3 Reasons Why Runners Should be Cross Training

2 mins to read

Shake up your running routine and improve your performance- Andrew Cate tells us why runners should be cross training.

Energy & exercise

1. Cross training can keep you motivated

No matter how motivated you are to train hard and improve your running time, if you do the same workout over and over again, the chances are that you will get bored.

Cross training incorporates a broad variety of activities and training methods to develop a wide base of fitness. For example, instead of running five days a week, you could run three days a week, swim one day and cycle one day. Both these activities have zero impact, but rhythmically exercise the legs in a different way. This type of variety helps to prevent monotony, keeping your body and mind fresh so you can stick with your program.

Cross training can also give you flexibility. For example, if it’s a wet and miserable day, you could always substitute a workout at the gym instead of going for a run.

An additional source of motivation is the opportunity for social interaction. You can still improve your fitness with a game of soccer or basketball, yet it gives you the chance to mix with other people and involve your family and friends in your training routine.

2. Cross training reduces your risk of injury

One significant advantage of cross training is its ability to prevent burnout and overuse injuries while still maintaining fitness. Repeated running can lead to overtraining because of impact stress, poor technique, muscular imbalances and a lack of recovery time between training sessions. By performing different cross training activities, your body gets a break from the normal impact of running by participating in a different sport or activity.

Cross training distributes the stress of exercise more evenly, and rotates the load on your muscles, tendons, bones, joints and ligaments. Cross training can also improve your recovery from muscle soreness or injury. It allows you to perform an activity that puts a minimum amount of stress on the parts of your body that need rest, while putting a moderate amount of stress on other body parts that are not fatigued. For example, paddling or rowing between running workouts will target your upper body and still maintain or boost your cardiovascular fitness while giving your lower body the chance to recover.

What’s more, cross training is an ideal strategy to use when you are tapering off from high levels of training.

3. Cross training won't impair your running performance

A study reported in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise compared two groups of male runners. Both groups completed their usual running training, however, one group added 3 extra running sessions a week, while a second group added 3 extra workouts on a stationary bike. The researchers found that after 6 weeks, both groups showed similar improvement in their performance during a 5 kilometer time trial.

An additional study, this time on female runners, examined whether substituting 50% of running training with cycling would maintain 3000m race time and cardiovascular fitness. As reported in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, it was found that there were no significant differences in VO2max (a measure of cardiovascular fitness) or 3000m race time after 5 weeks of cross training.

Both these studies show that men and women runners can successfully incorporate cross training into their schedule without any negative impact on running performance. This also allows runners to take advantage of the recuperative and motivational benefits of cross training.