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Hit the Gym!

Friday, 18 November 2016 23:10

By Shawn Gerber (breakingmuscle.com)

“I don’t need the gym. I’m already running 5-6 days per week. That’s plenty!”

Have you ever said something like this? As an endurance athlete, it is easy to buy into the idea that you can just run, bike, or whatever-it-is-you-do all the time, and call it good enough. After all, that is what you are training for, right?

Not exactly. ...

This one-dimensional perspective on fitness is a myth that can set you up for injury, limit your performance, and keep you from aging as well as you possibly can. Adding strength training to your regimen will benefit your future as an athlete and your overall health. Let’s dive into a few of the reasons why, then tackle the sticky details of how to actually make it a part of your already-established routine.

Strength Training and Injury Prevention

Endurance sports are well-loved, and with good reason. They are a great way to stay active, spend time with friends, and burn gobs of calories. But they are not without some negatives. Injury rates, especially for runners, are quite high. Some estimates place the yearly rate at somewhere between 37 to 56%.1 That’s sky high!