How To Train For Endurance Running

We are going to talk about endurance running. Anything endurance just requires repetition after repetition after repetition. It's not particularly interesting but it's something you have to do.

And if you do these exercises to the extent that I mentioned, then you will actually find you are starting stronger towards the end of the race which is not only beneficial to yourself but as everyone else is getting weaker, you start taking all the athletes ahead of you in the race. We are going to focus on three exercises today. The first one is called overtops.

Very simply, all you need is a raised platform - in this case, a step. You are going to start off with one foot in the middle of the step and one foot off. Very simply, just pop your way to the other side and always keep one foot in the middle.

Very simple exercise - you can do a hundred of these with weights. It starts getting a little harder when you hold a 4-kilo weight in each hand then an 8-kilo weight in each hand, then 12 kilos and then effectively, 16 kilos. Doing a hundred repetition of those with each of those weights in your hand, it gets really quite hard work.

A variation which I usually use on the way back down, because you do all the weights on the way leading up and you do the same coming back down, is to touch the sides as you are doing the exercise. You obviously are not holding the weights at this point, this would be what you would do on the last hundred when you are about to finish off. Really good exercise - it builds up all the muscles in your legs on endurance basis which is what we are dealing with today.

The second exercise is effectively a lunge but it is a slightly more exaggerated lunge which requires a little bit more of a pop and therefore requires a little bit more stamina within your legs. Very simply, start off with feet right next to one another, you take one long stride out with you and then you come into the lunge position, holding it there, but instead of coming back to the start position, you literally hop into the second lunge, backwards and forwards. Like the overtops, we can do this holding various weights in our hands, I personally would not go heavier than 7 or 8 kilos in each hand because it does put quite a strain in your knees.

One really good thing about this particular exercise is it helps with knee stability which in a long distance run of a marathon, 50 miles, a 100 miles, 135 miles, or whatever you are running, your knee can take the pressure. The final exercise is basically a single legged squat; we use it in a hopping motion. So, very simply, all you do, stand upright, lift one leg into the air, muster it with both legs in the long run, and you actually just hop off.

Make sure you're airborne and then you go as low as you feel comfortable on the way down and then up and down. With this, you will lose your balance occasionally and you won't be able to stay in the same spot but it is a fantastic exercise for knee stability, it works all the muscles in your legs, it also works your glutes, and ends up making you a very core strong knee joint which in endurance running is something that takes an awful pounding. It will also have a direct impact on your ankles and hips as well.

Those three exercises, use in a pyramid where you go from light weights up to heavy weights and back down again, lots of repetitions will really help you with endurance running. And that is how you train for endurance running.
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