Training tools for runners

Suspension trainers — like the familiar brand TRX — are extremely versatile and functional tools for your home gym. These systems utilize your bodyweight, or a portion of your bodyweight based on how you adjust the length and angle of the straps, to offer multiple options for full body exercises in a small compact package.

You will need to be able to hang the suspension trainer from an overhead mount or doorframe. These also travel really well, too, and can be used outdoors from trees, goalposts, or even high fences!

A balance board or BOSU can be good for core and single leg balance work in order to improve proprioception and body awareness. They can be used to create greater strength and stability in the feet and ankles, but keep in mind that introducing instability or a balance challenge to movements like squats, single leg deadlifts, presses, etc. Start by doing these exercises on a stable surface when strength is the goal.

When adding the balance challenge, you will likely reduce the weight or resistance so the movement is less about generating maximum force and more about maintaining balance and technique as you move.

Sliders are typically padded on one side and slippery plastic on the other, allowing you to put the sliders under your hands, knees, or feet and then slide them on the carpet or floor. Sliders are a great way to get smooth, core focused work, along with lower and upper body options. Now that you know what some options for your home gym essentials are, you might wonder what the best choices are based on your budget.

Start with the options above, plus a set of sliders, a heavier kettlebell or a set of dumbbells to increase to your weight options. Alternatively, you can invest in a suspension training system at this price point.

Although far more expensive than the options discussed above, there are new at-home strength options that take up less space than traditional home gym machines and connect with online and app-driven programming. Even as a strength training professional, I must admit that I have found a lot of my gym equipment at yard sales and online markets.

If you go this route, inspect the equipment and use common sense, but many great, safe and nearly-new pieces of equipment can be found at a substantial discount if you are able to do a little treasure hunting.

This may allow you to get some pieces that would otherwise not be in your budget, or to add more options to your gym as you get started. Your email address will not be published. Share This Article. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to weight training for runners. Thankfully, Strength Running has enlisted a top strength coach to clear up any confusion and clarify how runners should lift weights: Randy Hauer.

He has several pieces of advice for runners about to start a strength training program. Any strength session that includes circuits with little rest like most fitness classes, DVDs, or CrossFit is not optimally building strength.

Randy adds:. Avoid circuits of several exercises in a row and instead take minutes of recovery after each set. Like the talk test in running, you should be able to speak in complete sentences before you begin your next set. Athletes should train it as a unit. Too many runners have fallen in love with stability training with Bosu balls, wobble boards, and other stability tools.

Avoid wobble boards, bosu, or swiss balls. This makes you run faster! The evidence is clear that weight training is critical for running performance and injury prevention. But how does it work in real life? But after using our weight training for runners guidance, she improved her half marathon by 29 minutes at 6, feet altitude! So he gave weightlifting a try — and ran Personal Bests in the 5k, 10k, and half marathon!

After getting step by step instructions, he made the commitment. And he gained muscle, lost fat, set a half marathon and marathon PR! Most gym memberships will give you everything you need for proper weight training.

Foam Roller : A simple self-massage tool, it can help increase flexibility, break up scar tissue, reduce myofascial adhesions, and loosen you up before running.

Use it once a week or up to every day! Medicine Ball : Perfect for beginner or advanced runners, a medicine ball can be used for a variety of strength exercises. Thera-band : A Thera-band is simply an exercise band that can make some body-weight exercises more challenging by increasing the resistance.

The slider boards are great at improving side-to-side strength and stability. This is vital for agility and quickness movements. Slider boards are commonly used in a lot of sports like basketball where athletes needs to develop very quick and explosive side-to-side movements.

Quickness training equipment is designed to help develop improved quickness for sports and exercise. Being able to move quicker and faster will mean you can perform any physical activity easier.

Speed chutes help provide extra resistance for sprint training. The resistance caused from the chutes will mean that your body has to work harder to pick up the same kind of quickness required to do the training. This makes it a very useful piece of equipment for speed and quickness training. Hurdles are a useful piece of equipment for improving quickness. They are great at creating an extra component to your sprint training. Including hurdling into your sprint training will mean your body has to develop more control in motion as you combine running with jumping.

Quickness training is all about becoming faster and quicker in specific workouts and exercises. You want to ensure you can record and monitor this as effectively and reliably as possible. SAQ training is highly effective for both professional athletes and those simply looking to get in shape.

SAQ is also a pillar for functional fitness — helping people move more confidently. SAQ training is a system aimed at developing motor abilities through short, intense drills that involve quick acceleration and deceleration while moving backward, forward or side-to-side. These movements help demonstrate speed, agility and quickness.

The 3 elements of SAQ are fundamental for overall fitness and measuring SAQ is a good indicator of what areas of fitness you need to improve. SAQ goes beyond the importance of absolute speed over a given distance, and includes the value of agility and quickness. These are equally as important for sport and overall fitness.

Improving speed, agility and quickness arms you with explosive multi-directional movements. This is beneficial for sports, fitness and general day to day living. Speed training equipment is important in helping you achieve your goals of being quicker, more agile and all-round fitter.