals