33 year old - marathon runner - preseason
Our subject is a 33 year old male marathon runner entering pre-season. We’ll name him Merlin to make things easier……
Merlin is an advanced marathon runner who is running his fifth marathon over the last ten years. Merlin is beginning his preseason 16 weeks before the race. In order to build a strong foundation for Merlin, the first four weeks will involve strength and endurance training. After the first four weeks, we’ll begin to introduce higher volumes of endurance training and functional strength to mimic and acclimate the body for enduring a long distance. Merlin is a financial trader, and spends a lot of time at a computer. Therefore, mobility and flexibility will be introduced during the entirety of the program, as well. Progressions will be introduced half way through the training program, by increasing the amount of repetitions, to encourage higher endurance.
During a marathon-runners preseason, building up mileage is the main goal, so running will take up the bulk of the training. Therefore, the resistance training workout plan will start at 2-3x a week for the first 4 weeks and then go down to just 2x a week until the last 2-3 weeks, where we will begin to taper off.
Running requires a great deal of balance, muscular strength, joint range of motion, and of course, endurance and a high aerobic capacity. However, in order to assign the proper exercises for a pre-season marathon runner, let's look at the kinematic breakdown of the running gait cycle. The hips, knees and ankles work together throughout the entire cycle, by flexing and extending, in order to absorb one's body weight at initial contact with the ground. Therefore, we’re going to see a lot of activation from the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, iliopsoas, and gastrocnemius, to name a few. Also, the upper body plays a role due to the repetitive motion of the arms moving through the sagittal plane.
Weeks 1-4
Mondays: Strength - Vertical loading - perform each exercise once, one right after another.
Repetitions: 6
Sets: 3
Intensity: 85%
Rest period: 1 minute rest between each exercise and 3-5 minutes between each set.
Thursdays: Endurance - vertical loading performed as a circuit, with minimal rest. This will encourage quick recoveries, to advance muscular endurance.
Repetitions: 12-15
Sets: 3
Intensity: 60-70%
Rest period: Little to no rest between each exercise and 30-60 second rest between each set.
Exercise List:
Exercises will change throughout the 16 weeks to keep a good variety for Merlin. However, the exercises will all have the same goal in mind (i.e. replacing a front squat with a back squat). Here is a snapshot of two days during weeks 1-4 and then weeks 5-16 further listed below. Also, exercises are listed in order, and alternate between upper and lower body to provide enough recovery.
Weighted walking lunges
Vertical chest press
Weighted step-ups
Single arm bent over row
Goblet squat
Lateral shoulder raise
Leg curl/hamstring curl
Abdominal crunch
Leg extension/leg press
Weeks 5-16
Mondays & Thursdays
Muscular endurance will begin advancing at this point, and therefore repetitions can begin to progress.
We will continue vertical loading performed as a circuit, with minimal rest, furthering the advancement of muscular endurance and aerobic capacity.
Repetitions: 12-18
Sets: 3
Intensity: 60-70%
Rest period: Little to no rest between each exercise and 30-60 second rest between each set.
Exercise List (Bi-weekly - Week 1 Exercise list 1 / Week 2 Exercise list 2)
Exercise list #1
Weighted walking lunges
Vertical chest press
Weighted step-ups
Single arm bent over row
Goblet squat
Lateral shoulder raise
Leg curl/hamstring curl
Abdominal crunch
Leg extension/leg press
Exercise list #2
Weighted reverse lunge to balance
Single arm chest press
Weighted hip thrust from the heels to engage hamstrings
TRX row
Front squat
Single arm single leg lateral raise
Abdominal crunch
Leg press with calf engagement
Resistance banded marches in place
If I selected the 16-year old wrestler, many details would have changed in the program. First is her frequency. She is very close to competing, so it’s important that we reduce the frequency to 1-2x/week. Additional rest periods will also be necessary, so she experiences little fatigue before her match. Also, wrestling, like many other martial arts uses half slow twitch and half fast twitch fiber muscles. One round in wrestling is 3 minutes. Therefore, endurance training is necessary, in order to last the entirety of the round, without running out of energy. However, during the 3-minute round, a wrestler makes quick powerful movements, requiring strength & power training, as well. Additionally, adding exercises that promote recovery is essential.
Haff, G., & Triplett, N. T. (2021). Essentials of strength training and conditioning. Human Kinetics.