The Why and How of Cross-Training

At the risk of alienating all my running friends, there is one thing that I've always felt running lacked: a little variety. Sure you've got your fartlek, track intervals, hill workouts and good ole LSD (no, not the drug or Lake Shore Drive, long slow distance, wise guy). You've got trail runs, flat runs, hilly runs, short runs, long runs, tempo runs... but in the final analysis, it's just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other.

Inevitably, even the most dedicated runner looks to cross-training to spice things up. Sometimes the issue is forced, as in the all-too-common running injury. Sometimes the motivation is performance; there's only so much improvement you can gain by putting in more or faster miles.

Are you a runner that doesn't particularly care for cycling or swimming? Although cross-training is typically associated with triathletes, it's a myth that cross-training for runners should only include swimming and cycling.

What cross-training choices do I have? What can cross-training do for you? How can participation in another physical activity help you with your running? We'll try to answer all those questions and more...

The Practical Benefits of Cross-Training
There's no doubt about it. Whether you're a recreational jogger or a serious speed demon, cross-training has some very tangible benefits to offer runners. The list of benefits here only tells half the story; many other benefits may become obvious, depending on which sport or activity you choose for your cross-training regimen and how you decide to approach it. Also, the value of each benefit depends on your training choices. Nevertheless, just about any kind of alternative and complimentary sport or activity will help your running in the following ways...

Helps Prevent Running Injuries
Injury is probably the most common challenge for runners. The reason is simple: running is a highly repetitive motion, putting an inordinate amount of stress on the same muscles over and over again. Add training techniques such as interval workouts, hill running or a jump in mileage without a proper, gradual transition and you've got yourself a running injury.

Training in more than one activity significantly improves your chances of staying healthy. Cross-training distributes the stress of running over the entire muscle network. No one-muscle group is likely to be taxed beyond its limits. For example, marathon runners are particularly susceptible to overuse injury because of the constant stress and strain of using the same leg muscles, mile after mile. More and more long-distance runners are integrating a day or two of cross-training within their schedules as a method of easing sore leg muscles.

Aides in Maintaining Fitness during an Injury
If a running injury does occur, cross-training can help maintain your cardiovascular fitness, while still allowing the injured muscle group a chance to rest and heal.

While we'll get into the best cross-training options in a bit, it's worth noting here that many competitive runners who don't want to lose their edge while recovering from an injury opt for water running. Using a specially-designed buoyancy device strapped to your chest, you can mimic the same activity as running. Water running gives you the same aerobic benefits, without imposing a musculoskeletal strain from the constant, stressful pounding.

Aids in Recovery from a Hard Workout
When you've had a tough track workout or a tiring long run, switching gears to another activity helps your body perform the vital physiological function of flushing lactic acid from your system. Similar to what occurs during a cool-down after strenuous exercise, during cross-training the lactic acid is flushed into your bloodstream. This helps speed recovery and increases the likelihood of better future performance.

Improves Performance
While one of the keys to race performance is sports-specificity (see sidebar), there is some carryover benefit from other physical activities to running. (The key word to remember, however, is some carryover.) Certain specific activities can have some carryover benefit in two different activities. For example, when you run up hills, you are using the vastus lateralis, a portion of your hamstring muscle also conditioned during cycling. So, in this case, the increase in capillary density of this muscle while cycling should help your hill running.

There is also some carryover to running in the type of muscle fiber exercised during cross-training. For example, any physical activity that utilizes slow-twitch muscles should carryover some benefit to another activity using these same type of muscles. (Slow-twitch muscles are those used primarily for endurance sports, such as marathon running. Fast-twitch muscles are those used primarily in sprint situation, such as track and field.)

Provides a Mental Break
Perhaps the most important benefit of cross-training is the variety and balance it gives you. Cross-country skiing on a serene, still and isolated wilderness trail or open water swimming in a placid lake can do wonders for your mental well-being. It also helps to break the monotony of performing the same activity constantly, a particular concern for marathon runners putting in long miles.

Your Cross-Training Choices
There's almost no limit to the activities and sports that can constitute your cross-training program. If you're a recreational runner who doesn't run a lot of miles or you don't necessarily care about performance, perhaps your best criteria is how much you enjoy a potential cross-training activity.

However, if performance and injury prevention are issues for you, there are certain activities and sports that are best for runners. Runner's World recently compiled a list of the top ten best cross-training sports and activities for runners. Ranked here in order of benefit to the runner, this list was based on a number of scientific and physiological research...
1. Cycling
2. Resistance Training
3. Soccer
4. Deep-Water Running
5. Stair Climbing
6. Aerobic Dance
7. Cross-Country Skiing
8. Walking
9. Racquet Sports (Tennis, Racquetball or Squash)
10. Swimming

Adding Cross-Training to Your Running
The myth many people buy into is that cross-training takes all day, which, on the surface, makes sense. If you're training for a marathon, married, and working a full-time job, it's hard enough to get in an early morning or evening run. Your weekly training schedule probably looks like this: a) you run 6 days out of the week b) you run an hour at a time on weekdays c) you have one weekly track session d) your long, slow distance runs are on weekends. So you ask yourself: How in the world am I going to make time for something else?

Well, don't worry. If you want to improve your fitness level through cross-training, odds are it can be done by marginally increasing the time you now spend exercising on a weekly basis. Once you apply the following guidelines, cross-training will become an integral part of your active lifestyle...

Start with One Activity
It's better to start with one cross-training activity than to try and master two or three different physical activities and doing a mediocre job at each. Decide on just one thing you'd like to do other than running, learn about it, buy the necessary equipment and get started. Later on, if you prefer, you can add more cross-training weapons to your repertoire.

Time Your Cross-Train Appropriately
If you're a serious runner training for a specific goal, it's easy to let cross-training activities distract you. Once you've committed to a specific fitness goal, don't be diverted at a critical juncture in your training.

For example, two weeks before a marathon is not the time to go out and experiment with in-line skating. Not only is it inappropriate to your training, you are running the risk of injury, which is always high in a technical sport when you're first learning.

Use Cross-Training as a Post-Event Reward
If you've been training for a year to run a marathon, and have recently crossed that finish line, give yourself a break for the next 6 months. Try something new. You can still keep running, but go to an aerobics class three times a week or discover the fun of in-line skating. This is not only beneficial from a cross-training perspective, but the variety keeps you mentally fresh.

You might call this approach "periodized" cross-training, the ultimate method of staying motivated with your running. Look at your running as a series of cycles, and use the achievement of a big goal as a chance to introduce new activities as they become evident and as your interests grow. By doing this, your commitment to running will be a rewarding lifelong experience that will never grow stale, and always help you retain your zeal.

Blend Cross-Training into Your Program
Use your alternative activity wisely. If you're chosen activity is particular tough on your legs, don't schedule your cross-training workout the same day as a hard run. And just as you wouldn't schedule two or three hard days in a row, don't kill yourself with successive killer cross-training day.

The best strategy is to schedule your cross-training on the same day you might normally do an easy run. Listen to your body and consider your cross-training sessions as recovery workouts.

Build a Cross-Training Base
As an experienced runner, you know that building up mileage and speed gradually is the key to longevity and greater performances. The same thing applies to cross-training. Start slow, and gradually build-up to higher levels.

For example, cycling requires a fair amount of "spinning" before any interval or hill climbing should be attempted. Spinning is pedaling in an easy gear on flat terrain at a high cadence. By starting out with easy spin workouts, you're conditioning your muscles to the pedaling motion and building a cycling base. Later, after a few hundred miles of "spinning" (I recommend 500) then you can try some hill climbing or speedwork.

For activities that aren't measured by miles (aerobics, resistance training), start out with short sessions that aren't too demanding.

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No matter what your reason for embracing cross-training, it's a great way to augment your running lifestyle. As triathletes have known for a long time now, variety is the spice of life and the key to preventing injuries, burnout and-in some cases-improving performance.

John M. Mora is a freelance writer and advertising copywriter living in Plainfield, Illinois. He is co-author of Paula Newby-Fraser's Peak Fitness for Women, available in bookstores everywhere. He cross-trains by doing triathlons.

 

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