If you're a recreational runner and are looking to improve your speed, pick up some weights.According to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, female runners who strength-trained improved their 3k run times by 29 seconds compared to those who did not use weight training.
Both groups took part in identical 100-week endurance running programs, but the strength-training group supplemented their running with 3 one-hour workouts per week in the weight room.
The exercises included squats, calf raises, hip flexion/extensions, hamstring curls, seated rows and bench press. They performed three sets of five repetitions of each exercises and weights were increased when the subjects were able to perform six repetitions of an exercise.
The group that did not do any strength training was able to improve their times by an average of 77 seconds after 10 weeks, while the group that supplemented with workouts subtracted 106 seconds from their times.
This by no means means that you should trade in your running shoes for free weights but it definitely suggests that supplementing with weights is, as Martha Stewart would say, "a good thing!"
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