5 powerful strength exercises with PureGym

By Thor Schnetler

Monday, 8. July

Strength training is a great sidekick to your running training towards CPH Half. Together with PureGym, we have selected 5 exercises that will make you a stronger runner.

A good strength training programme can make a world of difference to your half marathon. It’s all about building strength and improving your running form. Best of all, the exercises are easy to incorporate into your running training. You can easily do them in the living room floor or outside.

We recommend doing it after your run or on a day when you’re not running.

You must do all exercises 12 times in 3 rounds. That is: 12 repetitions over 3 sets.

Warm up your body well
As a starting point, do 12 repetitions 3 times with each exercise
Pause for 30-60 seconds between each set and exercise

If you want variation, you can do 12 repetitions of an exercise, pause for 60 seconds and do the next exercise. Do this 3 times so that you have achieved 3×12 repetitions of all exercises.

Push ups

Push-ups are a great exercise for runners. It strengthens the arms and shoulders, but also the entire upper body. At the same time, it also hits the core well.

Don’t slump your back or shoulders when doing the exercise.

Repetition: 3×12

Tip: Push-ups require some strength. If it’s not possible to do 3×12, you can also support on your knees instead. Alternatively, do them against the wall or something inclined.

See the exercise

Squat

For runners, the squat is one of the absolute best exercises to do. The squat strengthens muscles in several areas: hips, buttocks, thighs, abdomen and back. These are areas that all runners use throughout an entire half marathon.

In this exercise, you also need to make sure you have a good tension and have about shoulder distance between your feet. Your feet can point slightly to the right and left.

Repetitions: 12×3

Tip: If you need extra weight, you can hold a heavy book, kettlebell or similar to increase the weight and make it harder.

See the exercise

Mountain climbers

Mountain climbing is in many ways a great exercise for you. It makes great demands on several things at once: Your muscles, balance and coordination. All of which are important during a half marathon.

Even though you “just” put one leg in front of the other, your whole body is working during your half marathon.

Repetitions: Do 12 repetitions on each leg until you have done a total of 24 repetitions.

Tip: Mountain climbers are an exercise that gets your heart rate up. If it helps, do the exercise at a slower pace.

See the exercise

Lunges

Leg training is one of the most important elements for runners. Lunges not only make your legs stronger. It also develops your balance and coordination as you step forwards. It also strengthens some of your most important muscles during a run and challenges your hip flexors.

Repetitions: Alternate lunges on each leg until you’ve done 3×12.

Tip: It is allowed to do fewer repetitions, e.g. 3×6, if it is very hard. It’s important that you still have fresh legs for running.

See the exercise

Plank

Plank is a core exercise that works the deeper muscles around your abdomen and spine. When running longer distances, a strong core is what keeps you upright. That’s why a strong core is important when running a half marathon.

Time: Hold the position for 30-60 seconds and repeat 3 times.

Tip: If you want to develop the exercise, you can do a dynamic plank where you alternate between going up into a push-up and down position on each arm. Do this for 30-60 seconds.

See the exercise