lower body strength program to prevent injury, need some advice

"This is independent of the core/upper body strength i'm already doing"

Why?

A program is more than just a random collection of exercises, reps and sets. The pieces should all 'fit'.

That being said....

Barbell Squat warmup then ramp up to a single set of 4-6 reps: ex: 45x15, 95x10, 115x5, 135x5, 185x5

Walking Lunges: done for muscular endurance, walk for 60-120s. Make a long enough step to achieve a nice glute/hamstring activation. Shorter steps target the quad more. 2-3 sets OR 1 set to absolute failure. Whatever DBs you which to use...I suggest 15-30lb

That's it. Don't overdo leg work. Just do enough to adapt and progress.

Add in these two bodyweight exercises if you can handle it:

"Sissy" Squat (hold onto something)

Natural Glute Ham Raise

1-3 sets of 10-15 reps.

Upper Body Work: Pullups and Pushup Variations

Alan

First of all, what kind of injuries have you been having and where abouts on your lower body are they located? Makes a big difference in what you should be doing.

mostly shin and achilles injuries... so lower leg primarily

I don't understand why people always include pushups in these programmes. You really do not need the proportional strength they provide. Some more isolated arm exercises should give better results IMO.

I had some foot problems once and found that toe-taps and calf raises, with lots of stretching, fixed them. Point: these general programmes may not solve everything for you and depend upon your current state.

Hamstring curls will not help your shin splints.

You need to:

1) Roll your calves on a black roller. 2x/day. Forever. It's not that bad.

2) Consider running barefoot. Read:

http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm

and

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18424485

Run hills for strength.

Aim to be as light as possible for the event you are running.

Any excess weight slows you down.

First of all, the article talks about ITBS, not shin splints.

But since you mention it, I happen to know and respect Dr. F, and I have been treated by him, at Stanford, for ITBS. (Small world!) He's a good guy. But while his treatment helped me make it through my first marathon, losing my running shoes has done much more to cure - not just temporarily restrain - my ITBS.

The choice is this: sure, you can make your body ever stronger to withstand impact. And those hip exercises probably aren't a bad thing. Or you could reduce impact - by running barefoot, with good form. Which would you rather do?

good form... it doesn't involve spending extra time doing lower body strength workouts that could interfere with my running workouts

Injuries are mostly OVERUSE from running TOO MUCH. Doing a few exercises will have very little impact on this.

You should concentrate more on the RECOVERY you are getting between runs and the INTENSITY of your runs that are causing you these injuries.

no wonder runners get injured so much. there's not a single person here with a clue

A great way to build lower body strength is to run in minimalistic shoes once or twice a week. After the first few runs you will be sore as hell in your shins and achilles which is a sign that it works. By minimalistic I mean as close to barefoot as possible, racing flats are normally too bulky. Think of puma h-street.

Just use them as a tool for strength and recover in your normal running shoes for most of the time.

Mr Mountain wrote:

Injuries are mostly OVERUSE from running TOO MUCH. Doing a few exercises will have very little impact on this.

You should concentrate more on the RECOVERY you are getting between runs and the INTENSITY of your runs that are causing you these injuries.

Injuries are also caused by muscle imbalances caused by the compact nature of the running stride. Proper strength training will prevent injuries. Proper strength training also includes upper body work.

The body is not an isolated group of unconnected muscles but a machine of interconnected working parts.

Alan

Runningart2004 wrote:

strength training blah blah

Shouldn't you be on the weight training boards.

yoga?

how about a compromise... in addition to focusing on running with proper form, recovering, doing strides, etc.

twice a week after my workouts I do these exercises, specifically focused on my calf/shin area:

3x15 eccentric calf raises

3x15 wall shin raises

heel walking

The purpose of this would be solely maintenance of my shin/calf muscle strength to prevent shin splints or achilles tendonitis from reoccurring. this would be done with body weight alone, no added weight, so the added stress on my body would be minimal

But I thought the point of eccentric calf raises was to gradually build up until you're going heavy - like hundreds of pounds heavy. The reason being that when you leave your feet (as in running), you come down with more force than what you pushed off with. So you need to be even stronger eccentrically (at landing) than concentrically (when pushing off). Yes, no?

just clarifying wrote:

But I thought the point of eccentric calf raises was to gradually build up until you're going heavy - like hundreds of pounds heavy. The reason being that when you leave your feet (as in running), you come down with more force than what you pushed off with. So you need to be even stronger eccentrically (at landing) than concentrically (when pushing off). Yes, no?

Heavy eccentrics correspond to a high injury rate.

Think about this statement "So you need to be even stronger eccentrically (at landing) than concentrically (when pushing off)."

Any muscle is ALWAYS stronger eccentrically vs concentrically so there's no need to over train the eccentric...unless maybe if you're a bodybuilder looking to gain mass.

Stick with bodyweight:

1. Eccentric Calf Raises

2. Eccentric 3-way knee pointer

Did wonders for my achilles problem years ago:

Alan