Running

Indoor Exercises for Runners

You might have seen on my social media that I’ve partnered with Race for Life as one of their Training Squad. I’m going to be sharing running tips, race day advice and workouts here on the blog in the lead up to the Race for Life events this Summer to encourage first time runners, experienced runners and all of you lot to sign up and train for an awesome race series. 
CharlieWatson_Studio_31Mar16_GreenBackdrop-5
Indoor Exercises for Runners 
When you’re training for your Race for Life run, you shouldn’t be running every single day. Firstly you’re body needs rest days, as well as strengthening to make you a better runner, plus we know that running everyday isn’t a sustainable training plan. These simple exercises can be done in your sitting room, bedroom, garden, local park or at the gym.
  • Weighted or unweighted lunges (15 each side)
  • Plank (1 min)
  • Weighted or unweighted Squats (15)
  • Bicycle crunches (15 each side)
  • Burpees (15)
  • Mountain climbers (15 each side)
  • ‘Kettlebell’ swing (15)

The great thing about this workout is that it is scaleable… you could work through the whole workout with no rests, repeating 3-4 times, you could work at your own pace with 1 min breaks between each exercise, or rest when you need it! It’s up to you… 

final cancer research x runner beans-2

Many runners skip strength training in favour of running more, when actually it’s really beneficial to improve speed and endurance plus it can help reduce risk of injury. The moves in this workout focus on leg and core strength; both crucial for running.

The mixture of explosive movements and slow controlled moves will help with aerobic fitness as well as muscular strength making you a better, stronger runner!

CharlieWatson_Studio_31Mar16_GreenBackdrop-9

Make your own set of weights 

I only own one small kettlebell that I picked up at Aldi in their New Year special sale, other than that I just use items from around the house. Seriously. I’m not exactly pumping iron in my sitting room – 1-3kg homemade weights work just as well for my mini workouts.
Use the 1 litre water bottles for 1kg and 2 litre water bottles for 2kg weights. Fill with stones or sand for heavier weights.
The 4 pint milk jugs with the handles are 2.25kg when filled with water and great to use in place of a kettlebell! Fill with sand to make these even heavier!

Look out for more collaboration posts with Race for Life in the coming months…these are not sponsored posts, Cancer Research UK is an awesome charity that I want to support through this blog and their Summer races. 

You may also enjoy:

1 Comment

  1. Sarah
    January 1, 2017 / 4:02 am

    Hi Charlee
    Where are your leggings from?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *