I am regularly asked this question. “I’m a runner so I don’t need to lift weights” …“I don’t lift weights because I don’t want to be bulky”... “I’m too old to lift weights”. Nonsense, let’s cut to the chase here. Whether you are a young person, an old person, a sprint athlete, an endurance athlete, a man or a woman your body, your sport, your health and your life will be improved by lifting, pushing, pulling and throwing heavy things. That’s it, as simple as that.

I am regularly asked this question.  “I’m a runner so I don’t need to lift weights” …“I don’t lift weights because I don’t want to be bulky”... “I’m too old to lift weights”. Nonsense, let’s cut to the chase here. Whether you are a young person, an old person, a sprint athlete, an endurance athlete, a man or a woman your body, your sport, your health and your life will be improved by lifting, pushing, pulling and throwing heavy things. That’s it, as simple as that.

But we’re not talking here about the people in the gym that look in the mirror as they repeatedly lift fairly heavy weights. If that is your thing (body building or body sculpting) then that’s great but believe it or not, that isn’t strength training, it’s hypertrophy or muscle building.

Proper strength training is something that everybody and I do mean everybody should be doing at least once a week. Why??

Well as we age we start to lose muscle mass (sarcopenia) and bone density (osteopenia and then osteoporosis). At age 25 our muscles are at their strongest and remain so for between 10-15 years. Most people will also reach their peak bone mass between the ages of 25 and 30. By the time we reach 40 we slowly begin to lose muscle and bone mass. Women start losing bone at an earlier age and a faster rate than men and in fact at age 50 women have four times as great a risk of osteoporosis as men.

Strength training not only maintains and even improves our muscle mass and bone density but it also has a carry over affect in improving our posture. This better, more upright walking position in turn helps reduce our chances of falling forwards, but even if you do stumble you are much more likely to react quickly and prevent a fall because your muscles can withstand a greater stress being placed on them such as the sudden movement forward of your leg to prevent a fall.

If nothing else, remember this ‘the stronger you are the more stress your body can handle and the easier daily tasks become’.

Next month we will take a close look at the specific benefits of strength training for runners.