Building leg muscles for running??

[Fusebox]

Hi everyone,

Ive been jumping rope for the past 2 months and Ive seen improvements in my cardio fitness. However one of my major goals is to be able to jog a distance of 10km.

My question is how does one go about building/developing leg muscles without the aid of a gym? at home specifically.

Many thanks

[Mayo]

Try Matt Furey material. I have just bought it and waiting to receive it by post (books and DVD's). He uses only the mass of the body as weight material (^_^)

Matt Furey Combat Conditioning

Still don't know how much the legwork program is covered....

[Yoeri]

The best way to be able to jog 10km simply is jogging, you can get the cardio from the jump roping etc, but I would suggest to run/jog also even if it is only one time a week.

Maybe some nice variation and being able to combine with jump roping:
Testosterone Nation - High-Octane Cardio
You can make your own combinations, it's basically some circuit training. For example, do 25 pushups, 1minute jump roping, 25 bodyweight squats, 1minute jump roping, and so on...

Matt Furey focuses a lot on Hindu Squats for leg development. For building endurance this is a good exercise, for building leg strength (and build some muscle) I would rather go for exercises like this one:
Untitled Document

Here is a guy that run a marathon with kettlebell conditioning only without the running:
Power Athletes Magazine
So it is possible to build (a lot of) running endurance without running, but also he suggests running additionally would have helped a lot.

Another thing I would like to say:
You don't need to run 10km at your training to be able to run 10km, people training for a marathon also don't run 42km in their training. When you can jog 5km relatively easy after a while for example, you also can jog 10km if you want to.

A last note: I'm not an expert at all, it's just my opinion. In the past I've been running a lot, and tried diffferent things.

[Savage]

I think weight training is of limited use for running. The distance running books I've read are pretty consistent about that.

If you want to train your running muscles, incorporate some hill training in your running program, ideally 1-2x per week. Or use a treadmill set to a steep angle. This will develop your running muscles.

I did a bunch of hill training when I was into distance running. I'd run up this big hill just north of Marina del Rey, CA which led to LAX. It was hard, but it made flat running much easier. I also used to run up the hill in front of the Santa Monica Pier, but that hill is much smaller. Look for a good hill near your home, and tackle it again and again.

[chopsaw]

I agree with what Steve is saying. It's like Bruce Lee used to say, If you want to swim, you must first get into the water.

Plot a route that will challenge, but not defeat you. In the begining I'd suggest that you alternate: run for several minutes, walk for several minutes, over the course. This way you let your muscles "tune-up" for the distance you are focused on achieving without over-taxing them where you might get injured. Always warm up. Stretching is a good idea, and while stretching, go slow, envision your goal (treat it as a meditation before action). Start walking at brisk pace, increase your speed into a good steady run, after several minutes slow down. What you'll achieve by doing this is getting the leg muscles stronger so that they can perform over the "long run". Over the course of several weeks increase the amount of time you are running and decrease the amount of time you are walking. Stay hydrated and pay attention to your body as you exercise.

I wouldn't recommend running every day. And if it is possible stay off concrete or pavement, a track is good, the grass is great. On the days you are not running, a low impact cardio workout would be great, cycling, trampoline work, etc.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

[duhshuh]

Practice makes perfect... just like anything else. If you want to improve your distance running, your training needs to be focused on running for long distances/periods of time. It doesn't hurt to add in sprints, hills, or weight training, but if you are strictly interested in distance running and don't care about having a powerful kick at the end of a race I wouldn't put much effort into such things.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Fusebox

Hi everyone,

Ive been jumping rope for the past 2 months and Ive seen improvements in my cardio fitness. However one of my major goals is to be able to jog a distance of 10km.

My question is how does one go about building/developing leg muscles without the aid of a gym? at home specifically.

You say "how does one go about building/developing leg muscles", so I'll assume by "building/developing" you refer to increasing strength, or at the very least, capacity to handle challenge (which is what increased strength will basically do). If you want to build strength, the key is to provide a reason for your body to develop that strength. Without a reason, your body will think your current strength level is just fine, and will either maintain the status quo, or even revert to lesser levels of strength if your current levels are no longer needed.

So how do you give your body a reason to develop strength? Resistance. When the load (ie. resistance) you put on your muscle(s) exceeds what you are capable of, if you have the appropriate resources to facilitate growth, your body will improve its efficiency and/or its ability to handle such a challenge and adapt to the increased load.

Think of each of your limbs as your personal tools. If a mechanic wants to be an effective mechanic, he needs a reliable set of tools for the job. Likewise, if you want to be a good runner, you need a reliable set of legs (as well as other systems such as the cardiovascular system) that are going to do what you expect of them and preform when you want them to. When you want to run fast (or long distance, or whatever else you want to do), you want your tools to respond and be capable of fulfilling your instructions. You don’t want to give an instruction and then find that your tools are incapable of completing the task. So you must train your tools that you use for you "trade" and keep them in working order such that they are responsive and capable.

How do you do this?

I would personally argue that some form of weighted resistance is the most effective way to increase strength (or speed, if that's your goal) since it's generally easier to reach the edge of your limits -- where you'll make the most gains -- using some form of weight resistance that you add on, as it's more difficult to achieve the same levels of resistance in a normal environment from making using of something such as elevated terrain (which is indeed a form of resistance, but probably not the most effective).

Now "the most effective" way will differ for every individual and their specific preferences (ie. you said you want to build strength, but don't want to do it in a gym, which can be seen as your preference), so there is no "best" way to do things. To quote something I said in the thread, Pistols?:

[...] no exercise [or method of training] is a replacement for any other; they all have their own strength and weaknesses, and certain exercises are more effective for certain people. There is no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to training. [...] I think it's largely a waste of time comparing two exercises [or methods of training] . What you really want to focus on are the advantages and disadvantages of each exercise [or method of training] in relation to what is effective/suitable for your body [as well as your preferences].

Now I know you're probably looking for some more "how to" information for how you can build strength, but the beauty of understanding the underlying concepts behind building strength is that you no longer have to rely on "how to" advice and can start developing your own exercises/methods, or at the very least, evaluate existing exercises/methods and more accurately determine what will be suitable for you and your preferences, and what will not. Which reminds me of something else I said in the thread, Pistols?:

Training is quite a logical activity, although many people don’t see it that way (including myself, initially) since they lack an understanding of basic body mechanics such as the range of movement the skeletal structure provides us with, what/how/why certain exercises and ways of performing that exercise target specific muscles, etc. The same applies here. If you wish to build strength, you must give your body a reason to by doing exercises that signal your body that your current level of strength is inadequate for the activities you are performing by overtaxing your current muscular strength. So long as you are eating right/enough and getting enough rest, this will cause your muscles to hypertrophy (grow) to accommodate the resistance they are encountering during the particular activity where they were previously inadequate. More muscle will be able to generate and output more strength. Similarly, if you wish to build endurance, you must give your body a reason to improve the efficiency of the cardiovascular system and supply of blood/oxygen to the muscle, as well as the muscles ability to perform a certain activity for a longer period of time by pushing your body past it’s current limits.

So as you may have guessed, my advice comes in the form of:

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.
~ Chinese Proverb

But to give you some advice based on something that has worked from me (I've never actually done weight/resistance training for the specific purpose of increasing my leg strength for the purpose of running), I'd recommend buying some leg weights that you can strap onto your ankles. They may be a tad expensive (a set -- as in a set containing a weight for each leg -- cost me somewhere between $30-40 AUD), but I consider mine to be a worthy investment (they're fairly high quality/well made, they have good durability so long as you take care of them, and they're fairly comfortable). You may not be able to do as much "at home" (as in inside your house) with a set of ankle weights, but since you say you want to get into distance running, I'm pretty sure going for a run around your local area wouldn't be much of a problem. If it is, you can always run on the spot at home.

Now you may think that strapping a few extra kilograms or pounds of weight onto your ankles may not seem too challenging at first, but try running with them on over a long distance or try to increase the intensity of your running (ie. run faster), and you'll start to see where the challenge lies.

Eventually if you keep using the weights and stay within the so called “sweet spot” (the edge of your limits; where your pushing yourself really hard, but not so hard to the extent that the amount you push yourself diminishes your capabilities to make gains) you will get used to it, but that just means you need more weight (if you choose to increase your strength further), so you can either buy heavier ankle weights, or buy more ankle weights of the same kind and wear them at the same time. You'll look like an idiot, but once you take them off, you'll be running like the wind.

The difference between running before wearing them and when running after wearing them (as well as the speed advantage you notice you can tap into as a result of the increased leg strength from wearing them) will be highly noticable. Normal running won’t be any easier, although it will seem easier as you’ve increased your capacity to handle challenge. It’s like trying to lift a 20kg weight when you can lift a 40kg weight -- the weights still weigh the same, but what’s changed is your capacity to handle challenge. By comparison, the 20kg weight will seem almost trivial to lift compared to the 40kg weight. And the good thing about ankle weights is that you can still use methods such as running up an incline hill to increase challenge if you want because the ankle weights complement other methods of training.

Now if you really want to take your training to the next level you can help me in my search for a Hyperbolic Time Chamber where we can do away with resistance from weights and train in an environment with 10 x the gravity of earth. Alas, after years of searching, I am yet to find one.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by duhshuh

Practice makes perfect... just like anything else. If you want to improve your distance running, your training needs to be focused on running for long distances/periods of time. It doesn't hurt to add in sprints, hills, or weight training, but if you are strictly interested in distance running and don't care about having a powerful kick at the end of a race I wouldn't put much effort into such things.

Duhshuh makes a good point: someone who is serious about improving in their given field will use many methods to improve. Eg. A martial artist doesn't just do martial arts all the time, they may do some running, some weight training, some gymnastics, some meditation, some personal development, etc, etc. All these things serve to improve the "tool" of your body, as well as your individual "tools" (such as your arms and legs). And you'll find that often by increasing what seems to be a totally unrelated area of your life, it will improve the area you are focusing on. A good article by Steve on this matter is Living Congruently.

And by the way, what I mention above is something I learnt from Bruce Lee (or at least, from material that has been derived from his teachings/wisdom... I don't personally know Lee, as much as I would like to). There's a wealth of knowledge to be gained from studying/modelling such a person, and I'd be as bold to say that anyone doing some sort of physical activity would benefit from most of what you could learn from Bruce Lee. It’s not always easy to get decent information on him, but if you look hard enough, you’ll find it. (I’d recommend some information or at least a product that would provide you with decent information, but there’s so much in so many different forms that it’d be hard to give you a decent place to start looking unless I knew specifically what you were looking for.)

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Fusebox

However one of my major goals is to be able to jog a distance of 10km.

My question is how does one go about building/developing leg muscles without the aid of a gym?

You might want to try wearing these ankle weights, when you go jogging/

[Acting Like Godot]

Oh sorry, just realised that Bruce A had already suggested that.

[JAlvy]

Well, what I've been doing to get my legs stronger for my 10K is a "maintenance" sort of lifting regimen, which includes squats, calf raises, and deadlifts. When I had my gym membership, I would use the leg press, leg curl, and donkey calf raise machines.

From what I've read, when training for distance running, the hamstrings get neglected somewhat, so I concentrate on working those out with the deadlifts and other cross training. What Steve is saying seems like good advice, but unfortunately there aren't many good hills round the mitten (MI).

[adamsoho]

Jogging is one of the better ways to get better at jogging, like people here have already pointed out.

However, as far as strengthening goes, it is important to maintain proper balance and technique in the running muscles.

To be honest, machines are not going to be able to give you much balance. What I would suggest are a series of functional "close-chained" exercises. Closed-chain exercises are things like lunges, squats, etc. A good stable trunk is also very important when performing any exercise to protect your lower back and other lower extremity joints.

Also, since they mimick the actions of running so closely, lunges are some of the best strengthening exercises that you can do. Look up lunges and variations of lunges on youtube to see some good examples of the things you can do with this simple yet powerful exercise.

Jack Daniels, one of the countries foremost experts on running, does indicate that strength training is still important (especially in order to help you avoid injuries). Of course, running is still the best way to be able to run further distances.

[Ibanez]

I would say in addition to running, doing unilateral leg work such as lunges and bulgarian squats would be extremely useful.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

You might want to try wearing these ankle weights, when you go jogging/

Oh sorry, just realised that Bruce A had already suggested that.

But you added a link and managed to summarise my entire post in 13 words.

Originally Posted by adamsoho

[...] as far as strengthening goes, it is important to maintain proper balance and technique in the running muscles.

I agree. I find that if I focus on running/jogging with "good form" (ie. balance and technique), not only is running “easier” (“easier” as in, more smooth + less impactful on my joints, not any less difficult), but I also feel I'm involving my muscles much more then if I just plod along with sloppy form (which you can easily lapse into if you don’t maintain control and discipline, especially when you’ve been running for a while and you start to get tired)..

But like any training, whether it be swimming, weight training, gymnastics, martial arts, etc, good form is essential (yes, I’m talking to all of you “bodybuilders” out there you think “good form” = lifting as much weight as you can ). If you aren't sure if you have good form, you'd do well to A) do some experimentation (can you see areas where you can improve? is there anything you can do differently to see if you will get different/better results?), and B) read material written by running athletes and their coaches, or model top running athletes and people who are among the best in their field (of running).

Originally Posted by adamsoho

Jack Daniels, one of the countries foremost experts on running, does indicate that strength training is still important (especially in order to help you avoid injuries). Of course, running is still the best way to be able to run further distances.

I agree with old mate Jack. Strength training that involves resistance is one of the best (and in my opinion, one of the most important) things you can do for your body since it not only strengthens your muscles, improves your fitness, it also improves the quality/fortitude of your connective tissues, tendons, etc, by strengthening them and subjecting them to a range of motion that you may normally not be exposed to in everyday actions. I actually have a friend who said he was able to increase his felicity quite a bit from a consistent weight-training regime (I haven't experienced the same results myself, but I'm already fairly flexible... nothing impressive, though).

And if you think all that weight training will do is tighten your muscles and make you less-flexible, consider Ronnie Coleman, professional bodybuilder, and 8-times Mr. Olympia. Despite his insane, juggernaut-like muscularity, Coleman can actually do the splits (fully, not just partially). Click here to see an image of Ronnie doing the splits (it’s also on a video somewhere on YouTube, but I couldn’t find it).

I'm not saying weight training will make you instantly flexible, but depending on what you do/how you do it, I think with most people it will help more then it will hinder (ie. it shouldn’t really hinder at all, and if it does, you’re probably doing something wrong or have an underlying condition that you’re aggravating and need to get resolved before you continue training). You may not be doing the splits like Coleman can, but you can still work towards that by including some flexibility training and stretching into your training routine (stretching is an important part of weight training, both before your sessions and according to some notable bodybuilders, during them as well between sets).

[da1prophet]

Steve and the other posters are right on about the benefits of running hills. When I lived in Utah I used to see Karl Malone running the steep hills around the capitol in the summer wearing a weight vest. Since his legs are bigger around than my waist, it obviously worked for him :-)