Upper Body Exercises with Weights to Run Faster

Runners tend to focus on resistance training for their lower body to the neglect of upper body muscles -- shoulders, arms, chest, back and abs. However, a strong upper body and core enable you to maintain correct running form. If your upper body tires in the middle of a run, your form deteriorates. You’ll spend more energy trying to maintain pace. Weight training will also strengthen your bones, muscles and joints and prevent injury during rigorous interval and speed training sessions.

  1. Exercise Selection

    • Select upper-body strengthening exercises that won’t encourage hypertrophy, or the building of muscle mass. Any extra weight will slow you down. To improve running efficiency, a key consideration is to eliminate excess contractions in your torso when your foot strikes the ground. Aim to minimize the effort necessary to stabilize your body when you run. Perform exercises that focus on core stability, such as the alternate standing shoulder press, in which you need to keep your trunk stable while lifting weights overhead. Isolation exercises -- biceps curls or triceps extensions -- are not as helpful because these arm muscles aren’t used in isolation in running.

    Abdominal Exercises

    • While there are many types of crunches for your abs, more complex exercises, such as the wood chop and standing multi-crunch with a cable or resistance tubing, can work your abs in a running-specific way. For example, the wood chop builds your abs, chest, shoulders and back and helps you to transfer force from the legs to the upper body. Start by standing laterally to a cable machine. Hold a handle attached to a high pulley with both hands and arms fully extended. Pull the handle down and across your body. Shift your weight from your inside foot to your outside foot, bending your knees. At the same time, rotate your torso away from the weights and bend at the hips. Finish the range of movement at your outside ankle and hold for a second. Return slowly to starting position. Perform 12 reps for one to three sets.

    Trunk Rotation

    • When you run, your trunk turns slightly from side to side as your lower body channels force to your upper body. Perform torso twists with an added load – medicine ball, dumbbell, resistance band or cable – to strengthen your obliques. For example, to do a medicine ball twist, begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees soft. Hold the ball with both arms fully extended in front of you at chest height. Rotate your trunk to the left as far as possible and then slowly return. Keep your hips and lower body immobile while your upper body turns. Continue the rotation to the right without pausing. Perform eight to 20 reps for each side.

    Arms and Shoulders

    • Strengthen your arms and shoulders to produce an efficient arm swing, which requires pushing and pulling movements in opposition to your legs. A more powerful arm swing can generate extra force to help you run faster and help you maintain balance. Perform exercises such as bent-over rows, chest press with a resistance band and running with dumbbells. Holding a pair of light dumbbells, assume a split stance with one foot in front of the other at shoulder-width apart and knees bent. Move the dumbbells, using slow and fluid running form for 30 to 60 seconds. Reversing your feet, repeat the exercise.