1500m Strength Training

1500m runner 2020 wrote:

I am training for the 1500m and need a strength training plan. I currently run 10 Km every morning, 6 days a week, and have speed sessions 3 days a week. So Monday Wednesday and Friday afternoons are free for weight training, or I would be willing to cut my morning 10km to 5km so that I weight train directly after my morning run, and run another 5km in the afternoon. Please give me your advice and suggestions, thanks!

Rather than three weight training sessions, you might be better with:

a) two weight training sessions and one jumps session (consisting of ballistic and plyometric jumps); or

b) one weight training session, and some mix of a jumps session, and a medicine ball session or a body weight session; or

c) ....

You get my point, I hope. I suppose jumping and medicine ball work help with explosiveness. I feel that body weight exercises take me through a greater range of motion and different motions than I get from free-weight training. I'm not knocking free-weight training - I love it - but these other exercises have value, too.

"The New Rules of Lifting: Six Basic Moves for Maximum Muscle" -

- identifies six basic movements:

for upper body:

1. push

2 pull (e.g., chin-ups and pull-ups (which are great))

for mid-section:

3. twist (I think this could be torsional as well as a fold, if I recall)

for legs:

4. lunge

5. squat

6. hinge (e.g., deadlift)

For 5 & 6, I use a hex-bar, also known as a trap-bar, and the lift is a hybrid squat-deadlift, but to me it seems much safer than a back squat (weight loaded on the back) and doesn't scrape your shins or anything else the way a traditional deadlift might:

These are basic movements and there are many, many ways to perform them. A trainer once told me he believes there is a seventh basic movement: gait. That can be performed via walking or running.

I try to organize my strength training according to such a framework and work all the basic movements about equally.

Hit the gym after your speed sessions. One day focus on bench, another day deadlift, and another day overhead squats. Accessory lifts with dumbells. No need to go heavy at first, gradually increase the weight each week.