How conditioning improves running

There are lots of benefits to conditioning for runners for both your aerobic and anaerobic systems. A good conditioning plan is a great way to develop your stamina to power your runs and to challenge your body, which will also help prevent injuries.  

Here’s everything you need to know about conditioning for runners and how it can improve your performance. 

What is conditioning? 

If you’ve come to Virgin Active, you might have heard the word ‘conditioning’ because of our Strength and Conditioning classes. They combine movements and exercises which help develop muscular power as well as physical endurance.  

The conditioning part is focused on helping your body adapt to perform better under physical demands, like running. It’s all about training to improve your stamina and you can do this through aerobic conditioning, also known as endurance exercise, or anaerobic conditioning which is to do with those short burst movements.  

When you regularly focus on conditioning your body, you’ll improve your endurance, physical capacity and recovery so your muscles work more efficiently over time. This helps your runs because it means that you can go for longer (and maybe at a faster pace) without getting so tired.  

How does conditioning help running? 

There are a few ways that conditioning training helps to prepare your body for runs. The first one has to do with your stamina.  

When you condition your body, you’re challenging both your aerobic and anaerobic systems to make them work more efficiently. You’ll feel that through the perceived effort of your runs. Over time, with practice, your running will become less intense. And your easy runs may be faster.  

Conditioning your aerobic system is about increasing your heart rate for sustained periods of time. That challenges your breathing and how quickly your heart can pump blood around your system, delivering oxygen to your muscles. Examples of this type of conditioning include swimming, cycling and running.  

You might think it’s obvious that running helps your running but there’s a little more to it than that. Changing up your distance and pace of your runs will give your body more of a challenge and help to develop your overall aerobic capacity.  

Conditioning your anaerobic system is about those short, sharp movements. Basically how well you can go from nought to 100. It means seeing how your body can run without oxygen. Think intense movements with minimal rest. With practice, that’s good for sprinting.  

Some examples of anaerobic conditioning include HIIT, Calisthenics and the cardio weeks in our Strength and Conditioning classes.  

Conditioning and injury prevention 

The other benefit of doing conditioning training is that it helps prevent injuries. Strengthening your muscles will give you better support on your runs and endurance training builds the power in your muscles to defend against fatigue. It’s also worth taking time to focus on proper form, technique and alignment as well as exercises that challenge your balance and agility.  

Looking to start your conditioning journey? Book in your first free session with our Personal Trainers to develop a training plan designed specifically for your running. Or join our Strength and Conditioning classes.