
Marathon Training — Weights and Abs
Friday’s bring me back to a familiar territory — working with weights. Friday is my day to do some full-body resistance training. I usually try to stick to full body since my running takes up so much of my available time so I try to make the most of my workout.
To give you an idea, here was my workout:
- Bicep Curl — 4 sets 12 reps
- Seated Rows — 4 sets 12 reps
- Tricep Pushdown — 4 sets 12 reps
- Chest Press — 4 sets 12 reps
- Isolated Bicep Curls — 3 sets 12 reps
- Arnold Press — 4 sets 12 reps
- Bicep/Forearm Curls with EZ bar — 3 sets 10 reps each
- Tricep Rope Pulldown — 3 sets 10 reps
- Pushups — 4 sets 10 reps
- Lower back extension — 3 sets 10 reps
Now this is all great and its some of my favorite exercises and structuring really working the arms and doing some of the major muscle movements with the equipment available (planet fitness doesn’t have a huge amount of equipment available). But then came the hardest part, and probably the most important part too, ab and flexibility work (along with some foam rolling).
Ab work is the worst, I absolutely hate it. Planks especially, are the true way to prove that time is relative. You really do not know how long a minute is until you try to do a plank for a minute. However, for any marathon training program, it would be incomplete without it. Working the core is essential to maintaining good posture and during a very VERY long run like a marathon, the core is the first thing to go when fatigued. To avoid that from happening, doing the core strengthening is an essential part of the program, and one that I know is (unfortunately) a very necessary part of marathon success.
Keep running —
