Improving leg strength and endurance.

Leg strength and endurance are vital in both running and road cycling. They are the fundamentals, the essentials of these sports. Coming off a whole season of being unable to sprint and in general get some good mileage into my legs due to a recurring hamstring injury, I thought it would be a good idea to post about the ways in which we can workout to improve our leg strength and endurance.

Firstly, the primary way to build leg endurance and leg strength simultaneously is through continuous running and cycling. Both being aerobic exercises, they provide additional benefits such as increased cardiovascular capacity in addition with other various benefits such as improved bone health. My personal method of building leg strength is interchanged running and cycling throughout the week. Both workouts compliment each other and work well in targeting the leg muscles in different ways to improve both endurance and strength.

Now THIS would be a leg workout!

However, simply running or cycling alone will not continually improve your leg endurance and speed. The answer to improved leg strength and endurance is simple. The two most dreaded (for me motivational ;D) words in running, hills and stairs. It is essential that you continually push yourself to increase your training amounts over time, to aid improvement. There is simply no feeling like conquering a hill or a nasty set of stairs 10-12 times, and the benefits are rock solid legs that will pull you up any hill whether you're cycling or running!!!

Secondly, squats. I recommend you start out with bodyweight squats, to try and perfect technique, and depth of the squat. Doing squats of any kind with incorrect technique will be very damaging to your knees. If your a runner of any sort, be careful with weighted squats, as they can not only create a lot of explosive strength (may be beneficial, depending on what running you do), but they can also cause your legs to literally balloon, and gain a lot of unneeded muscle mass. A combination of leg exercises such as stationary lunges, calf raises and weighted step ups will enhance your leg strength and endurance and add to the effect of squats and hills/stairs.

Lastly, something that probably wouldn't cross your minds when talking about leg strength and endurance, stretching. Stretching has a range of benefits that will always aid in any physical activity, whether it's running, cycling or an upper body workout at the gym. It increases flexibility, blood circulation and the range of motion in joints. Not to mention reducing muscle tension. Stretching will be vital in your quest for stronger legs, so you should definitely consider it.

Hope you've learnt something about some ways in which you can improve leg strength and leg muscle endurance. If I've missed something, or if you don't agree with something I've said, or even if you want to contribute, I welcome your comments :D

GaM.