When was the last time you did strength and stabilisation exercises over an extended period? Never, or too seldom? You are not alone. The great majority of runners, cyclists, bikers, triathletes, and cross-country skiers tend to concentrate on collecting kilometres and training hours and neglect the other aspects of fitness. However, these are just as much a part of the complete puzzle! And they are even performance-defining. This is because they ultimately interact and affect your performance capability, training load tolerance, and recovery capability, among other things.

Just do it!

Stop looking for excuses and just get down to it instead by incorporating a 20 to 30-minute strength training sequence into your weekly program two times a week. You can do the training before or after an endurance unit or complete it as an independent unit after a short warm up. Since these exercises focus on strength endurance and you are working with your own body weight, a combination is perfectly possible. It would be different, however, if the focus was on maximum strength and you were working with very heavy weights.

Effect and dosage

Perform 10 to 15 repetitions of each of the following strength exercises and repeat them two times after a rest period of 15 to 30 seconds (a total of 3 sets). Aim for the highest possible quality and make sure that your movement patterns are controlled. Depending on the exercise, you will thus improve your core stability and strengthen your shoulder, abdominal, hip flexor, leg and back extensor muscles. 

The extra strength will help your running motion to be more economic, technically clean and longer without compromising on quality. This will result in a more dynamic step, faster times and, above all, more fun!

8 exercises to try out

From the plank to the push-up position

Technique:

Get into the plank position and then push yourself up with one arm into the push-up position and then lower yourself down to the plank position again. Change arm after each round.

Focus:

• Pull in your navel for a natural lordosis
• Press your heels together to activate your buttocks
• Make sure you have a double chin to get an optimum head position

Goal:

• Core stability in the neutral position
• Strengthening the shoulder girdle at the same time

Wide push-up

Technique:

Touch the ground with your nose. Make sure that your whole body is activated, particularly your legs. Now push yourself up into the push-up position.
Beginners should keep their knees on the ground.

Focus:

• Your hands should be placed one hand width wider than your shoulder width
• Keep your feet together
• Pull your navel towards your spine
• Keep your head in line with your spine

Goal:

• Strengthening the upper body

Side plank

Technique:

Extend your arm and leg upwards and move your pelvis slowly up and down. Keep your upper body erect and make sure you make a perfect diagonal.
Beginners should keep the legs parallel.
3 sets per side.

Focus:

• Activate the lower side of your waist to fix your pelvis in the correct position
• Place your elbow under your shoulder to ensure an optimum load on the shoulder

Goal:

• Strengthening the lateral abdominal muscles
• Strengthening the abductors
• Strengthening the rotator cuff

Abdominal swing

Technique:

Rock back and forth as silently as possible with closed legs and your arms stretched out over your head.

Focus:

• Round your back
• Activate your legs

Goal:

• Strengthening the straight abdominal and hip flexor muscles
• Improving core stability

Spine rolling

Technique:

Roll your spine out of the kneeling position. Rotate your arms and thumbs outwards, so that your palms are facing the ground at the end of the upwards movement. 
Then pull in your abdomen, make your spine round, rotate your arms until the thumbs are pointing towards your body and you are able to look through your legs.

Focus:

• Keep a 45-degree angle between the lower leg and thigh
• Make sure you have a double chin

Goal:

• Strengthening the back extensor muscles, the opponent muscles to your abdominal muscles

Reverse lunge with knee lift

Technique:

Start in the lunge position with an erect upper body, push on the foot of the front leg and put your hands on your hips. Pull the rear leg up until the knee is at hip level. Hold this position for a brief moment and then go back to the starting position.
3 sets per leg.

Focus:

• Keep a steady stance
• Maintain stability at all levels

Goal:

• Strengthening the buttocks and thigh muscles
• Balancing exercise in a one-leg stand

Stork step

Technique:

Perform the stork steps in a slow and controlled manner without losing your balance. Lift the rear leg to hip height and take a big lunge forward. Immediately take the next step with the other leg.

Focus:

• Keep a steady stance
• Maintain stability at all levels

Goal:

• Strengthening the leg muscles
• Improving inter-muscular coordination

Stretch jumps

Technique:

Squat with your feet shoulder width apart and jump up quickly, stretching your entire body (from your finger tips to your toes) and land silently in the starting position. Follow this immediately with the next jump.

Focus:

• Placing the load on your entire foot
• Raising your arms above your head at the highest point

Goal:

• Quick strength exercise for the legs
• Stiffness in the calf muscles (shock absorption training)

Foto: ZVG