Weighted squats

Normally, my running training consists of either running or cycling. And that worked fine! Until it didn’t. And I got injuries. And some of that might have to do with me not having given my body enough breaks, and potentially also with my gait, but also, everywhere I looked for information, and everyone I talked to, said that if you are my age and you want to keep running, you have to do strength training. And that might be true. And as well; a bit of strength training is not going to have any disadvantages. So I might as well give it a go!

It seems that the default exercise for leg strength training is the squat. And I had been doing squats for years, as my previous physio had told me to do them for my ankle. It never really felt like it was doing much. Maybe I should make them a bit harder? I wondered if I should buy weights to make it more intense. But I do have my little 2 kg weights. So I might as well have a start with those.

Given that I sometimes seem to overtrain, am I shooting myself in the foot now? I don't think so! But I must admit that if I get another knee problem, it will be difficult figure out if it would be because of running or because of strength training. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

I think my morning routine is already quite extensive, but if it needs to be even more extensive in order to let me continue running, then so be it. So I've started doing (slightly) weighted squats now. And I really hope this means that this year I can do another half marathon without my knees falling off! Stay tuned!

Early morning weighted squats (although this one is a bit fake as one of the weights is a phone)