Strength training while injured - good?

better than sitting on your ass, assuming that your ass isn't the thing that is injured.

It isn't the anabolic you're looking for, but yes, strength training is a good way to raise hormones that will speed your healing. And, even when you're not injured, running is a constant battle of teardown vs. repair, so some strength training is good when uninjured.

Just make sure you know what caused your injury, and don't do exercises that would exacerbate it.

Just don't go overboard with it. While injured, 3 days a week total body, 2-3 sets, 6-15 reps, compound exercises that do not exacerbate the injury. If it's your run of the mill overuse injury then you should be fine doing almost anything that doesn't mimic the motion that is "overused". Because of that I would rule out lunges but squats should be ok. Again, let pain and discomfort and soreness be your guide:

Squat

Bench

RDL

DB Row

Shoulder Press

Lat Pulldown or Pullup

I'd simply go through a 4 week progression: Week 1, 2 sets of 15; Week 2, 3 sets of 10; Week 3, 3 sets of 8; Week 4, 2 sets of 6. Why 2 sets during week 1 and 4? When the rep scheme is relatitive high (15 reps) or relatively low (6 reps) there exists an exponentially greater risk if total volume is pushed. IE: Dumb crap happens when you're tired.

Alan

We know that weight lifting elevates testosterone and HGH levels in the body. We know that these help build muscle. But do we know that they will help for something like an overuse injury (like a tendon issue)? Is that a leap of logic? Any studies out there to confirm or refute?

RunningArt2004: Few questions:

Say you have free weights with bar, not multygym, what exercises would you recommend?

Would you do a warm up prior to lifting (if at home I usually substitute a jog with some situps/ press ups)

Lastly, how do you find the correct weight to lift per individual + recovery time before reps

ukathleticscoach wrote:

RunningArt2004: Few questions:

Say you have free weights with bar, not multygym, what exercises would you recommend?

Would you do a warm up prior to lifting (if at home I usually substitute a jog with some situps/ press ups)

I'll take a swing at these two. First, the exercises he's recommending are barbell exercises. Barbells are INFINITELY more effective than multigyms. They allow you to move through your proper range of motion, and require the development of secondary movers because of the balance and coordination requirements.

Second, you should absolutely warm up first, but make sure it's a warm up (5-15 min jog) and not an actual workout (20min+). A light jog, some dynamic stretches (not sit and hold) and some warm up sets of each exercise before the main set. If you want to do sit-ups, be sure to do them AFTER you are finished lifting. The last thing you want is to fatigue the muscles that stabilize your spine before you put it under load.

HGH and Testosterone are known to increase protein sysnthesis and reduce body fat. You know what else does this? Interval training. Doped Athletes, be they distance runners or otherwise, take HGH and Testosterone mainly for the increase recovery.

It could be a leap of faith that increasing these two hormones would improve recovery from running injuries. I think it depends on the injury. It for sure will maintain your conditioning.

I don't think a general warm-up such as a jog is needed...especially if you're already injured. A warm-up should just increase your heart rate and prepare the muscles for action. You can do this with one light warm-up set at the beginning of the workout. Also, stretching before athletic performance has been shown to decrease strength and power. If you're going to stretch, then stretch the antagonist. If you are doing a bench then stretch your back.

So if your workout starts with a squat you could warm up by doing bodyweight squats, leg swings, walking lunges, etc for about 5 minutes. Then include a warm-up set of about 50% of your work weight.

Alan