Is strength training important for a 5K

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Caters
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Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by Caters »

I know that strength training is as important for a marathon as running but is strength training important for running a 5K? I have seen a lot of plans out there and some just involve running, walking, and rest days, whereas others involve 30-40 minutes of strength training in between runs(and this is just when looking at 5K plans). I am having difficulty choosing a 5K training plan but I know that I want to run a 5K and not just walk a 5K. If momma goes into the race as well when I am trained, she can just walk the 5K if she wants to or maybe alternate between running and walking, but I doubt that she is going to push herself to run a 5K with 0 training. This 5K training is why momma got me a treadmill. I was thinking that if I use the treadmill, I could regularly turn around on a positive incline to train for hills up to the maximum incline of the treadmill(which I think is 30 degrees)(when I face away from the buttons, I would basically be simulating running downhill and when I am facing towards the buttons, I would be simulating running uphill).

So I could start by doing interval training in place until I can run for 30 minutes. Then I can use the treadmill to train for hills. Then I will be trained for distance and incline. But do I have to do strength training or could I get by with just running?
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Boss Man
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Re: Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by Boss Man »

I personally would heed caution about using a treadmill the other way round to simulate running down declined gradients, as you run the risk of elevated injury concern, because if you were to potentially have an accident, you can't hold onto a safety bar and you would be facing away from the console, where it would be less easy to use the emergency shutoff, if you felt you were literally seconds away from losing your balance through fatigue, or not being able to sustain a certain pace or running cadence, for as long as you thought you might be able to.

As for weight training it is not vital for running disciplines, but it could still benefit you in the long-term when you were old, because having the added strength might mean the difference between being 80 and independent, or 80 and being in care, so look at it as something potentially beneficial for the long term and not for just doing 5k races.

As long as technique is implemented correctly all the time and the weight is not overloaded then you should be fine.

Just avoid things that promote risk, like side planks where you rest on the palm of your hand not the forearm and things like wrist curls and exercises that could harm the rotator cuff, like behind the neck press for example where you lower and raise cables or barbells behind your neck.
Caters
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Re: Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by Caters »

But the negative incline setting for most treadmills only goes to 3-5 degrees down compared to the positive incline of up to 30 degrees. Most hills have the same or similar magnitude of slope when comparing uphill to downhill so if I were to use the treadmill at a positive incline of 30 degrees(this would of course be after some time acclimating to increased incline) to train for hills with a grade of up to 30 degrees, wouldn't it be better to also train for going downhill at 30 degrees? And if I were to find a track with lots of hills, how would I know the grade of those hills? I don't think there are any treadmills that have a negative incline setting that can be at the same magnitude as the positive incline setting. So turning around to face away from the buttons on a positive incline of 30 degrees is the closest that I could get to a negative incline of 30 degrees without having to search for tracks of which the grade of the hills is known to be 30 degrees.
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Re: Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by Boss Man »

I can accept what you're saying certainly, only concern is not that it wouldn't be an effective way to train, more so that without the ability to hold on to a safety bar underneath the monitor or to be able to hit the emergency stop button as easily, you would be increasing risk of an accident a bit, especially if you fatigued more quickly then you thought.

If you fatigued more quickly then you thought on an actual road with a downward slope you could try and force your muscles to stop or slow down, but on a treadmill you couldn't just stop or slowdown without access to the emergency stop or the speed buttons, which would be facing away from you, so if you suddenly felt like you wee becoming too leggy and at risk of falling off, it would be hard to turn around and reach for the relevant controls needed to adjust the machine.

I maybe should have clarified initially stance on the effectiveness of running down a treadmill incline, rather than just highlighting the possible increased safety risk, so that was a minor oversight on part.

I don't think what you're proposing is a bad way to do cardio in relation to effectiveness, just that it might promote a slight increased risk of an accident and one or more possible injuries, relating to fatigue and / or a mistake in running technique or style.
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tylerr
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Re: Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by tylerr »

Anything beyond 800 meters utilizes the aerobic systems alot more than the anaerobic systems, any strength work will improve your anaerobic capacity which isn't useful until the last 50 or so meters in a distance event when you go all out. Additionally, strength training will improve your force production, but again peak force can only be maintained for several seconds before sharply declining.
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Re: Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by andywest »

If declines are a concern Caters have you tried wall sits? friend had a ton of trouble with declines in the past, with a lot of weakness around the knees. She commit to 15 minutes of wall sits daily and it sorted her out in about a month.

You don't need to lift weights to build the strength needed for a 5K
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Re: Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by ChristinaV »

Hi everyone! I am also running mostly 5 to maximum 10k 2-3 times per week but lately I ve been facing knee pains. Do you think that strengthening exercises might help? Also do you have any suggestions for good running shoes? I have heard that Asics are the best ones and I am thinking of the Gel Nimbus ones as their price is reasonable as well.
https://www.scrooge.co.uk/s/1221140/Asi ... 2-100.html

What do you think? Keep in mind I am running on the treadmill and not outdoors.

Thank you in advance :D
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Boss Man
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Re: Is strength training important for a 5K

Post by Boss Man »

The knee pains could be Chondromalacia patellae, which is softening or degredation of the cartilage that can be linked to excessive exercise.

You can strengthen the surrounding areas, with lunge and squat variations and the Ascis would be a decent choice, but you might be wise to stay off the running for 5-7 days and see if that helps the pains lessen, before you start running again.
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