Weight Training For Female Runners, How To Do What You Love No Matter Your Age

"We don't stop running because we get old. We get old because we stop running."

-Christopher McDougall

I firmly believe in this quote. I would even add to it and say "We don’t stop running (and jumping, and lifting heavy things) because we get old. We get old because we stop running (and jumping, and lifting heavy things)."   Weight training for female runners is so important for our ability to run when we are older.  After 35 we will start to lose anywhere from .5 to 1 percent of our muscle mass unless we do something about it! This is backed by science and we should listen!

I had a conversation about this with my Women’s Running Academy yesterday. After we finished I was watching my 3-year-old jump and confidently land in the living room from a surface nearly his own height. It made me remember my fears the first time I attempted this move in the video above. I was terrified I would hurt myself and that box only came up to my knees (😰).

Then even further back to my marathon racing days when I could run hard for hours on end but was afraid of what would happen if I stepped off the sidewalk the wrong way (🤦‍♀️). I know, I'm not the only one that has thought that!

How did I get there?

I stopped lifting heavy things and jumping!

How did I get where I am today?

I started lifting heavy things and jumping!

If you are intrigued by my thoughts on how we shouldn’t fear ground reaction forces and that the ultimate goal of athletic training for running is to train your body to accept, store, and use the reactive ground forces to your advantage. And you want to start (re)learning how to trust your relationship with the ground. Check out some of these progressions we use in the Women’s Running Academy to help you get there. This is a great way to start weight training (for female runners) at home!

Exercises to:

Begin to accept/trust the landing:

Learn to create force:

Start moving quickly off your feet:

Put it all together:

Want to run forever? Don't stop lifting and jumping! Remember that this doesn't have to be extreme, strength training for runners at home is a great start!

Like what you have read? Find more content on my Instagram HERE, or simply subscribe, and join our running community that is ditching injury & burnout so we can crush PRs!