I was wondering if any of the 800 meter runners on this board (particularly women) have benefited from implementing a lifting program?
If so, could you share your lifting program or some examples?
Do you lift during your base phase? during your track season?
Thanks for any advice.
Yes, lifting will help with ability to run a fast 800. If you want ideas, look at what Seb Coe did.
I coach HS girls, and they seem to need to do more strengthening of the hip area and of the knee stabilizing muscles. Good exercises for this are: hip abduction, hip adduction, hip flexor, and balancing on some sort of unstable platform on one leg.
Running hills would be a good idea to develop leg strength as well.
It will help you a great deal, get better at lifting:). As speed is the product of developing the Fast Twitch fibers ability to fire as quickly as possible. Lifting might work these fibers, but in a slow manor. And stamina is best gained by running both for long and short amounts of time that is not required in lifting. I would suggest you find a hill, and bound exploding up the hill 2-5 times at frist working up to 10 time twice a week, about recover equal to or grater then 3 minutes per rep.
I have seen guys who could likely lift caddy, who cannot run faster then a very slow jog.