Cross training is hugely beneficial to a runner and you are seeing more and more runners now move away from running and entering multi sports, anyway that is for another blog. This blog is about how cross training can improve your running.

Cross training is hugely beneficial to a runner and you are seeing more and more runners now move away from running and entering multi sports, anyway that is for another blog. This blog is about how cross training can improve your running.

What is cross training? Cross training is defined as engaging in two or more sports or types of exercise in order to improve fitness or performance in one’s main sport. In other words if you’re a runner and you are swimming then that is cross training.

I personally as a coach like to think of 4 key benefits of cross training and they are as follows:

Reduced risk of Injury

This is a no brainer if it reduces overuse injuries and keeps you training then you will be consistent in your training and you will see progress. If you are injured then you will just be chasing fitness and won’t see much improvement. Runners are the worst; they carry on running with overuse injuries and they want to just run loads of miles all the time, but you don’t need to.

Better Aerobic Capacity

If your Aerobic capacity is better, as a result from cross training then you get stronger and more efficient and therefore improve. This can be seen in Triathletes that train in 3 sports, the run, swim and bike. You will find Triathletes have the one of the best aerobic capacity.

Increase in Overall Strength

You are training different muscle groups and therefore your body is getting stronger as a result. For example if you did strength training it has been proven to keep injuries to a minimal and if you’re stronger you will see improvement.

Recover faster

Training smart will allow you to recover quicker, if you’re running a few times a week and then cycling and swimming, your training different muscles etc which means it gives time for the other muscles to recover etc. So if you ran 5 days a week your recovery would be less than someone who ran 3 times a week and swam in the week, purely because your muscles won’t be strong in other areas.

I do a lot of cross training but I am a Triathlete so my week is broken down with cycling, swimming, strength work and even a Pilates session a week if I can fit it in. So I am not just running, however when I was just running I got injured a lot and when I introduced strength work I managed to see less injuries. However the big difference for me was when I started swimming, I saw less injuries, breathing was better and I saw improvement in my running over the next few years. Once I started cycling as well I found more improvement in my running and I am running way less now, but I felt stronger, run faster now and I found I recovered quicker. I am not trying to get you to do everything but simply doing one other activity will be a huge benefit to you.

You are also seeing now, more and more marathon runners not doing massive mileage anymore and there are many athletes that do a lot more cycling to help them in their marathons. Cycling is low impact so for example if cycle for an hour or so and then went on a run this will again have huge benefit for you.

My conclusion is if you want to stay injury free, improve from consistent training and maybe enjoy the change more then you need to cross train. I hope this blog was useful to you.

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Yiannis Christodoulou

NHS Performance analyst from Canterbury

Age group: 40-44
Club: Canterbury Harriers, Ashford Triathlon Club, GB Age group team, Age group 2017 Aquathlon team captain
Coach: My self in running Level 2 coach in running fitness, Craig Coggle Strength coach, John Wood Swimming coach

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