Exercises for Marathon Training

While running is going to make up the majority of your marathon training program you will need to infuse your workout schedule with other exercises as well to get the best results. In addition to running, you will want to add in flexibility training, muscular endurance training and myofascial release training. Fortunately, all of these exercises can be done at home with minimal equipment.

Flexibility Training

Flexibility training is very important for marathon runners because your muscles really take a pounding when you run distances. Flexibility training will help to keep your loose and relaxed during your marathon races which will help you to conserve energy and avoid injuries. Flexibility training needs to be incorporated to both your warm-ups and your cool downs. You will want to focus your training on stretches that target all of the muscles that you use when your run distances including your arms and shoulders, your core and your legs.

Muscular Endurance Training

Muscular endurance training is very important to add to your marathon training program. You will want to incorporate this type of exercise into your marathon training program between two and three times a week. The key to this exercise element will be to use light loads, medium length circuits and short rest periods between circuits. During each session you will complete between two and four circuits. The exercises that you will want to include in your training include half squats, leg presses, dead lifts, barbell curls, seats rows, sit ups, bench presses and calf presses. Since you are training for muscle endurance you will not rest between reps.

Myofascial Release Training

Tension in your muscles is something that can hurt your athletic performance during a marathon and during your training. One element that you can add to your marathon training program to help release this muscle tension is called myofascial release training. This training uses pressure and self-massage to stimulate myofascial release trigger points. To do this you will be using a long foam roll used by physical therapists. You will position the roll and move your body over the roll so that your body weight applies pressure to specific trigger points like your abductor muscle, your hamstrings and your quadriceps.

Rest Days

While you may not think that rest is an exercise it is a vital part of your marathon training program. You need to incorporate rest days into your workout schedule so that your body has time to recovery from tough workouts. The day after your most intense workout is a great day to rest. This doesn't mean that you can't exercise on your rest day, but the exercise will need to be low intensity, such as going for a walk.