If you feel you are coming close to getting an overuse injury, or if your doctor told you that you should not run for some time, but can still do low-impact physical activity, you can still get some good workouts in. If you are a running addict, they might not be as much fun as the real deal, but can get you similar benefits in terms of cardiovascular fitness, coordination, mobility, and even power and speed. If you are not injured you can also use these workouts to increase the amount of training you do per week, with less risk of injury. In both cases, they will allow you to come back to the trails, road or track a strong and healthy runner.
The Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre in North Vancouver offers weekday evening Spin Classes at 6:00pm on Mondays and Fridays and at 5:30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Weekend Indoor Cycle classes are at 9:15am. Come early because the bikes are assigned on a first come first serve basis and most classes fill up very fast.
Mountain Equipment Co-Op also hosts an indoor cycling group every Wednesday @ 7pm. Bring your own bike and trainer.
If you have a stationary bicycle at home, try the workout in the video below.
1. High Intensity Interval Spin Cycling
If you can still stand on your feet, but have issues with the impact of running, then this is the best way to get both some cardio training and a substitute for your speedwork and interval training sessions.The Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre in North Vancouver offers weekday evening Spin Classes at 6:00pm on Mondays and Fridays and at 5:30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Weekend Indoor Cycle classes are at 9:15am. Come early because the bikes are assigned on a first come first serve basis and most classes fill up very fast.
Mountain Equipment Co-Op also hosts an indoor cycling group every Wednesday @ 7pm. Bring your own bike and trainer.
If you have a stationary bicycle at home, try the workout in the video below.
You can search for "Hiit spinning" classes on Youtube for more workout ideas or just use your usual interval workout times and push the intensity to feeling similar to when you would run these intervals.
You can use your hear rate monitor to evaluate the intensity of your intervals by checking if your heart rate is at levels similar as when doing running intervals for similar lengths of time. A heart rate monitor can also help you know how long to recover before starting another interval (usually until your hear rate is down to 60-65% of HRMax if you do short all-out intervals, and down 65-70% for longer and slower tempo interval).
2. Strides in the water
When I had to take a month-long break due to shin splints in my first year of training as a runner, water running is what helped me keep good mobility and strength in my hips. To get the most benefit from water running, it is best think of the workout as similar to doing long smooth strides to get ready before a race rather than fast and intense interval runs down your pool lane. Focus on your breathing and do not forget to also use your arms to get a good upper-body resistance workout too: a bonus from running on the ground.
The Harry Jerome Community Centre is also one of my favourite places to go for water running. The pool there is not too busy in the evenings and the staff there was very friendly and helpful in helping me find the proper belt and pool noodle to borrow for my water running.
The Harry Jerome Community Centre is also one of my favourite places to go for water running. The pool there is not too busy in the evenings and the staff there was very friendly and helpful in helping me find the proper belt and pool noodle to borrow for my water running.
This video by OTC Head Coach Geordie McConnell explains proper water running technique very clearly
If you cannot motivate yourself to workout in the water, deep water fitness classes are a decent alternative. In North Vancouver, the Ron Andrews Rec Centre has Aquafit classes Tueadays and Thursdays at 7:15pm and Saturdays at 4:30pm. William Griffin Rec Centre also has a class at 8:00pm.
3. Arms Running Drills
This exercise can be done at home with handheld weights or holding the ends of an elastic band attached to a door, table, etc. Running arms sessions with the elastic should be done both facing and turned away from the elastic for good muscular balance. It is a great way to get your upper-body to catch up with your lower body in terms of muscular endurance and coordination and a surprisingly tough core workout.
Do it focusing mainly on form, keeping your neck relaxed, shoulders low, and elbows bent at about 90 degrees. Control your torso from swinging side to side too by keeping your core tight. If you are a long distance runner, you can also practice your breathing and rhythm (180bpm or 3 arm swings per second). If you focus on speed and speed endurance, use the elastic and do sprinting arm intervals aiming to keeping the rhythm and range of motion the same for the whole time of the interval and to not tense up in your shoulders.
I usually do most of my upper-body strength training exercises at either the John Braithwaite Community Centre that has a very wide choice of elastic bands with various resistance and two cable machines and very helpful and knowledge staff and volunteers. Sometimes, I also train at the Steve Nash Fitness World Gym which has battle ropes that are great to workout your arms, shoulders and core in a very functional way.
If you are injured, consult with your doctor or physiotherapist before trying these exercises to see if you are allowed to perform them without it affecting your recovery.
What other exercises do you do when injured? I would love to hear about them in the comments section.