by Katarzyna Radzka

Created on: August 20, 2009

Exercise has become a fact of life for most of us. Running is one of the best forms of exercise for weight loss, a cardiovascular workout and general well-being. With time and regular training, running times improve, exertion with each run is reduced and it's possible to run faster and harder at the same time. However, even regular amateur and professional runners should include another component into their weekly training regime.

That component is weight training. Lifting weights helps build stronger muscles. The more muscle you have, the less fat you're likely to have and the faster you're going to be able to run. But it's not enough just to do weights for your upper body. Many runners are under the impression that because they are running all the time, a lower body leg workout with weights is not going to benefit them. The benefits are there. Weight lifting for your lower body is going to help you run stronger, it will make you run faster, and it will allow you to improve you personal best on the race track or on your daily run.

Without adequate weight lifting it's difficult to build decent muscle. Running is a aerobic and fat burning workout that can actually help decrease both fat and muscle mass. Runners who weight train regularly, even just once a week, are more likely to retain their muscle mass and run better than those runners who prefer to miss or avoid weight lifting workouts.

The other benefit of weight lifting for runners is that it adds variety to the runners workout. Variety keeps things interesting and it helps prevent injury. When we continuously do the same thing over and over again, we increase the chance of landing an injury and being out on the bench for a long time. Weight lifting for your whole body keeps you in shape and challenges your body with something completely different to your every day run.

Runners may be worried that weight lifting is going to give them big and bulky legs which are going to have the opposite effect. The only way to get bulky legs is to weight train extremely heavy with many sets and few reps, take supplements for muscle gain and stop running. Weight training for runners should be about three sets for each exercise - lunges, squats, leg press - and about fifteen reps. If weight lifting on your running day, lift before running, otherwise try to fit in a weight lifting workout on one of the off days.

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